Board doesn't act to stop Amherst hotel

AMHERST, N.Y. (WIVB) - In Amherst, homeowners fighting to keep a new hotel out of their neighborhood went home from Monday night's town board meeting disappointed.

By a five-to-one vote, the board rejected a proposed moratorium on all construction projects 50 feet or higher. Iskalo Development plans to build a six-floor Hyatt Place Hotel behind the Lord Amherst Motel on Main Street.

Michele Marconi of "Friends of Mike's Pond" said, "The building is out of scale and out of character with the neighborhood. It butts right up onto a very densely-populated, beautiful area in Snyder. The building is 87,000 square feet, when the town's own policies only allow a commercial project not to exceed 10,000 square feet."

The town zoning board meets Tuesday night to decide on about a dozen building variances that Iskalo needs for this project to go forward.