GRAND ISLAND, N.Y. (WBEN-Mike Pesarchick) - Trammell Crow Development's massive Grand Island e-commerce distribution center project was formally introduced to the town board and to a standing-room-only crowd Monday night at the Grand Island Town Hall.
TC Buffalo is proposing to develop a vacant 145-acre area of land owned by the Grand Island Commerce Center on Long Road into an e-commerce distribution center with more than three million square feet of space, including 52,000 square feet of office space. A 62-acre parcel of land to the west would not be developed.
While the representatives from the project, and town board members still will not officially say, the proposal is likely spearheaded by Amazon.
“There are detailed traffic counts, truck counts, employee traffic, that are included in that report, so I encourage everyone to take a look,” Nason said, noting that TC Buffalo welcomed questions and discussion.
Nason also said that the group would further study the effects of traffic on the bridges and submit its findings to the town board.
Town Supervisor John Whitney said after the hearing that the project was the “largest development project proposed to Grand Island in the history of Grand Island,” and, much like the raucous crowd, his chief concern was a potential traffic nightmare.
"Given the size of the site and given what we just mentioned in terms of the acreage and impact, we believe that the proposed facility is ideally situated," Nason said. "It's an exciting project to send a statement about the economic vitality of Grand Island."
Some residents weren’t too sure. Nancy LaChiuse, a Grand Island resident, believes that the potential traffic snarls outweigh the benefits of the project, such as job creation. She brought a sign to Monday’s meeting that read, “Amazon forests, not Amazon Warehouses.”
“We already have backups at our traffic circle, we have backups at our bridges, the bridges are down, emergency vehicles when there’s an accident trying to get through with this number of cars coming onto Grand Island, besides the truck traffic,” she said. “I think we can create the number of jobs somewhere else in Western New York.”
The next steps for the project include an environmental review and a public forum held next Monday by the planning board.
A public hearing has been planned for Wednesday, April 8, at 7 p.m. at Grand Island High School, where interested parties might voice concerns about the project.