"Some people don't want it, no matter what."

The above quote is from Pat Tyler, Supervisor of the Town of Ellicott, regarding the redevelopment of the Fairmount Plaza site. This caught my eye because my hometown is in the midst of a WalMart debate and related litigation, and I can see this heading the same way. One good thing about this debate, NIMBY or not, is that at least here in Chautauqua Co. the interested parties seem to be relying on facts to make a pro/con argument.

One interesting facet, for a land use lawyer, is to see exactly what is being discussed. The board is looking at rezoning an area to allow a different type of commercial than currently exists, which will also cause some non-commercial areas to be included/impacted. There is, allegedly, no plan on the table currently. On one hand, it's good incremental decisionmaking to consider whether the area can support such a store as a first step. On the more cynical hand, it's more difficult to fight a proposal once there's a general, blanket approval already on the table.