The Benchmark Group of Amherst has officially withdrawn plans
to construct a Best Buy Appliance store on Koenig road, at Niagara
Falls Boulevard near the Youngmann Highway.
    The developer's plan was vigorously opposed by neighbors, since it involved the tearing down of five homes on what is now an exclusively residential and tree- lined area.
    In a letter to town supervisor Carl Calabrese dated April 26, Kim
Fiedler, vice president of Benchmark's retail division, wrote that it was not "in the best interest of the community or our company to
engage in this course of action."
    Gary Burr, one of the leaders of the ad-hoc group of neighbors, who helped organized mass meetings at the Zion Church on Koenig Circle, was elated at the surprise reversal of
Benchmark's plans.
    "This issue is over. I'm thrilled.
We undid the 'done-deal,' " he said.
    More than 230 people attended the meeting orchestrated by Burr and neighbors in January to meet with Fiedler and representatives of the Best Buy Appliance chain which has
its corporate headquarters in Minneapolis Minn.
    At that meeting, residents expressed dissatisfaction with the
Benchmark proposal for a 45,000-square foot facility.
    Perhaps just as significantly, at that meeting, three Erie county legislators, William Pauly (R-Amherst), Chuck Swanick (D-Kenmore) and majority leader Len Lenihan (D-Tonawanda) appeared and surprised both the developer and the large
crowd by announcing their clamant opposition to the Benchmark proposal.
    It was considered by some observers as an unusually bold move
on the part of the county legislators, since the proposal is technically not a county, but a town, issue.
    However, all three legislators defended their decision to get involved.
    "This particular situation was a classic example of the commercial sector attempting to encroach on the residential in a predatory fashion,"
Pauly said. "If it had succeeded it would have put in jeopardy other
similar neighborhoods.
    "Chuck (Swanick) Len (Lenihan) and I agreed. We just did not feel comfortable standing by on this."
    Fiedler, however, in a phone interview with the NEWS in February, expressed his displeasure at the legislators' involvement in what was, according to him, a town issue.
    However, Swanick rebutted, "The people spoke loud and clear. The zoning rules and guidelines for the town were established to protect the neighbors and should not be tampered with....just to accommodate an appliance store. Once the door of spot re-zoning is opened, it can't be closed. It would have set a precedent
that could impact Sheridan, Eggert, Delaware and Colvin."
    Town Supervisor Carl Calabrese, who, to protect the town from potential litigation, had remained neutral prior to receiving any official request by Benchmark for re-zoning, closely monitored the situation.
    Calabrese attended all the meetings with neighbors and representatives of Benchmark and personally fielded calls from more than 100 concerned town residents.
    While indicating that he was glad that the matter is "resolved" to the satisfaction of neighbors, he also said the Benchmark Group, handled themselves in a "very professional" manner in their meetings with the neighbors and town officials.
    "They looked at feasibility and ultimately deferred to the neighbors concerns," Calabrese said. "I commend them for it."
    However, Calabrese at one point prodded the developer into making some kind of decision.
    On March 8, after a lapse of about two months, while neighbors were on pins and needles wondering what would be the fate of their neighborhood and during which time Benchmark had Indicated it was working on feasibility studies, Calabrese fired off a letter to the group urging them to make haste about announcing their
plans one way or the other.
    Benchmark, in defending its original plans, pointed to the increase in revenue that the huge edifice would add to the town tax base, the increase in new jobs the store would create, and the advantage that a new appliance store would be for the area.
    Neighbors alarmed at having a mega-store 40 times bigger than their residences, pointed out that most of the jobs created would be low paying and that there was already a glut of appliance stores nearby.
    John Dengler, secretary ot the powerful Kenmore Merchants Association, noted the widespread opposition felt by members of. his group. In a letter to Calabrese, the merchants' group indicated that they feared that spot re-zoning could destroy the character of the town and village.
    Mike Sandone, who lives on Braxmar, in Green Acres, about, a
third of a mile away, would not have been impacted directly by
Benchmark's proposal, yet he signed petitions and Kept closely abreast of the issue, "I'm really elated about it, really excited (about Benchmark's decision to withdraw)" Sandone said. "This
will help keep our neighborhood residential."
    While residents wrested a victory on this neighborhood threat they have another issue looming.
    The Sun Oil company is proposing to cut down many of the stately trees on the block to clear a path over an underground pipeline. The residents have opposed this adamantly and even threatened to organize a boycott of Sun Oil products.
"The local residents are already involved in a struggle with Sun Oil.
pipeline and may not be able to objectively evaluate the pros and cons ' of (our) commercial development," Fiedler wrote to Calabrese.
    Benchmark group is general partner of the Boulevard Mall and developed the Wall Mart and Home Depot on the boulevard in Amherst: '