BY KEVIN PURDY
Wheatfield — The planners of the “Magical Lands of Oz” project have given the public its first view of the scope of the proposed theme park, as well as an outline of the impact it could have around the park and on the town as a whole.
The Town Board on Wednesday made the first copies of a generic, outline-form environmental impact statement available and voted to hold a hearing at 7 p.m. May 1 at the town community center to give the public its chance to comment on the project and its evaluation outline.
Wheatfield has assumed lead agency status in reviewing whether to grant the project approval based on a completed impact statement. Town officials and Oz Central founder Richard Burch have met with state Department of Environmental Conservation officials recently to review preliminary plans and outline the public presentation process.
Supervisor Timothy Demler said that while Oz Central has not yet officially announced that Wheatfield is the definite home of the project, “an announcement is forthcoming in the next few weeks ... and I think people can draw their own conclusions, based on what (Oz Central) has invested so far.”
Demler said Wednesday that the project is funded “from $752 million to $1 billion dollars” and could create more than 5,000 jobs, along with construction work.
The 33-page scoping document will be available at public sites in and around Wheatfield, on the town Web site and will be mailed to an estimated 260 residents in the area around the projected 800-acre site.
The document details three phases of a park projected to take up about 800 acres in the southwest corner of the town, and requiring an extension of the LaSalle Expressway and other infrastructure improvements to create multiple entryways.
At Wednesday’s meeting, called late last week and attended by only two members of the public, Demler said at least five more public meetings and hearings would be held before even preliminary approval could be granted to the project.
He also said the plans have been “fine-tuned” over the past six months, but for good reason.
“The project has been moving steadily,” Demler said. “(Oz Central) were in no hurry. They wanted to make sure it was done right, not done fast.”
Contact Kevin Purdy at 282-2311, Ext. 2251.
Where to get the “Oz” documents
Copies of the Magical Land of Oz project’s draft scoping document, providing an outline of possible environmental and community impacts, are available for public review at the following sites, during normal hours of operation:
• Wheatfield Town Hall, 2800 Church Road
• Sanborn-Pekin Free Library, 5884 West St., Sanborn
• North Tonawanda Public Library, 505 Meadow Drive,
• Summit Park Mall, 6929 Williams Road, Wheatfield
• Niagara Falls Public Library, LaSalle Branch, 8728 Buffalo Ave.
The document is also slated to be available later today at Wheatfield’s town Web site, http://wheatfield.ny.us. Residents living near the southwest portion of town (namely the portions of Williams Road, Lancelot Drive, Jagow Road and Liberty Drive) will also receive copies in the mail.
If you go
• What: Public scoping meeting
• When: 7 p.m. May 1 at the Town of Wheatfield Community Center, 2790 Church Road
• OR: Written comments also will be accepted until May 17 and can be mailed to: Timothy G. Walck, Wendel Duchscherer Architects and Engineering, P.C., 140 John James Audobon Parkway, Suite 201, Amherst, NY 14228
