Some residents of Orchard Park are furious about thousands of trees being sliced down to just stumps.
At then end of a dead end street, heavy machinery and work trucks sit before a lush, green wooded area. Strewn across the land are now mud tracks left by dozers and backhoes as well as hundreds of tree stumps.
Zoladz Construction is clearing nearly ten acres of land for a new development behind Woodhaven Road, which has yet to be officially announced.
Orchard Park town engineer Wayne Bieler says the company applied for a fill permit, possibly to aid a future subdivision project.
Residents who live on Woodhaven Road met at a town hall meeting to raise their concerns to town officials. Their first issue was the lack of notification of the project, which resident Wendy Backman says the town does not have a responsibility to do.
Other concerns include property value depreciation, increased traffic in the area and displaced wildlife.
The single biggest concern voiced by residents at the meeting was drainage. Neighbors are worried that if trees are cut down, the vegetation and dirt that absorbed rain water will no longer be present to do so. Several residents say they already have drainage issues and that the clear-cutting will just increase the problems they face.
