Batavia residents raise concerns about configuration of housing development and traffic

The main concerns of residents who live near a proposed housing development off Route 5 and Seven Springs Road are traffic and the proximity of duplexes to their own homes.

The project was the subject of a public hearing before the Town of Batavia Planning Board on Tuesday night.

Peter Zeliff, the lone investor in the development, said the plans he's presenting at this point are preliminary.

The location of streets in and out of the 120-unit development are subject to change and the configuration of where homes are placed isn't written in stone, he said.

A Batavia native, Zeliff made his money building power plants and eventually sold his company.  While he's built houses before, this is his first housing development.

Asked why was doing it, he said, "I like seeing Genesee County, Batavia grow. I saw a need for this and it seemed like a good project."

Zeliff doesn't own the 100-acres of farmland he would like to development. He has a purchase agreement in place contingent on the project being approved.

The homes Zeliff is planning are more patio homes than townhomes, he said. The price range for the houses will range from $150,000 to $300,000.

Some of the houses and duplexes will be be pre-built and sold as completed homes, while other lots will be filled with custom homes.

Everything will be built according to a design standard and there will be a homeowners' association that approves new development.

The current site map shows multi-family units on the east side of the property, closest to the current homes on Seven Springs Road.

A couple of area residents asked if the site plan could be flipped so the single family homes were closer to Seven Springs Road and Zeliff suggested he was open to such changes, but geology and topography may prevent a different configuration, said Keith Ewald, project planner from Barton & Loguidice.

Ewald said people who buy single-family homes are likely to want basements and to ensure proper soil compaction, the single-family homes would need to be on the west half of the property.

The current plan has three streets going into the development -- one on Route 5 and two on Seven Springs Road. These are subject to change based on upcoming traffic studies.

The main entrance will be on Route 5.

Zeliff has already purchased the former location of Zigrossi Buick. The property will serve partially as an entrance into the housing project and Zeliff plans some sort of commercial development on the rest of the property.

Development of the parcel will begin at that entrance because that's where the development will connect with water, sewer and electrical.

If the approval process goes as planned, Zeliff hopes to break ground in August with the first houses being built during the winter or next spring.

Zeliff figures and hopes it will take three to five years to complete the development, but that will depend on how quickly the homes sell.

With anticipated growth at the Genesee Valley Ag Park and the proposed STAMP project, Zeliff (who joined the GCLDC board less than a year ago) thinks there is going to be more demand for housing locally).

"This area is going to boom," Zeliff aid. "It's about time Western New York booms."