DEVELOPMENT: Zoning suit against McDonald’s reinstated

Local News

May 4, 2009

Anonymous The Lockport Union-Sun %26 Journal Mon May 04, 2009, 06:48 PM EDT

TOWN OF LOCKPORT — A Hamm Road homeowner’s lawsuit against the town and McDonald’s restaurant has been reinstated.

The appellate division of State Supreme Court ruled last week the suit by Brian and Bruce Yaeger, challenging the planning and zoning approvals granted McDonald’s to site a new restaurant on South Transit Road at Hamm Road, was dismissed erroneously by Justice Frank Caruso in October 2007.

The ruling means the suit “just comes back,” Town Attorney Daniel E. Seaman said Monday. “It’s essentially like starting over.”

The Yaeger brothers, owners of residential-commercial lot 6220 Hamm Road, just east of the McDonald’s lot, claimed the McDonald’s site plan effectively ruined the future commercial appeal of their property. In public hearings preceding the planning and zoning approvals, Brian Yaeger said he wanted the option of his lot and McDonalds’ lot being connected but the approved site plan made that impossible.

Zoning laws require internal, off-street access between adjoining commercial properties but the town did not require McDonald’s to facilitate connectivity. The Yaegers’ suit thus sought to have the town approvals nullified.

Caruso dismissed the suit on a technicality argued by McDonald’s: the Yaegers did not name Dave Licata, the then-owner of the McDonald’s lot, as a defendant.

The four-judge appellate panel ruled unanimously that Caruso should have summoned Licata to proceedings, not dismissed the suit without hearing the Yaegers’ complaints. McDonald’s has since acquired the property so Licata no longer is a party to the suit, the panel noted. The restaurant was built and is operating on the site.

The Yaeger brothers declined to comment on the ruling Monday.

Text Only

Local News

WIlson jumps on the 'bin wagon'
Modern Recycling’s upgraded plan has received a warm response some town residents.
The town plans to go from 14-gallon open bins to 65-gallon carts with lids in April. Modern representatives explained the project, put the recycling truck in action and showed of three 32-pound blue and green carts that can withstand 43 mph winds.
The display carts had transparent sides in order to let the residents know the variety of materials that can be recycled.

February 9, 2012
Reform agenda touted
Empire State Development Corporation executive Sam Hoyt visited Lockport on Wednesday to tout Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s state budget and government reform plans.
Changing the way the state does business will bring fiscal relief to counties, cities and towns, eventually, Hoyt suggested.
It’s too bad the reforms won’t kick in before municipalities like the City of Lockport begin confronting fiscal crises, Mayor Michael Tucker said in response.

February 9, 2012 2 Photos
Tucker: 'Best days lie ahead'
The City of Lockport government is smaller than it was 18 months ago but is in a stronger financial place, Mayor Michael W. Tucker said in his annual State of the City address.

February 8, 2012 1 Photo
Trio of new classes proposed for Newfane
Newfane High School could have three new business courses in the fall, one of which would center on video game design.

February 8, 2012
Municipalities take wait-and-see approach on SPCA funding
The City and Town of Lockport are each withholding payments to the Niagara SPCA, while other Eastern Niagara County towns are taking a wait-and-see approach.

February 7, 2012 1 Photo 2 Stories
Rocky II
Friends of Deputy Craig Beiter of the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department plan a benefit on Feb. 26 to raise money to buy and train a new dog for the K-9 Unit.
Beiter’s German shepherd, Deputy Rocky, was killed while on duty in December, and the sheriff’s department is close to getting a replacement.

February 6, 2012 1 Photo 2 Stories
Basket Factory closes
The Basket Factory has gone out of business.
The owners, Julie Thompson Riegle and Dawn Thompson, made the difficult decision last Monday and put the sign on the door Tuesday.

February 6, 2012
No snow is no problem
Unseasonably warm weather didn’t keep Roy-Hart Winterfest from being a fun day for the families who came out to Roy-Hart Elementary School on Saturday.
More than 500 people attended the third annual festivities, which Gasport Lions Club officials said was a big increase from last year. The halls of Roy-Hart Elementary were filled with vendors, programs and movement as excited children rushed from one activity to another.

February 6, 2012
Shovel-ready park has perks
At first glance, the big, orange road sign announcing vacant property on Lockport Road as a “shovel ready certified” building site seems a bit gratuitous.
To companies looking for new places to launch a business, it’s not. The sign in their eyes is a welcome mat, for in three words a community pronounced itself ready, willing and able to make a deal quickly.

February 3, 2012 1 Photo
Roy-Hart to play the big stage
A group of local students will be performing this month at Kleinhans Music Hall just before a BPO concert.
The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra will welcome the Royalton-Hartland High School Mixed Chorus as part of the BPO’s Community Spotlight program on Feb. 19 at Kleinhans in Buffalo. The chorus will perform under the direction of Carolyn Unitas Roos and accompanied by Janice McKinney.

February 3, 2012
More Local News Headlines

Local News

Search Results

DEVELOPMENT: Zoning suit against McDonald’s reinstated

Site Map

Contact Us