Between 1950 and 2000, the population of Buffalo declined by almost 200,000 residents. In that same span, the amount of infrastructure and developed areas in the greater Buffalo community has tripled.
While the suburbs have thrived and sustained their populations during this time, communities like the West Side of Buffalo constantly see the adverse affects of suburban sprawl throughout their neighborhoods.
Vacant, dilapidated houses. Boarded-up businesses.
These depressing sites are what people living in the West Side and other areas of Buffalo are forced to co-exist with.
This information is exactly what Maria Whyte (D) – 6th District of the Erie County legislature, is using in an effort to establish a county wide planning board to control sprawl.
“What it really boils down to is that fewer people are supporting more infrastructure which leads to higher taxes,” Whyte said.
With population declining throughout Western New York, Whyte believes now is the time to cease from creating more strip malls and plazas.
Of the 62 counties in New York, 58 have planning boards. Erie and Niagara counties are two of the four that do not.
In the fall of 2002, County Executive Joel Giambra and Niagara County Legislature Chair William Ross set out to create a plan for curbing sprawl and waste titled the Erie-Niagara Framework for Regional Growth (www.erie.gov/regionalframework).
Whyte and her colleagues in support of the Framework plan think that a county-wide planning board will be a step in the right direction.
“This is not going to fix your vacant property today or tomorrow. But what it will do is set things in motion so that 20 years down the road, my constituents won't be calling my office with the same complaints,” Whyte said.
Whyte also believes at some point, an oversight committee spanning both Erie and Niagara counties would be a good idea.
She is not alone.
“I think [a bi-county planning board] is a good idea because several projects span counties; for instance, waterfront development, which goes over Erie and Niagara county. And it's important both counties work together to ensure success,” Mathew Peterson, Norwood Avenue resident said.
In addition to being a University of Buffalo student majoring in urban planning, Peterson is a volunteer for People United for Sustainable Housing (www.pushbuffalo.org). PUSH is a local housing advocacy group that focuses on re-use for vacant properties.
While no one denies that population as a whole is on the decline, not everyone is in favor of the Legislature's agenda.
The debate over establishing this new oversight panel has been heated. County Executive Chris Collins (R), has vowed to veto the legislature, and as of the most recent vote on this issue, they were short one vote of the two-thirds majority (10-6) needed to override any veto by the Executive.
This has not been a vote down party lines, either. Of the six members of the legislature that voted, three are Democrats and three are Republicans.
What seems to be the great divider is the district that each member represents. Those that have voted no represent large suburban communities, which have provided support to large developers over the years and now see their thoroughfares spotted with large amounts of commercial and industrial space.
Whyte believes that a planning board, and eventually a dual board between counties, is what's in everyone's best interests.
“If we can stop sprawl and focus investment on already existing infrastructure, we will save taxpayers $800 million over the next 25 years,” Whyte said. is the main story body copy paste area.