Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Now that the City of Buffalo, once again, has full control over the future of Templeton Landing - that overlooks the Erie Basin Marina - lawmakers and other officials are ready to go nose-deep into the redevelopment of the area.
Before the Buffalo Common Council on Tuesday was an item that was sent to committee from Fillmore District Councilman Mitch Nowakowski, requesting a comprehensive plan for the future development of Templeton Landing. Nowakowski said it's a site he gets calls from residents on over the inactivity and blight around the area, and the city must take action to give it new life.
"Many 'Rust Belt' cities and areas around the country have pulled themselves up to be even better by not just environmentally cleaning up their waterfront, but making it a destination and a waterfront attraction," said Nowakowski during Tuesday's Council meeting. "We know that when our waterfront is being utilized, it is not only a benefit to the residents that live here, but it ultimately generates economic vitality for the city as a whole."
Not only does Nowakowski feel the need to think of the future for the site several years in advance, but he also wants to strive for big development along the city's waterfront.
"We need to have urban planners that are going to look at this parcel and see how it can be connected to the marina, and further down our waterfront that is open to the public. That there's green space, that there's mixed-use development. That it is something that we could be proud of for the next generation who will inherit the waterfront from us. And just to state even clearly, the waterfront belongs to all of us," Nowakowski said.
Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan commends the work of Nowakowski, as well as former Mayor and current South District Councilman Chris Scanlon for pushing to take back control of Templeton Landing.
"20 years ago, the city entered an agreement with this restaurant corporation out of California, and they said, 'If you operate a restaurant here for 20 years, you then get the property free and clear.' Doesn't sound like the greatest deal, to me," said Ryan on Tuesday. "But when we looked into the fine print and we looked into how the building has been operated, they were not following the rules. And they brought action against the city to say, 'Now you have to give us this.' So we went and documented, worked backwards, and figured out they were in breach of their lease, so they weren't entitled to this property."
Ryan can't emphasize enough how important the Templeton Landing property is for a thorough development plan of the Erie Basin Marina area.
"Templeton Landing was in the middle of two sites owned by the City of Buffalo. It would have prevented, if it was owned by the California company, to be able to do a comprehensive plan down there. So now that we have this secure, we have to wait out the appeal period; and at the same time, our Office of Strategic Planning is looking at all the parcels down there, trying to make sure we know who owns them, be secure in our rights of ownership, but also look at some of the private properties on the other side to figure out who we need to bring in to the conversation," Ryan noted.
Over the last 20 years, the marina area has seen more demand for housing and other developments, which is why the city is pushing to go for the larger, comprehensive development plan under one umbrella.
"We're going to take a 10,000-foot view of this. We're not going to rush into it. We're going to make sure we get it right, because it'll be the first major change in that area since that marina was put in," Ryan said. "We need to do an update and take a good look at it, but also to make sure that we can unlock this great balance between what can help the public down there to make it a public asset into a public amenity, and where the private sector could come in with housing, apartments, and restaurants and other amenities."
It is unclear, at this time, how long the appeal process may take following the court's decision.
