The $ 26,000 high bid to buy county-owned waterfront property near
Sturgeon Point must be rejected, county legislators said Thursday, noting
that county tax officials suggested the land is worth at least $ 660,000.
    Bert Villarini, R-Hamburg, said he and Joan K. Bozer, D-Buffalo, will
sponsor a move to reject the bid, which requires the County Legislature's
approval.
    "The amount that was bid is a lot different than we thought we could get,"
Villarini said.
    Deputy Finance Commissioner Robert Kowalewski, who proposed selling the
52.5 acres in the Town of Evans, said selling the property for $26,000
would be "ludicrous."
    He suggested that opposition by some residents and environmentalists to
selling the property discouraged developers from submitting higher bids.
    "No developer is going to walk in where there is already a group of people
trying to stop them," he said.
    He added that Wednesday's property auction was advertised here, in Toronto
and in the New York Times.
    Villarini has proposed a compromise, with the county holding the lakefront
portion of the property for expansion of the nearby Sturgeon Point Marina
or other public use and selling the rest of the parcel for residential
development.
    His proposal is supported by Frank Parlato, one of the environmentalist
leaders.
    "Our forces have increased tenfold since yesterday," Parlato said Thursday,
one day after the county auction of the property.
    Two city Democrats, Albert DeBenedetti and Gregory B. Olma, said the time
is coming for opponents of development to put up or shut up.
    "This is one of the most duplicitous and shallow maneuverings by a large
number of parties I've ever seen," said Olma, who described the area as
"just scrubland" and "a cliff."
    Parlato defended his move to save the property from private development.
    "I would not feel bad if that cliff was preserved forever," he said.
    "It adds to the character of the marina to see this gorgeous cliff vista.
Tell the people 150 years from now, 'This is what Lake Erie used to look
like.' And some of that land he calls scrub could be used for parking. The
marina needs more parking."
    Brian D. Rusk, R-Williamsville, said he has read that real estate developer
Peter Hunt might be interested in buying the Sturgeon Point land. Hunt owns
a nearby 53-acre site where he plans to build nine homes.
    Rusk suggested that county officials and Hunt "go out there together."
    Villarini said he plans to talk to the Evans Town Board, which is
considering a new master plan, about what to do with the property.
    Olma said any gift of the property to Evans should include a reversion
clause so that the town cannot sell it for condominiums.