Today, I wrote this letter to the City Planning Board as an alternative option for the proposed Tim Hortons on Niagara and Albany. (See article about proposal here!)  It is my hope that our leaders will ask Tim Horton’s to redesign this project into a more urban space that better aligns with our community vision. Full Letter Here: Tim Hortons Alternative Proposal by Bernice Radle

The planning board meeting is TOMORROW, Nov 5th. If you want to voice your concern, email these people – tchwalinski@city-buffalo.com, nmarrero@city-buffalo.com, darivera@city-buffalo.com, bbrown@ch.ci.buffalo.ny.us

James Morrell – City Planning Board 901 City Hall Buffalo, NY 14202

Re: Tim Horton’s Proposal for Niagara & Albany Street

Dear Mr. Morrell,

I write to urge the City Planning Board to ask for adjustments to the site plan of the proposed Tim Horton’s at Niagara and Albany streets. Simple, effective design changes will help better align this project with what the community has envisioned.

The current design disregards three important planning initiatives that citizens have worked hard to create:

• Buffalo Green Code. The proposal casts aside the placemaking principles embodied in the Green Code. The goal of the Green Code is to enhance our urban fabric with dense, mixed-use buildings, built up to the sidewalk, with parking hidden away. The current proposal is suburban, not urban, which is inappropriate for the West Side.

• Vision Niagara. The proposal does not reflect what the community has envisioned for the Niagara Street corridor. Through numerous community meetings, Vision Niagara has helped generate consensus around reinforcing our walkable, mixed-use neighborhood; embracing heritage buildings and landscapes; and enhancing the corridor’s relationship with the Niagara River. The current proposal falls short of these goals.

• Complete Streets Policy. The proposal puts the automobile before people, and is in conflict with City plans now underway to make Niagara St. more safe and comfortable for pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, and the mobility impaired.

The solution is pretty simple! A few simple adjustments can better align the Tim Horton’s proposal to the community’s design expectations:

• Relocate the proposed retail building to the corner of the lot at Niagara and Albany streets, with zero setbacks from the front and corner side lot lines.

• Locate all parking and drive-through areas to the rear and interior side of the building.

• Increase the percentage of fenestration along the front facade to 70%, measured between two and eight feet above ground level.

With such a simple adjustment, the project will immediately begin to follow the principles citizens have laid out in the Green Code, Vision Niagara, and Complete Streets Policy. This simple change will meet the community vision, as well as rely on design precedents for Tim Horton’s central city locations throughout North America, including in Buffalo. The urban Tim Horton’s in the newly opened One Harbor Center follows the community’s expectations, as should this proposal.

Please help our community restore a mixed use, walkable neighborhood that embraces smart growth and good urban design. We hope you will listen to the wants and needs of the community and demand excellence as our community continues to grow.

Thank you,

Bernice Radle

CC:       Mayor Byron W. Brown & Councilmember David Rivera