A zoning regulation in the Village of Alexander that requires all new commercial buildings to line up along the sidewalk is facing a first-time challenge from an existing business that wants to change locations.
The owners of Country in the Village, a cafe on Route 98, want to build a new drive-thru business on Buffalo Road, but the business would have be set back from the street by 63 feet.
That violates the village plan to have all businesses line up in a block.
Tonight, the Genesee County Planning Board denied Gary and Bea Dominick's request for a special-use permit.
Planning Director Jim Duval said it will be up to the village to decide if it wants to waver from its commercial development plan, not the county planning board.
In other planning news:
The board denied a request for a variance at 3589 Pike Road in the Town of Batavia for a building to stable animals. Duval said the 25-foot set back put the building too close to the roadway.
A temporary-use permit was granted to the Town of Bethany to allow a retail store in its old Town Hall. The town is planning a country store, with a craft shop, grocery items, historical exhibit and learning center. The facility will also offer classes in fly tying and cake decorating, as well as craft classes for children. Multiple vendors will be offered space in the store.
In the Town of Darien, the developer of East Bonnie Brae is ready to build the second half of its housing project, filling out the east side of the development. The original plan called for the street that now serves the west side to loop around. But a landowner who would need to sell his land to make a portion of the street continuation possible, no longer wishes to sell. The proposed development addition would have a cul-de-sac. The problem with the proposal, according to Duval, is that 11 parcels do not have the required 100-foot set back. The developer, Duval said, disagrees with how the planning department is calculating the set back. The Town of Darien also advised the applicant that a required recreational area was not included. The board disapproved the preliminary plan for the development.
