Town of Amherst Town Board·June 22, 2026
$1.9M in bonds clear · A lighting district passes over its own neighbors · Two developments told to wait · Term limits, e-bikes and a data-center rumor
In a five-public-hearing Monday that ran about 109 minutes, the Amherst Town Board bonded roughly $1.9 million for buried infrastructure — a $750,000 storm-sewer relining and a $1.19 million package pairing the Clarence-funded Parallel Peanut Line interceptor with a study of the aging regional treatment plant — both passing without dissent. It then extended the Consolidated Lighting District to The Hamlet and Cricket Lane on a 4–1 vote, over three residents who said most of the affected homeowners never wanted the lights, with Deputy Supervisor Marinucci casting the lone no. Two bigger items were held back: the Boulevard Central District environmental-review update stayed open for written comment through July 8, and a requested rezoning for a 144-unit apartment complex on North Forest Road was adjourned until a traffic study lands. The afternoon work session, all of about 10 minutes, previewed the docket and caught a pair of Scrivener's errors in a bond resolution before the board went into executive session; public expression brought term limits, e-bikes and a UB data-center rumor to the podium.
The night's most contested vote was not about a developer — it was about streetlights on a quiet residential loop, and about a state law the supervisor said left the board little room to say no. Resolution 2026-474 would extend the Town's Consolidated Lighting District to add roughly 13 new streetlights across 25 parcels on The Hamlet and Cricket Lane, at a project cost of about $172,000 bonded over 20 years. It was, the board stressed repeatedly, a resident-initiated petition, not a Town proposal — and by law it clears once petitioners representing more than half the assessed value of the affected parcels sign on. Town Attorney Stephen Bengart[*] confirmed the assessor had certified the petition over that 50% threshold.[1]
The residents who came to the podium told a different story about the numbers. Carol Rotando of 51 Cricket Lane said she had done her homework and counted "13 properties out of 25" opposed, arguing the assessed-value test — written, she said, to stop a bulk-property owner from steamrolling neighbors — produced exactly the outcome it was meant to prevent: a majority who don't want the lights outvoted by valuation.[1] Dari George of 61 Cricket Lane, a resident since 1999, disputed the petition's safety rationale point by point — the children don't walk to the elementary school, the middle school starts after 8:30, and part of the street's "charm," she said, is simply not having streetlights.[1] A town-wide resident, Tom, objected that the bond spreads cost across all of Amherst and urged the board not to "add more taxes" on seniors.[2]
Supervisor Lavin[*] was candid about why he would vote yes: the petition met New York State's rules, and "if I start to deviate from that it starts to get a little gray."[2] The board approved a SEQR negative declaration and then the district extension on a voice vote — but not unanimously. Deputy Supervisor Angela Marinucci[*] voted no; Lavin and Councilmembers Szukala, Davis and Kavanaugh voted yes, carrying it 4–1.[3] The matter still goes to the State Comptroller for approval.
New York's lighting-district law does not count heads — it counts assessed value. A petition to create or extend such a district passes once its signers represent more than 50% of the total assessed value of the parcels in the district. So on a street where a handful of high-value homes sign on, the raw number of opposing households can be the larger group and still lose. That is why residents kept insisting "13 of 25 are against it" while the Town kept answering that the petition was valid: both can be true at once. The supervisor framed his yes vote as following the state rule rather than endorsing the lights.
Two of the evening's five hearings were bond resolutions for the kind of buried infrastructure that rarely draws a crowd — and drew none here. Highway Superintendent Steve Floss[*] presented Resolution 2026-472, a $750,000 bond to reline roughly 9,000 linear feet of aging storm-sewer pipe (ranging from 10-inch to 24-inch) across East Amherst, Snyder and Eggertsville, at an estimated typical-home tax impact of about $1.14 a year.[4] With no questions from board or audience, the board closed the hearing, adopted a SEQR negative declaration, and passed it on a voice vote.[4]
Town Engineer Jeff Burroughs[*] then presented Resolution 2026-473, a single $1.19 million bond wrapping two projects. The larger is the Parallel Peanut Line interceptor sewer — a 24-inch line running about 3,800 feet from the east side of Transit Road to Paradise Road, including a 120-foot crossing under Transit — built to divert flow off the surcharged North French/Dodge Road trunk sewer and free up reserve capacity. Strikingly, the bulk of the roughly $5.2 million project is being paid not by Amherst but by the Town of Clarence and Erie County (about $4.16 million), because it also opens sewer capacity for Clarence's environmentally challenged Harris Hill area; Amherst's bonded share is $1,040,000.[5] Bundled in is a $150,000 mechanical/electrical/plumbing study of the regional wastewater treatment plant — a 58-building complex, much of it built in the late 1970s, whose original-equipment systems Burroughs described as running in a "harsh and corrosive environment."[5] Lavin[*] used the moment to remind the room the plant is regional, serving Clarence, UB and the Village as well as Amherst. The hearing closed with a negative declaration and a voice-vote approval.[5]
The 10-minute afternoon work session was where the day's deliberation happened — and where a councilmember (heard flagging it, most consistent with Michael Szukala[*]) pushed back on the drafting of the Peanut Line bond resolution: the word "lead" was capitalized as "LEAD" in one whereas-clause referring to Clarence, which "to me indicates that it might stand for something," and an estimated-cost figure carried "an extra zero." The town attorney confirmed both were Scrivener's (clerical) errors, not substantive. Small, but it is exactly the kind of pre-vote scrub the work session exists for; the resolution still passed that evening.
