Town of Niagara, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Town of Niagara board approved a $300 million dollar plus Amazon distribution center site plan, to the delight or dismay of some of the local residents gathered Tuesday evening.
This 3-million square foot facility will be built on a 216 acre stretch of land on 8995 Lockport Road in Niagara and provide 300 construction jobs and provide over a thousand Amazon jobs for the town.
This approval was one of the final steps for Amazon, as over the course of several months they had received approval from the Niagara County Planning Board, the Town of Niagara Planning Board and the Town Zoning Board.
"It's been a long process. This actually started in February, it's been a very difficult decision," said Lee Wallace, Town of Niagara Supervisor. "I've been a supervisor for eight years, I've never had a decision as difficult as this, I've had a lot of sleepless nights. You're always hoping you're doing the right thing. The amount of revenue that will be generated and the number of people we believe that will be positively impacted by the project, not just in our town, but in the county and in the school district, could not be ignored. Many of us believe that. Had we turned this down, it would have been a very difficult time for the town, city or county of Niagara to get anyone of substance to come here again. That's not the only reason, but that's an important factor."
Tuesday, the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency scheduled a public hearing on Amazon’s request for a package of tax breaks that would total more than $123 million over the next 15 years.
5.5 million dollars is on its way to Lockport and Packard roads which the Wallace says will make those roads safer than ever before, even with the increased truck traffic that Amazon may bring.
"I would never sit here and say that traffic is not going to be a problem. It is it will be an issue and will be an ongoing process for us to try and work our way through it," says Wallace, "$5.5 million worth of road changes is a very significant amount. I believe that road Packard and Lockport Road will be safer after they're done than it's ever been before. We as a town will do everything we can to make sure that the rules are followed and that the trucks follow the rules. If we have to set up patrol car at those sites and at those intersections for a year, we'll do it."
Before the vote, many voiced their concerns with the project, which focused predominantly on traffic, “You’re forcing me to put my house up for sale and pick up my life and start all over again. All on you people sitting right here. It's a shame” said Robert Taylor, town of Niagara resident.
Amazon is going to generate a lot of revenue for the town.
"Some of the negotiated items that we'll be talked about will be things that won't be directly related to the property tax levy, that this project will be bring to us. In fact, the majority of them won't be there'll be things that we can use in general fund, not in the taxable base. The taxable base certainly speaks for itself, we're estimating between 800,000 and a million dollars a year. Three of our four tax, property tax areas are not susceptible to the pilot. They're in special districts. Whatever goes on with the county in the pilot doesn't really affect us, other than a highway a little bit. So the majority of things we will we will negotiate on things we will talk about economic incentives will be in support of our general fund," said the supervisor.