Grand Island Town Board weighs in on Seneca land

Letter to feds seeks to deny bid for tax-free status

By Karen Carr Keefe

Senior Contributing Writer

The Town of Grand Island does not want the Seneca Nation of Indians’ newly acquired land on Long Road to be taken off town tax rolls.

Supervisor Peter Marston has sent a letter to the secretary of the interior opposing the Seneca Nation’s bid to gain tax-free status for the land that Acquest Development recently sold to them for $1.

On Dec. 20, 2025, the Seneca Nation announced that Acquest owners William and Michael Huntress transferred title to 207 acres of land at 2780 Long Road to the Seneca Nation. The transaction was then approved by the Seneca Nation Council. Acquest had recently dropped its longstanding plans to build a warehouse or distribution center on the land and announced the intention to sue the town over zoning changes.

The site is located west of I-190 between Long and Bedell roads. The land currently has multiple zoning designations, with the eastern 141 acres closest to I-190 currently zoned for industrial uses and the western 66 acres currently zoned for residential.

At Monday’s Town Board meeting, council members approved sending the letter to Interior Secretary Douglas Burgum. It is in response to a request by the Seneca Nation to Burgum to have the property placed in “restricted fee status.”

Gaining that status would mean the Seneca Nation would not be subject to state and local taxation and jurisdiction, the town’s letter stated.

The town’s letter reads: “The Town respectfully but firmly opposes conversion of the property to restricted fee status. We welcome the Seneca Nation as landowners and neighbors on Grand Island and value our relationship with the Nation. However, we believe this particular acquisition does not satisfy the statutory requirements for restricted fee status” and the removal of the property from the tax roll “would cause significant adverse impacts to the Town and School District.”

Marston said, “We were invited as part of the process for the (Seneca Nation of) Indians to take sovereign land.”

“As part of the process on taking sovereign land, they have to reach out to the surrounding community and ask for comment,” he said. “The potential impact that this would have to our community and how this looks for us going forward – and all that.”

“Our responses aren’t designed to stop anything from occurring. It’s more like just caution here, caution there. We are concerned about this; we are concerned about that, because the property fits into a bigger system in many ways,” Marston said.

He added that it’s a way to say to the Seneca Nation, “Let’s please work together on these things in the future so that the community doesn’t have to greatly be impacted and that we can service your property appropriately.”

“There’s a little bit of a varying opinion on the (Town) Board to it, on what this should be and shouldn’t be … of course I think that’s even in the community,” Marston said.

He said the Seneca Nation may or may not wish to pursue the potential of designating the land as sovereign.

Marston said, “Our message is twofold. First of all, ‘Welcome, and we’re happy to work with you, but understand that we also we are very concerned about these components on that land because it’s part of a bigger picture.’ ”

Some of the concerns Marston cited, “There’s wastewater that crosses the property. There’s a substantial amount of stormwater that’s been naturally channelized there over time and we’ve had, actually, work easements there to go and clean this out and channel it.”

He said the property carries water that probably comes from as far away as Whitehaven Road, if not farther. All the numbered streets in that section of Grand Island would potentially be affected, should there be flooding.

“So, if they were just to build a brick wall and say ‘No, this is sovereign land,’ that would really be detrimental to Grand Island and it would probably, literally, flood a bunch of Grand Island homes,” Marston said. “We just want to make sure that they’re aware of the contingencies.”

The letter cites the potential tax revenue loss if the Long Road property were to gain restricted fee status.

“The property generates more than $20,000 annually in property taxes. If developed to a beneficial use of the town, the property could generate many times that amount in annual tax revenue, plus increased economic activity and local jobs.”

The letter also states that adverse impacts would be felt if used for residential purposes, placing increased demands on municipal services and school systems “without contributing to the tax rolls to offset these costs.”

The letter also reads, “While the Nation has not identified to the town a proposed use for the property … any potential approval of restricted fee status should be deferred until the Nation has provided additional information regarding its proposed use of the property and the impact on the town’s infrastructure and other environmental impacts have been assessed.”

Marston said most of the feedback he has received from Grand Island residents about the Seneca Nation gaining the property “has been just a concern for not knowing – the unknown, because it really just put a huge question mark over everything.”

He said, “Once we get some answers from them, even if we don’t love their response, it’ll help us to make it work the best for us.”

Marston added that he wants residents to understand that, even if the topic doesn’t come up at every Town Board meeting, “The town is very engaged. The town is working very hard. And the town is doing the best they can to get the best product for the town.”

Seneca Nation President J.C. Seneca said in a Dec. 20 news release, “We don’t have any definite plans for the land yet, but a site of this size and in this location creates a number of potential economic development opportunities. As we continue to try to grow and strengthen our economy and provide for the quality-of-life needs for our people, land is a vital asset. We’ll take a strategic look at how we can put this newly reclaimed site to the best use in meeting the long-term needs of our Nation.”

For more information on “restricted fee land,” “trust land” and tribal sovereignty, go to

https://www.bia.gov/bia/ots/fee-to-trust.