Churchville board hears about LDCs

Churchville board hears about LDCs

Churchville Village Board members began their October 22 meeting with a presentation on Local Development Corporations or LDCs. Jennifer Chadwick, Esq. of Lacy Katzen LLP spoke to trustees about forming an LDC as a tool for economic development and grants.

Churchville Mayor Nancy Steedman said after the meeting that Chadwick had first talked to the board about LDCs in 2005 and she felt the time was right to have her back, "We invited her back to give us some details on what the LDCs can do, how to form one and other pointers. Several villages in our area already have them and it would be beneficial for the Village of Churchville to have one when it is needed. It would be a benefit to the community and it is the perfect time to do it," Steedman said. She anticipates that there would be at least one village board member on the board of directors of the LDC, but that would be determined at a future time.

The village is also currently looking into applying for a Main Street Grant in an effort to keep Main Street vibrant, Steedman said. She said John Steinmetz, president of Steinmetz Planning Group, has been brought in to help lead the village in the process of obtaining the grant. As a first step in the process, Steinmetz will lead a meeting planned for November 15 at 7 p.m. at the Village Hall for property owners from the central business district. "He will hold an initial meeting to see if there is any interest (in the grant) among property owners," Steedman said. "If there is then we will hire John to write up the grant. The Main Street grant is for property owners for the enhancement of our Main Street, to keep the vitality of it going."

During the village board meeting, Steedman expressed her enthusiasm over getting together with property owners. "I'm looking forward to that meeting very much," she said. Steinmetz was in attendance at the board meeting to discuss plans for the November 15 meeting.

In other business, the board adopted Local Law #6 - 2007 on the re-zoning of two separate parcels at the Taylor Farms development. The property is located at the corner of E. Buffalo Street and Parnell Drive and is owned by James Wilkins Jr. A public hearing at which no one spoke was held on the law before the vote. Prior to the vote, Steedman told the board, "This is a good thing to be happening, a great project. I am looking forward to it moving on." Later, she said the re-zoning "... straightens out some zoning. Now there are two zones in this section of property. One is zoned business (as it was before) and that is where the proposed credit union will go. The other is zoned residential and that is where Jim Wilkins can continue to build some more homes that will be part of Taylor Farms."