The plan to cut through residential property to create an access road out of a plaza was voted down in Clarence Wednesday.
The Town of Clarence Planning Board unanimously denied Joe Basil's request to connect a plaza on Transit Road to the Farmington Woods Development, to use the signal coming out of the residential area. Attorneys for Basil said the main goal was safety, and argue it's dangerous to make a left hand turn out of the plaza, because there is no signal.
"Anyone trying to turn left and travel Southbound on Transit has to cross three lanes of traffic," said Elizabeth Holmes, the attorney for Basil.
Residents say the access road would ruin their neighborhood. They brought a number of concerns to the planning board including how the road could increase noise and pollution. Residents were also worried about how the influx of traffic could impact children in the neighborhood.
"This is going to create a hazardous situation because these are newcomers, these are cars, delivery trucks construction vehicles. Their concern is going to be, 'I'm going to beat that light to get the heck out of here!' Are they going to look up and down and see who's coming? That would be a guess," one resident said.
Basil could challenge the Planning Board's ruling. At this point, it is unclear if he plans to do so.
