Allaying fears, Wheatfield town homes stand as ‘good neighbors’
Emerging from furor at Shawnee
WHEATFIELD — When a church proposed an affordable-housing project for senior citizens and low-income families in late 2006, many neighbors reacted with fiery opposition, some of it taking on racial overtones.
Neighbors created a community group aimed at stopping the project. Town Supervisor Timothy E. Demler ordered an access road used during construction blocked and instituted a temporary building moratorium.
An anonymous flier distributed in one neighborhood warned that residents “of all colors” would come to live in the development.
Two and a half years later, as dozens of families now reside in the Town Homes at Shawnee Landing, neighbors have seen very few of their fears materialize into real problems, according to town officials and developers.
“The truth is that we did address the concerns early on to make sure there were no issues,” Demler said, “and it seems to be working.”
Tenants began moving into homes there in early 2008, and all units were occupied by June. Church officials are still looking to move forward on the next elements in their campus: a new multipurpose building and, eventually, a new worship center.
While the controversy has abated in Wheatfield, the experience has provided “valuable lessons” about considerations such as economics, politics, construction, bigotry and human nature, said Vic Baker, moderator for development for the Church at Shawnee Landing.
“Very nasty things were said about us,” said Baker, whose experience included being shouted down by members of the public during a December 2006 meeting of the Town Board. “We forgive them for that.”
The story began 11 years ago when members of the former Payne Avenue Christian Church in North Tonawanda voted to build a new church elsewhere.
Planning for the town homes started with relatively little fanfare as ideas for the project were floated in early 2001.
Belmont Shelter Corp., the Church at Shawnee Landing and Buffalo businessman Paul Granville initially took up the 64-unit project in 2004 on a parcel on the west side of Shawnee Road just north of Niagara Falls Boulevard.
Initial estimates pegged the costs of the development at nearly $10 million. Site work began in late 2006, and shortly thereafter, the issue became a public controversy.
Neighbors formed the Wheatfield Residents Action Committee, and about 200 people attended an initial meeting of the group in late 2006. They collected money to hire a lawyer, as organizers promised to hold elected leaders accountable for what they said was not properly informing them about the project.
The group also threatened litigation to halt the project. They said they believed that the town homes would lower their property values; some nearby homes were assessed in the range of $200,000 to $400,000.
Demler told The Buffalo News last week that property values in nearby areas have “remained intact” since the project was built.
Resident group leaders also said at the time that the racial concerns raised by a few were not representative of the committee membership as a whole.
A representative from Belmont said he had not heard anything about any recent activities of the group. Two of the group’s initial leaders did not return calls seeking comment.
Baker, who lives in Middleport and has been a member of the church since 1997, said he was not aware that any lawsuit was ever filed by the residents group. He also said he is proud of what the church and the other developers have accomplished so far.
Looking ahead, the Church at Shawnee Landing is working with architect William A. Scott on plans for a multipurpose building, he said.
To be known as the Butler Family Life Building — named for a former North Tonawanda police captain, the late Robert E. Butler and his late wife, Lena, whose bequest helped the church purchase nearly 20 acres of land for the campus — the structure will be used for worship and other events.
The church, which has about 100 active members, took on the town home development project to raise capital for their new worship center, he said.
Some public funding sources also were utilized to support the project, including a $447,000 federal grant in 2004 and state funding of about $180,000. The project also received tax credits and low-interest loans.
A permanent house of worship is still in the church’s plans, though the congregation has been using the Sutherland Lodge on Ruie Road in North Tonawanda since about 2003.
The existing complex on Shawnee Road has a community building, and plans for a day care center on the campus have been put on hold.
A proposal for a group home has also been made for the site, though officials from Rochester’s Heritage Christian Services, the sponsor of the project, said that it has been delayed because of state funding issues.
Baker said he believes that the town home project faced opposition from some people who didn’t understand what it was all about.
“The Town Homes at Shawnee Landing will be good neighbors to that area for a long time to come,” he said.
Project meets demand
Belmont officials agree, saying they believe that the original strife over the project arose out of a misunderstanding about the purpose of developing the new residences.
After a market study, developers found that there was a demand for additional affordable housing for people who already live in the area, said Doug Carpenter, communications manager for Belmont.
The corporation, which administers federal Department of Housing and Urban Development projects, followed the same procedure it did for the other projects that it has built in Western New York in the last 30-plus years, Carpenter said.
“Before anybody will give you any money to build anything, they want to see documentation that there is, in fact, a need,” Carpenter said, “and that the money is actually being invested in something that will actually be a benefit to the community.”
Belmont built a 24-unit community called Niagara Village of Witmer Road in 1997. It has more than 600 apartments in 14 complexes in Western New York.
Most of the people who move into the complexes usually are already living in the community, and there is currently a waiting list of more than 120 people who want to live in these town homes, Carpenter said.
Since the controversy died down, conditions generally have been quiet on the campus, Carpenter added.
“Life is going on as normal because, in large part, the folks that live there already lived in the area,” he said.”
Bonnie and Mike Hulbert said they were one of the first few families to move into the complex.
Both are retired and had their own home in the Town of Tonawanda. They moved to Shawnee Landing after each was struck with an illness, and maintaining their home became more difficult, Bonnie Hulbert said.
Hulbert said she heard about the project through news coverage of the controversy but did not hesitate to inquire about an opportunity to move there.
Situation calms down
Neighbors who were critical of the proposal were not out of line in raising objections, said the Kenmore native, who noted that living at Shawnee Landing is convenient for her and her husband.
“I could understand their concern,” she said, “but it’s well-policed and very well-maintained.”
Ron Dworzanski, the town’s head constable and an investigator with the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office, said that there were some complaints when tenants first moved in, many of which related to young people walking to a nearby convenience store. Dworzanski attributes that original wave of calls to all the publicity surrounding the project.
Through working with the complex’s management, the situation has “calmed down,” and the problems seen at the town homes are similar to those found elsewhere, Dworzanski said.
There are two things the town still has to do for the site: clean a drainage ditch along Klemer and Demler roads, as well as install a berm at the end of Demler Road. Town Highway Department crews began work on both last week, Demler said.
The town supervisor said regular police patrols are made on the campus by both town constables and the Sheriff’s Office.
“There have been a few incidents,” Demler said, “but nothing that doesn’t happen in other neighborhoods.”
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