Two nights after unveiling its plan to the public to construct a $3.2 million station on Stringham Drive to replace Station 2 on Clinton Street Road, the Town of Batavia Fire Department presented the proposal to the Genesee County Planning Board.
Planners, on Thursday, recommended approval of the site plan as long as department officials obtain a state Department of Transportation permit pertaining to an entrance to the 10,000-square-foot substation from Clinton Street Road.
“It’s already (the application for the DOT permit) in the process; it’s already been filed,” Gary Diegelman, department building committee chairperson, said this morning.
Diegelman said he anticipated no problems getting DOT approval.
“The traffic study was done. There shouldn’t be any problem with it,” he said.
The new building will feature two drive-thru bays and entrances from both Stringham Drive and Clinton Street Road. With the drive-thru bays, the trucks will not have to back up to enter and exit the station
It also will have four dormitory-style rooms for firefighters wishing to stay there, a bunk-in program that has been gaining traction around the state.
The fire department’s site plan will be considered by the Batavia Town Planning Board for final approval on Feb. 20.
In other developments, the planning board:
-- Gave its go-ahead, with some modifications, to a proposal by Ronald Long of Springville to construct a 42-unit apartment complex to be marketed to seniors on West Main Street (Route 33) in the Village of Corfu.
Long appeared before the group for the second time in five months, this time presenting the entire plan after addressing a wetlands situation and getting clearance from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Stipulations of the board’s positive recommendation include creating a buffer between neighboring properties, installing lighting and landscaping per Village of Corfu guidelines, putting in a sidewalk from the street to the complex, and obtaining state Department of Transportation approval for the driveway.
“There was talk about a possible buffer,” Long said this morning. “I told them I would do whatever the neighbors wanted me to do.”
Long said his plan calls for the construction of seven buildings, each with six 1,155-square-foot apartments.
“It’s a cookie-cutter (design),” he said. “The biggest thing is that all are ranch style, with closed attached garages that enable the residents to get out of their cars and go right into their homes. They have private entrances and two bedrooms.”
Long, who has built large-scale apartment complexes in Clarence Center and Orchard Park, among others, said he picked up the engineer’s site drawings on Thursday and is prepared to go before the Village of Corfu Planning Board in the near future.
“The village has already given its strong endorsement,” he said, adding that he hopes to break ground this spring.
He said he already has enough (tenant) names to fill the first two buildings.
Currently, the site is being called Corfu Senior Apartments, but Long said that a permanent name has yet to be determined.
-- Recommended approval of an area variance requested by Zaremba Group Inc., to have 30 parking spaces (instead of the required 46) at a proposed Dollar General store in East Pembroke.