Senior Planner Kim Amplement[*] walked the board through Resolution 2026-475, a Supplemental Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SDGEIS) for the roughly 1,200-acre Boulevard Central District — the aging commercial corridor bounded by Niagara Falls Boulevard, the I-290 and Sheridan Drive. The original study was prepared in 2019 and adopted in 2020; six years on, Amplement said, work-from-home has gutted office demand, e-commerce has reshaped retail, warehousing and rental-housing demand have risen, and the supplemental now projects less overall redevelopment than the original — meaning no significant adverse land-use impacts are anticipated. The analysis flags one intersection (Maple and Sweet Home) dropping to level-of-service E under the growth scenario, addressable with signal and geometric fixes, plus corridor work, water-main replacement (about 52,000 linear feet) and West Side Interceptor sewer capacity as the limiting utilities.[6]
One resident, James[*], asked whether the project meant an above- or below-ground train — a misunderstanding the supervisor corrected: this is a district-wide environmental review for future rezoning, unrelated to NFTA light rail.[6] Because the public-comment period runs through July 8, the board deliberately did not close the hearing; Lavin moved to adjourn it, leaving the record open. Draft findings are expected before the board later this summer.[6]
The last hearing, Resolution 2026-476, was a request by petitioner Rob Severino[*] of RAS Development 1, LLC[*] to reclassify four parcels at 2559, 2535, 2529 and 2493 North Forest Road from NCD-SA to NCD-GC, to allow a 144-unit multifamily development on about 4.88 acres near UB's North Campus. The Planning Board had unanimously recommended the reclassification and a negative declaration back on April 16; Severino has since revised the layout — combining two 48-unit buildings into one connected 96-unit building and dropping a standalone community building — while keeping the same 144-unit count and unit mix, and nudging parking up to 1.73 spaces per unit.[7] He told the board the project targets young professionals, graduate students and retirees, "not designed as student housing," and asked that no decision be made until a pending traffic and parking study is submitted.[7]
Jim Laleem[*] of 2480 North Forest Road, directly across the street, pressed the traffic point hardest: North Forest is a "very skinny street" that "probably can't be widened," the nearby Frasier[*] 250-unit building has barely begun leasing, and he questioned trading a dozen residents in three single-family homes for 144 units.[7] Severino noted North Forest is an Erie County road, that the study must account for the Frasier's traffic, and that the homes' owners had signed purchase agreements after expressing a desire to sell.[7] The board declined to decide, adjourning the hearing until the traffic study arrives — at which point a decision date will be set. Board members also signaled the revised site plan should return to the Planning Board.[7]
Five members sit on the Town Board; the Supervisor chairs. Public-hearing actions were taken by voice vote. All votes were unanimous except Res. 2026-474 (4–1). Two hearings were adjourned rather than decided (2026-475, 2026-476). Movers, seconders and individual vote positions are transcribed from live audio and are provisional pending the official minutes — see the Editor's Note.
Reopened adjourned public hearing; ~13 streetlights across 25 parcels, ~$172,000 bonded over 20 years. Three residents spoke in opposition. SEQR negative declaration adopted, then the district extension approved on a voice vote 4–1: Lavin, Szukala, Davis and Kavanaugh aye; Deputy Supervisor Marinucci nay. Still requires State Comptroller approval.
