3.0 Land Use and Development - Town of Amherst

TOWN OF AMHERST BICENTENNIAL COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
• Office infill development between Wehrle Drive and Sheridan
Drive in southeast Amherst. Because office development in
this area is occurring in close proximity to residential uses,
close attention must be paid to site/design criteria pertaining
to buffering and access management to avoid conflicts with
established neighborhoods and commercial corridors.
Appropriately scaled business and professional offices can be
complementary components of designated commercial and
mixed-use centers. These offices can be pedestrian- or
automobile-oriented and serve local residents, businesses, and
institutions, as well as provide the employment component of
live-work establishments in mixed-use centers.
The Conceptual Land Use Plan recognizes the location of
commercial offices outside of designated office or business parks.
These individual office developments may not require large parcels
and can therefore be accommodated on sites at locations within
Plan-designated Commercial, Office, Industrial and Mixed-Use
areas. As existing office parks become filled and fewer large sites
are available for new office parks, there is expected to be increased
pressure to locate individual offices on smaller sites in developed
areas. In addition, the following principles should be used to assist
in reviewing such office proposals:
• Located along arterial roads as identified on Figure 9
(Future Thoroughfare System).
• Mid-block locations should be avoided.
• Sited within close proximity to existing office or
commercial sites.
• Sites should provide an opportunity for access
management with adjacent properties.
• The site should produce minimal impact on residential
neighborhoods or uses.
• The site should provide sufficient space for landscape
buffers, especially to adjacent residential uses.
Industrial Uses
Due in part to the industrial legacy of the Buffalo region, early
planning for the Town designated significant areas for industrial
use. With the contraction of primary industrial activity in the
region, the nature of these uses changed to smaller-scale
manufacturing, distribution, and warehousing activities. The
primary existing industrial land concentrations are located in the
southeastern corner of the Town near the Buffalo-Niagara
International Airport (Wehrle Industrial Park) and in the
northwestern corner of the Town north of the I-290/Sweet
Home Road interchange (Audubon Industrial Park). Additional
locations designated for industrial/office use include:
Town Board Adopted Plan (Amended March 2009) – Land Use and Development 3-35