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Depew Village Board inaction doesn't 'work' for Southeast
There was no need for the Depew Village Board to make a final decision Monday on whether or not to grant a special use permit for Southeast Works to use the former Depew Library for its day programs.
The board was spared from making a decision on the controversial issue after Southeast, in protest, withdrew its application one hour before the start of the meeting.
Southeast Executive Director Judith Shanley had discussions with Depew Mayor Barbara Alberti throughout the day and confronted the board during the pre-meeting work session about tabling the issue for two weeks to discuss the matter further.
But not all board members agreed to follow through with the request, and trustee Joe Keefe said he would decide what to do with the resolution- which contained the options of approval, denial or tabling- when the agenda item was presented.
The organization, headquartered at 181 Lincoln Street and dedicated to serving around 400 developmentally disabled adults, was planning to use the former library at 321 Columbia Avenue, which has been vacant for approximately a year-anda half, for two day-habilitation programs.
The Lancaster Town Board approved the sale of the library to Southeast for $400,000 and last week the Depew Planning Board by a 3-2 margin recommended approval of the special use permit, so the announcement by Alberti came as a surprise. The deadline to obtain the approval from the town for the sale is Sunday.
However, the village board would have had the final say on granting the permit.
"We withdraw the application under protest with full reservation of rights following our request by the village board that was not honored
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