Bond of $750,000 to reline ~9,000 linear feet of storm-sewer pipe in East Amherst, Snyder and Eggertsville (CIP H-7). Presented by Highway Superintendent Steve Floss.[*] No public questions. Hearing closed; SEQR negative declaration adopted; resolution approved on a voice vote.
Combined bond: $1,040,000 for the Parallel Peanut Line interceptor sewer (Project S-11, ~3,800 ft, 24-inch, Transit Rd to Paradise Rd) plus $150,000 for a mechanical/electrical/plumbing study at the regional treatment plant (Project S-6). Clarence and Erie County fund ~$4.16M of the ~$5.2M interceptor project. Presented by Town Engineer Jeff Burroughs.[*] Hearing closed; negative declaration adopted; approved on a voice vote. Two Scrivener's errors in the draft ("LEAD" capitalization; an extra zero) were flagged in the afternoon work session and confirmed clerical.
Supplemental Draft GEIS for the ~1,200-acre Boulevard Central District, updating the 2019/2020 study. Presented by Senior Planner Kim Amplement.[*] The board deliberately left the hearing open: the public-comment period runs through July 8. Draft findings expected before the board later this summer. No vote to approve or deny taken.
Request to reclassify four parcels from NCD-SA to NCD-GC for a 144-unit multifamily development near UB North Campus. Petitioner Rob Severino / RAS Development 1, LLC.[*] Planning Board recommended the reclassification and a negative declaration on April 16. One resident spoke on traffic. Board adjourned the hearing pending a traffic/parking study; a decision date will be set on submission. Revised site plan expected to return to the Planning Board.
Bundled and approved as read by the Town Clerk. Includes the Historic Preservation Commission appointment of Kayla Clark as Historian (Res. 2026-468), a $200,000 litigation settlement (Res. 2026-478), the award of the Town Comprehensive Plan RFQ to Interface Studio (Res. 2026-483, ~$726,515), a request to set the Term Limits Local Law public hearing (Res. 2026-477, hearing July 27), declaring the Harlem Road Community Center a blighted property for CDBG funding (Res. 2026-496), and routine building, highway, HR, sewer and court items, plus three lawsuit notices received and filed. Most were routed to consent during the work session.
Off-agenda suspension items moved by Deputy Supervisor Marinucci.[*] Set July 27 public hearings on local-landmark status (recommended by the HPC) for 4467 Main Street and One Cloister Court. Approved fireworks permits for July 4 at Transit Valley Country Club (dated Saturday July 4, ~9:45 PM), Park Country Club, and the Country Club of Buffalo on Youngs Road, plus a permit noted for July 24 at Transit Valley — all subject to Amherst police and building-code restrictions.
This brief combines the day's two Town Board sessions into one record. Following house practice for Amherst, the ~4:00 PM work session (deliberation and docket preview) and the 7:00 PM regular meeting (where the formal votes occurred) are treated as one day's business and woven into a single brief.
Vote outcomes are provisional pending the official minutes. The five-member Town Board roster — Supervisor Shawn A. Lavin (chair); Deputy Supervisor Angela Marinucci; Councilmembers Michael Szukala, John Davis and Jack Kavanaugh; Town Clerk Francina J. Spoth — is verified. Whisper repeatedly mangled the members' names in the roll call (e.g. "Levin," "Zukawa/Zucalla/Ocala," "Cavanaugh," "Marinochi"), so those are reconciled to the verified roster and flagged [*]. Because this meeting's official minutes had not posted at the time of writing, individual attributions — especially movers, seconders, and each member's vote on Res. 2026-474 — should be treated as provisional pending the minutes. The one recorded split (Marinucci's no on the lighting district) is reported as heard on the voice vote but carries the same caveat.
Proper nouns. Names, resolution numbers, addresses and project titles are anchored to the official IQM2 agenda packet for June 22, 2026, which governs spelling. Note the agenda spells the honored soldier "Adrian Bonsey" and the late highway crew chief "Allen Seifert"; the transcript's "Bonzi"/"Alan Seifer" are Whisper renderings. Staff and applicant names heard only in audio — the highway superintendent, town engineer, senior planner, town attorney, petitioners and residents who spoke — are marked [*] and described by role where the spelling is not independently confirmed; verify against the official minutes before attributing any statement to a named individual. The advisory street check flagged "North Forth Road" (a Whisper slip for North Forest Road) and confirmed Cricket Lane, Transit Road, Paradise Road, Dodge Road, Sweet Home Road and Niagara Falls Boulevard against the Town street list.