Orchard Park Zoning Board meeting delayed again as residents question development around stadium

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WIVB) -- The question of what to do with the old Highmark Stadium and the surrounding area was no closer to being answered after another zoning board meeting was postponed Wednesday night.

Neighbors and leaders are looking for ways to further develop the area after the new stadium opens its doors.

"I don’t think they’re deliberate. It’s just something that we're trying to get through," said Orchard Park Town Councilman Joe Liberti. "It’s a massive project. I mean the project is about $1.7 billion and it’s new to the town."

The public discussion on rezoning has been delayed a total of four times, with the most recent delaying happening on Aug. 7 and Wednesday.

"Time frames are tight, businesses like to plan years ahead, as folks were saying there," said Orchard Park resident Hal Fabinsky. "We want us to be a destination, we want us to be an economic engine for our community."

Liberti said these delays won’t affect the rezoning. On Wednesday to show transparency, he showed neighbors a short presentation on the issue.

"One of the times it was the postings of the signage for each of the properties that kind of delayed the project," he said. "Getting stuff into the county, that was a delay as well, we’re just learning about what type of documents that they’re looking for."

The biggest update, a new type of zoning called "Development-Research 2," (DR2) will remove a big hold up in the process: the town's two-and-a-half-story moratorium on building heights.

"Hotel rise will go away and it will go up to five stories at this point, but we do have a ladder in the fire department they can go up that high," Liberti said. "That is the justification or the reasoning behind the five story."

The board will approve the zoning change soon, Liberti said, but some areas that fall in the new DR2 zoning are residential.

"Say I’m resident and I’m in that zone and I want to put up a shed or a pool, you’re gonna be classified in the zone that you are today," Liberti said.

Erie County Legislator John Mills called the new stadium a sleeping giant that can cause havoc in Orchard Park if the town isn’t prepared when its doors open in 2026.

"I think we need to accelerate the process here and get the residents of the whole town an opportunity to voice their concerns," Mills said.

The new date for the public hearing on the rezoning is Oct. 2. The board said they will have a concrete plan by then.