The Town of Batavia Planning Board meeting on Tuesday evening was crowded, with a turn out of more than 40 people.
Two neighborhoods were concerned about two agenda items -- Genesee Country Automotive on West Main Street Road and the proposed Gardner Estates housing development on Clinton Street Road.
Larry Abaire was there because he had reapplied for a special-use permit to continue doing business as Genesee Country Automotive on his property at 3282 W. Main St. Road. His permit was revoked by the board about six months ago.
A few neighbors at the meeting spoke in favor of Abaire and his neighborly qualities, willingness to compromise and business practices.
But one man had a completely different view.
Steve Licht has owned property bordering Abaire's on the west side for 31 years.
"Since the last millennium, I have had a junkyard next to my house," Licht said. "I've consulted the board regarding what defines a junkyard in this town and his property certainly meets the criteria."
He cited scraps of metal laying about, dismantled cars and trucks and an overall mess at the property.
"Continuing to reissue special-use permits is nothing more than giving license to continue this same mess -- and it is a junkyard," Licht said.
He questioned whether Abaire had a Certificate of Occupancy (CO) for the newer building on his property and claimed that business is, in fact, conducted inside.
Abaire said the building is used for storage and admitted he didn't have a CO.
When the board informed him that operating without a CO is a violation that needs to be rectified before his special-use permit can be considered, Abaire didn't take the news very well.
He claimed that board members and Code Enforcement Officer Bruce Gerould were "twisting things around" and that his situation would be overlooked if he were "anyone else with a lot of money in this town."
Abaire argued that he's been doing business without a CO for decades, why does he need one now?
"This stuff should have been brought up a long time ago -- 20 years ago," he said.
Town Attorney Kevin Earl said that Abaire should feel, "lucky he got away with it for this long."
Abaire was asked to pursue the CO and then reapply for the special-use permit.
As for the proposed Gardner Estates housing development on Clinton Street Road, the decision was made to reopen the State Environmental Quality Review application so more accurate information to be included.
Board members agreed that two issues on the SEQR need to be clarified -- whether the developer will be seeking public funds and willl a cul-de-sac be incorporated into the project.
"If these two issues are changes from what information the board had or was led to believe concerning the two issues -- when a negative declaration SEQR was taken -- then further consideration is necessary, " explained Planning Board Chair Kathleen Jasinski.
"The public funding and/or low-income housing is a big issue -- and we now know it for a fact that is the case -- because the impact of that can be very significant, not only to our community and town, but especially to the neighborhood adjacent to it," Paul Marchese said.
After that statement, nearly everybody there clapped their hands.
