A warehouse cleared after 18 conditions · An attorney recused · A 43,000 sq ft retail plan denied — on purpose
In a brisk 33-minute session, the Clarence Planning Board granted concept-plan approval to Zang Ventures' 9,000-square-foot warehouse addition at 6204 Goodrich Road — but only after attaching eighteen conditions and securing the applicant's on-the-record agreement to every one. The town attorney's office recused itself from that hearing over a conflict. Then the board took up a much larger project: a 43,000-square-foot retail building for LENCO Supplies on the old Bitterman's automotive site at 7631 Transit Road. It issued the environmental clearance the applicant needed — and in the same breath denied the concept plan, a deliberate procedural move that routes the project to the Zoning Board of Appeals for a use variance the zone otherwise forbids.
When the board opened its first hearing of the night, Director of Community Development Jonathan Bleuer[*] walked through a year of process. The town board had referred Zang Ventures, Inc.'s proposal to the Planning Board in March 2025; the board initiated coordinated environmental review under SEQR[*] that April, issued a negative declaration in July, and in January 2026 the Zoning Board of Appeals granted a side-yard setback variance. By Wednesday, the board had the authority to act.[1]
But first, a conflict. "Mr. Donohue from the Attorney's Office has recused himself from this particular hearing because of his association with the applicant,"[1] the chair noted before the applicants introduced themselves — Michael Zang, and architect Clemente Tafoya[*] of Carmina Wood Morris Design[*].
The project is a 9,000-square-foot pre-engineered warehouse addition behind the existing building, which houses the family's business — H.C. Zang Agency[*], a seller of commercial electrical equipment. Board member Daniel Tytka[*] led the questioning, pressing on the matters that recur in every flex-space review: how many bays the family would occupy versus lease out, parking, stormwater, lighting, and a conspicuously wide rear pavement.
On occupancy, Zang was candid that the plan is fluid: "My brother who runs the family business has been leaning more in the direction of… maybe we want to use the entire thing for ourselves."[1] COVID-era supply delays, he said, had forced the company to stack inventory in the parking lot. The front 6,000-odd square feet is leased to a soccer trainer for one-on-one and small-group sessions, with Clarence Soccer using it Friday nights — a low-volume use the family has actively managed, declining to renew one Sunday subtenant whose crowd "was leaking out into the local community."[1]
The lone public speaker, Dale Cameron, asked a single practical question — whether the six bays would get restrooms. The answer: plumbing roughed in for all six, but no bathroom built out for now.[1]
Tytka[*] then moved approval subject to 18 conditions — covering grading and drainage, fire code, development-plan review, sewer-flow approval, a landscape-committee sign-off with a perpetual maintenance plan, dark-sky-compliant lighting shielded from neighbors, building-material quality standards, screened mechanicals, and a stipulation that any operator beyond H.C. Zang Agency itself returns for town review. Chairman Robert Sackett[*] walked the applicant through it on the record: "Did you hear all 18 conditions? … Did you understand all 18 conditions? … Do you agree to all 18 conditions?"[1] Yes to each. The motion carried on roll call.
The night's larger project was the second item: a roughly 43,000-square-foot commercial retail building for LENCO Supplies, proposed by 7631 Transit Road LLC at the southeast corner of Transit Road and Wolcott — the former Bitterman's automotive complex, now demolished but for a single warehouse building on the east side that would be preserved and folded into the retail operation.[1]
The catch, as Bleuer[*] flagged up front: "Commercial operations such as this are not allowable in the zone."[1] The parcel sits in the Restricted Business zone, which permits only small-scale retail in a mixed-use setting. So the applicant's stated goal for the evening was narrow and strategic — get the environmental clearance done so the project could proceed to the Zoning Board of Appeals to pursue a use variance.
Representing the project: a designer from Carmina Wood Morris Design[*] and Kevin Coppola of LENCO Supplies. Board member Jason Geasling[*] handled questions — the preserved east building (already upgraded, to be developed further), removal of stray existing pavement, and a discrepancy between the plan's stated building dimensions and its elevation drawings, which the applicant agreed to correct.[1]
A neighbor at 8055 Wolcott Road raised the concerns nearest to home: standing water behind the existing building "for probably about six months of the year," and worsening traffic at the Wolcott–Transit corner.[1] The applicant said the oval feature is a dry detention basin, and that grading must by rule release no more stormwater off-site than today — likely less, and better channelized. On traffic, Bleuer noted the state DOT, which owns Transit Road, raised no concerns and did not require a signal-warrant analysis for Wolcott; DOT will still review the curb cut at the development stage.[1]
Then the procedural one-two. Geasling[*] moved to accept the environmental forms and issue a negative declaration under SEQR — passed on roll call. Immediately after, he moved to deny the concept plan, the board explaining on the record that because retail isn't allowed in the Restricted Business zone, a denial is the mechanism that sends the applicant to the ZBA: "If the applicant chooses to seek a use variance… and is successful, this proposal must return to the Planning Board for concept plan review."[1] That motion, too, carried — a denial everyone in the room understood as a green light to the next step.
