Amherst planning board approves expansion for Center for Jewish Life with fence and trash conditions

The Amherst Town Planning Board voted to approve a site-plan amendment for the Center for Jewish Life at 757 Hopkins Road that allows a roughly 3,700-square-foot addition, while adding conditions to address neighbors’ concerns about parking, a dilapidated rear fence and trash storage.

The applicant’s attorney, Jeff Colombo, told the board, “I’m Jeff Colombo from the law firm of Block Longo representing the Center for Jewish Life,” and asked the board not to require an improvement on an adjoining parcel, arguing New York State law would not allow forcing the applicant to build on someone else’s land. He said the addition will allow the organization to separate religious services from dining and program space and is smaller than a previously approved 4,000-square-foot plan.

Neighbors raised safety and nuisance concerns. Jim Joyce, who identified himself as managing partner of 747 Hopkins Road LLC, told the board the most important issue was parking and pedestrian safety, saying, “Our primary concern is parking,” and asking that a solid fence or dense vegetation be placed along the property line to discourage people from cutting across his lot. Nearby residents also said they were not notified of earlier proceedings and produced photographs they described as recent evidence of overflowing trash and a collapsed fence.

Colombo responded that the project meets the town’s ordinance for required parking and that the applicant would address maintenance and cleanup if the photographs reflect ongoing conditions. “We’ll take care of that problem,” he said. Architect Mike Berger confirmed the addition will include a walkout basement component and said the final refuse location had not yet been determined but could be enclosed or placed below grade inside the new addition’s basement area.

Board members negotiated conditions that the applicant accepted. The board removed condition 5, which would have required a sidewalk across an adjoining parcel, and instead required that the existing, dilapidated east/back fence be replaced with an 8-foot solid fence and that a new barrier be installed along the south property line (a 6-foot height in the rear transitioning down toward the front). The board also required that refuse containers be shown on the site plan and be screened or enclosed to the planning department’s satisfaction.

In closing, the board emphasized the project’s community benefit — volunteers and speakers noted Meals on Wheels, childcare and other services — while stressing that the applicant must resolve the screening and fence details. The board approved the site-plan amendment by roll call; the motion passed by a recorded vote of 6–0.

The applicant is expected to work with planning staff to finalize fence locations, dumpster or tote enclosure and landscaping details as part of the site-plan process before construction begins.