Talking Points Memo

PROPOSED COMMENTS ON THE REVISED UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE (Green Code)

For Public Hearings—Nov 14 at 6 PM and Nov. 22 at 2 PM—in Council Chambers, City Hall 

Prepared by the Our Outer Harbor Campaign, November, 2016

THE MESSAGE:  
-No private uses on public lands which means:
-No housing on Outer Harbor public lands!
-Specifically on Buffalo River across from Inner Harbor
​-Should be public as a gateway park!


Specific Request: 
Change housing designation [N-3E “Mixed-use edge”] to [D-OG] on former NYPA lands on the Buffalo River across from the Inner Harbor, currently being used as marina. 

​ALERT: No housing at this site on the Outer Harbor!
​

                                                         Why?
- Violates the smart growth, walkability and sustainability principles of the UDO. Housing here would be over a 3 mile drive (over an hour walk in good conditions) from the next nearest residential neighborhood and services​

-Violates general standards for projects in the Outer Harbor Special Review Area, including standards that would limit new uses based on the public burden for new services to support them; and on their potential to impede public enjoyment of adjacent areas. (UDO. Ch. 11-2 to 11-16)

-Reduces public access and land available for water-dependent uses as per LWRP

-Subtracts resources from central city, including already underserved Buffalo neighborhoods

-Detracts from the ecology, wildlife, recreational and educational values of adjacent Time Beach Nature Preserve as a part of globally Important Bird Area (zoned D-ON). 

-Exposes potential residents to extreme weather conditions of the Outer Harbor that include: vulnerability as a floodplain, exposure to high Lake Erie winds, snow and seiche effects, limited connectivity to the urban core, and lack of access to amenities.

​-Perpetuates ‘exclusionary’ and segregated housing as market rate on OH would be beyond the resources of most of the citizens of Buffalo but services would be paid for by all.  

Green Code Alert  Public Hearings Scheduled

Outer Harbor Green Code Map