Town of Niagara provides playground updates

By Benjamin Joe

The Town of Niagara’s Gary Guiliani Park, also known as Colonial Village Park, was sold for $30,000 to David Gaines, a lifetime resident of the town.

According to Councilman Marc Carpenter, who acted as deputy supervisor at the town’s regular business meeting June 17 during Supervisor Sylvia Virtuoso’s absence, the park had been underutilized and, rather than wait for a developer to buy the property, Gaines had volunteered to own and maintain the park as it is today.

At least almost.

Carpenter noted, before the Town Board voted unanimously to approve of the sale, the playground equipment in the Gary Guiliani Park would be moved to the town’s main park where it will retain the name Gary Guiliani Playground.

“Before I make the motion, I just want to let the audience know that Colonial Park Playground had been underutilized … the thought process of the Town Board and the town supervisor was to put that property up for sale and move the playground to the Town Park,” Carpenter said. “We found a resident who lives near there and has several family members who live right by the park, David Gaines, sitting right here with his family. He offered to buy the property for $30,000. That was our asking price and he agreed to it.”

For Gaines’ part of it, the park has been a part of his entire life.

“It’s just my childhood playground and I live right next to it,” he said after the meeting to questions on his reason to buy Gary Guiliani Park.

While the park will not be open to the public, Gaines said he was happy to make sure, through his ownership, that it wouldn’t turn into “something else.”

“I’m just trying to save it from turning into something else,” Gaines said. “What I’ll do with it down the road, I don’t know, but right now my plan is to just keep it nice.”

In other news

The Town of Niagara Town Board also voted unanimously to support the Pro-Housing Communities Resolution without any discussion.

The resolution states the town is aware of a “housing crisis” in New York and believes the lack of housing for New Yorkers “negatively impacts the future of New York state’s economic growth and community well-being.”

To that point, the town pledged toward “streamlining permitting for multifamily housing, affordable housing, accessible housing, accessory dwelling units and supportive housing.”

The board also pledged to adopt policies that further fair housing, incorporate regional housing needs into its plans, increase development capacity for residential use, and enact policies that help “a broad range of housing development, including multifamily housing, affordable housing, accessible housing, accessory dwelling units and supportive housing.”

The resolution also noted that walkable communities and less sprawl benefit public health, as well as have positive effects on the environment.