Jeff Palumbo, Land Use & Zoning Practice Area co-chair, is quoted in the Buffalo News article “Wendy’s Proposed at Former OTB on McKinley Parkway” regarding Arista Development’s plan to build a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant after knocking down a vacant former Western Regional Off-Track Betting facility in South Buffalo. The original plan design featured drive-through lanes in the front of the building—a contentious element for city officials and neighborhood residents. However, Arista redesigned the plan before submitting for review so that both the drive-through lane and 22 parking spaces would be in the rear of the building.
About the redesign, Jeff, who represents the project, said, “Wendy’s had hard all of the discussion taking place in the last few months with the [Zoning Board of Appeals] and the Planning Board regarding the Green Code and having the building closer to the street. So that site plan was changed. That’s a major concession that Wendy’s has made prior to even filing the application. We hope the board feels the same way.”
With regard the project’s design, Jeff said, “We spent a lot of time on this. It’s not something we rushed into. We did what we thought was the most important thing for the board, putting the drive through and parking in the rear.”
Buffalo News subscribers can read the full article here.