Town of Niagara to hold public hearing on green building

By Benjamin Joe

A tax exemption for green builds is one step closer to being a reality in the Town of Niagara.

A public hearing to allow such builds to remain tax-free for six-years has been scheduled for Aug. 19 at the town’s regular business meeting. The local law will not be voted on that night.

Discussion in a work session on Tuesday led to the decision to table the vote for another month and hold a public hearing.

“This is a tax exemption for improvements, so someone has a vacant lot and they build a house that’s all green, there’s a 100% exemption on the building,” said Michael Risman, Town of Niagara attorney. “It’s to incentivize green building.

“The county has passed an identical law that I prepared. … (But) it says that a municipal corporation may establish a maximum exemption. … You can adopt it as it is, which is what the county did, or you can put some sort of limit.”

In other news:

•Wieslaw Walawender, a landowner on Birch Avenue, appeared before the Town Board and asked to declare his plans for two vacant properties.

Supervisor Sylvia Virtuoso, though absent from the work session, said she is concerned about such properties in the town, and this was communicated to Walawender by Risman.

Walawender has owned the properties for over 15 years and has not yet succeeded in changing their vacant status.

“You see this letter that he says, ‘Oh, we can do this,’ or ‘We can do this,’ but it’s not really detailed,” Risman said. “He admits he has to tear down half of it, but this is a guy who historically talks about fixing it, but 18 years later. …”

Town Building Inspector Charles Haseley also noted one of the properties cannot be repaired because the town code says that, if over 50% has to be demolished, no building permit can be given.

“I condemned that building several times, but he always had a building permit to repair – but this is beyond repair,” Haseley said.

Earlier in the meeting, Walawender said something fell from the sky and put a hole in the roof of an addition to the structure. That addition has to be torn down, he said.

“I do possess skills and money,” Walawender said, asking for time to repair the buildings.

While Walawender submitted a letter with a summary of the properties, he did not include a detailed plan of what needs to be fixed, including an itemized list.

After the meeting, Risman said an October public hearing would be the next step in addressing the vacant buildings.

•An emergency Town Board meeting was called to allow for the emergency demolition of 6309 Manor Road, which was engulfed in flames earlier Tuesday.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, but officials voted to demolish it as it is an unsafe structure.