Town of Wheatfield receives proposal to develop corner of Nash Road & Niagara Falls Blvd

By Benjamin Joe

A new Circle K gas station, a Wendy’s restaurant and potentially a second drive-thru restaurant on the corner of Nash Road and Niagara Falls Boulevard has been proposed in the Town of Wheatfield, according to Engineer Tim Zuber.

Zuber reported to the Town Board at its regular business meeting on Monday that an applicant submitted the plan to the Town of Wheatfield Planning Board on Jan. 21.
The news was met with concern by Supervisor Don MacSwan. He noted that, when Tim Hortons was built on Niagara Falls Boulevard, the board put many restrictions upon its opening, including parking. He said he wasn’t sure if this development could accommodate the space in a safe manner.

“I would love to see that corner developed, but I have serious concerns about it,” MacSwan said.

Zuber said he believed the applicant would have to revise a large part of its site plan, noting the current one did not take into account a certain regulation of the Niagara Falls Boulevard overlay district in Wheatfield, the 50-foot landscaping buffer between commercial and residential spaces.

He also said MacSwan’s concerns were already being shared with the applicant by the Planning Board.

“I think the message the applicant left with was this is an awful lot to pack in a little space there,” Zuber said. “If it were just these stores, that’s one thing, but there’s an eight-pump (gas) island out in the front of it.”

Zuber also noted it is very early in the process and the applicant is “just getting its ideas out there,” but he would keep the board and MacSwan informed as to the plan and any changes made to it.

In other news

•Wheatfield Assessor Kelli Coughlin gave her report announcing all exemptions must be in by March 1 in order to be processed for the 2025 tax season.

“Taxable status day is March 1, so anybody that has exemptions,” she said. “Agricultural exemptions, the seniors with limited discounts, anybody who wants to apply for new veterans or they have a higher disability rating, all of it has to be in my office by March 1.”

Coughlin also said the new veteran exemptions pertaining to eliminating property taxes for disabled veterans will not be applicable until next year. The forms for the exemption will be available in October.

Coughlin said her office sent out a letter of explanation to residents who are 100% disabled veterans known to live in Wheatfield. Several veterans have since called her and she has told them what she knows.

“What we’re trying to tell them is that it’s not taking effect until next year,” Coughlin said. “Let us get more information and, since they received a letter from us, obviously they’re on our list, so anything new and any updates we get we will send them out. And then when the exemption form comes in, we will send them out to everybody and tell them what we’d expect them to prove to us and then we’ll go from there.”

•Highway Superintendent Paul Siegmann was approved to buy and sell equipment. He received permission buy a new Volvo loader for $297,891, which was budgeted for this year, but also approval to purchase an extended three-year warranty for an additional $8,043.

The warranty was not budgeted, but the Town Board decided it was worth it. Councilman Randy Retzlaff said he’d had some car trouble and such a warranty would’ve been helpful.

Siegmann was also approved to sell five pieces of equipment on Auction International, covering the expense. The total sale came to $10,765 and included a 2008 Ford 1-ton dump truck for $7,800, a blacktop sealer for $1,825, an asphalt block for $520, a small salter for $360, and buckets for a grade all-wheeled excavator for $260.