In the Restricted Business zone, a 43,000 sq ft retail building isn't a permitted use, so the Planning Board can't approve a concept plan for it. Issuing the SEQR negative declaration first clears the environmental review the ZBA will rely on; the concept-plan denial then formally puts the project in front of the ZBA to request a use variance. If the ZBA grants it, LENCO returns to the Planning Board to start concept review for real.
Two agenda items, three recorded votes (plus minutes approval). The seven-member board, chaired by Robert Sackett: Vice-Chair Richard Bigler, 2nd Vice-Chair Wendy Salvati, and members Jason Geasling, Daniel Tytka, Keith Lukowski and Gregory Todaro — with Jason Lahti the likely absentee. Deputy Town Attorney David Donohue was recused for the Zang hearing. Member surnames verified against the Town's official April 15, 2026 Planning Board minutes.
Concept-plan approval for a 9,000 sq ft warehouse addition to the rear of the existing H.C. Zang Agency building, per the Carmina Wood Morris Design site plan (dated Jan. 8, 2026) and conceptual architectural drawings by Dean Architects (dated Feb. 24, 2026). Moved by Tytka, seconded, carried on roll call. Eighteen conditions attached, covering: town engineer grading/drainage standards; fire-code review; development-plan technical review; building/engineering approval before any site-work permits; sewer-flow review; clearing limits shown on future submittals; landscape-committee approval with a perpetual maintenance plan; dumpster/tote enclosure rules; a photometric lighting plan (dark-sky compliant, shielded from adjoining properties, no light above the roofline, freestanding lights capped at 15 ft, lights off within one hour of business hours except security); final labeled building elevations and high-quality materials; screened exterior mechanicals; curb plan; perpetual site maintenance; striped/maintained paving with no parking outside designated areas; no outside storage of any kind without town approval; any operator beyond H.C. Zang Agency subject to town review; signage subject to the sign-review committee; and applicable open-space fees. Applicant agreed to all 18 on the record.
Motion (Geasling) under Article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law to accept the Part 1 environmental assessment form as submitted, approve the Part 2 and Part 3 forms as prepared, and issue a negative declaration on the proposed ~43,000 sq ft commercial retail building. This unlisted action was found, after review of plans, documents, meeting minutes and environmental assessment forms, to have no significant negative environmental impact. Seconded; carried on roll call.
Motion (Geasling) to deny the 7631 Transit Road LLC concept plan, per the Carmina Wood Morris Design plan dated May 1, 2026. On the record: apart from small-scale retail in a mixed-use setting, commercial retail operations are not allowable in the Restricted Business zone; if the applicant seeks a use variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals and is successful, the proposal must return to the Planning Board for concept-plan review. Seconded; carried on roll call. The denial is the procedural mechanism that advances the project to the ZBA.
Approval of prior meeting minutes appeared on the published agenda at the top of the 7:00 PM session. Routine; not separately detailed in the broadcast.
This brief covers the Town of Clarence Planning Board regular meeting of Wednesday, May 20, 2026, captured live from the town's YouTube channel. A 6:30 PM work session — for SEQR review and agenda/miscellaneous items — precedes the public meeting and is not livestreamed; this brief reflects only the 7:00 PM broadcast portion. The two-item agenda and the official project descriptions were cross-referenced against the Town's published agenda (pbm-agenda-5-20-26.pdf), and all Planning Board member names were verified against the Town's official April 15, 2026 Planning Board minutes. Names marked with [*] have been silently corrected from Whisper's audio-to-text rendering — most notably the board members (transcript "Tarka/Taika" → Tytka; "Giesling/Geesling" → Geasling; "Kovacowski" → Lukowski; "Chidara/Chidaro" → Todaro; "Saldati" → Salvati), plus "Bleuer" (transcript: "Bloor"/"Bluer"), "SEQR" (transcript: "SEECR"), "Goodrich Road" (transcript: "goodness road" in one motion read-back), and the H.C. Zang Agency. One note on attendance: Gregory Todaro was misheard as absent at the opening roll call but is recorded voting on both motions; the likely actual absentee was Jason Lahti, who was also absent on April 15.