Family Video has rejected changes neighbors sought to the chain’s store under construction at Hertel and Sterling avenues in North Buffalo. Specifically, residents along Sterling objected to the store’s 28-car parking lot connecting to their residential street. The City approved the parking lot connection last fall at a Planning Board meeting residents say was poorly noticed.
In March, Family Video, the largest privately held video chain in the United States, purchased two properties at 1488 and 1500 Hertel, previously occupied by Martino's TV & Appliance. Family Video paid $537,500 for the one-story, 7,000 sq.ft. commercial building and adjacent parking lot.
Family Video received City approval to demolish Martino’s existing building and construct a smaller, 4,850 sq.ft. store with a re-worked 28-car parking lot. Neighbors are not upset with the use or store design, residents are not pleased with a new driveway connecting to their residential street.
In early May, Susan Luciano, a Sterling Avenue resident, organized a meeting with Councilman LoCurto and store representatives. 75 people showed up. Todd Bezanah, Family Video’s regional director, listened and carried their concerns back to corporate.
Luciano received Family Video’s response two weeks later. "He (regional director Bezanah) didn't have the nerve to tell me in person, he had to leave me an voice mail with the decision," says Luciano. "The owner has decided to go ahead with the driveway that the City approved.”
"The residents feel great disappointment in our city government and in Family Video. Mr. Bezenah proclaimed to all of us at our meeting, 'I'm just like you, I'm fighting a Wal-Mart in my back yard." Says Luciano, "What a hypocrite. The owner has probably never even been to Buffalo. Why would he care, it is not his family or his children that this affects."
“LoCurto’s response was maybe we can make the street a one way street,” says Luciano. “I couldn't believe it... make our street a one-way because of this chain from Illinois, and not try to reverse what you did. I'm talking with some city attorneys to see what else can be done.”
It is unclear what can be done at this point. LoCurto has suggested speed bumps or steering exiting Family Video parking lot traffic towards Hertel. Luciano is not giving up.
"We were not against this company moving into our neighborhood," she says. "We are all just families protecting our children and the quality of life in our neighborhood that we love."
