100-ACRE WOOD MAKES STATE LIST

OF TOP GOALS FOR WNY PURCHASE

Buffalo News,   February 21, 1998  by Mike Vogel

        A hundred-acre wood just outside Williamsville's border has been added to Western New York's "wish list" for public lands.

       The Sisters of St. Francis property replaces Motor Island in the Niagara River for the regional priority rankings of the New York State Open Space Conservation Plan, advisory board members decided this week

       The move follows the sale of Motor Island by a private corporation this month to The Nature Conservancy, which will sell it in turn to the state for about $250,000 in environmental bond act money.

       The extensive parkland and mansion-like convent house adjoining Glen Park will have a much higher price tag, but Amherst and state officials said it could be a key acquisition benefiting generations to come.

       "It's a gorgeous piece of property," said Edward J. Rutkowski, regional state parks director, and a leader of the Region 9 Advisory Board that covers most of Western New York.

       "There are developers from all over the country going after this right now," added Amherst Town Board member Peggy Santillo. "I just hope we can pull this off."

       The Town Board is scheduled to vote Monday on a measure that would open purchase negotiations with the religious order. While the conservancy's action merely adds the 400 Mill St. property to a list, it also offers hope that state funding could be possible.

       At least one commercial offer of $7 million for the property has been reported, but the order -- which will build a new house on a smaller, retained portion of the tract -- has indicated it would prefer to sell to the community for parkland uses. Amherst has been considering a $5 million price tag.

       "The town is able to commit about half of that amount," Mrs. Santillo said.

       The advisory board action, Rutkowski said, "puts it on a priority list."

       "It doesn't guarantee anything," he added. "The state makes a final determination on what it wants to do."

       The Motor Island sale announced this week, though, is the second major local property to move from wish list to reality. Two years ago, the state paid $6.3 million for what is now the 93-acre Woodlawn Beach State Park.

       Other properties already on the Open Space Conservation Plan priority list include the old-growth DeVeaux Woods in Niagara Falls, the Carter Farm adjoining Fort Niagara State Park, parcels that would provide public access to Lake Erie or the Buffalo and Niagara Rivers, and swamps, gorges and wetlands in Allegany, Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties.

       Public purchase would combine Glen Park and the new property into Amherst's largest single park, an unusual opportunity in the heart of a densely settled area.

       "It means it's a good candidate," Mrs. Santillo said of the advisory board listing. "It moves it into position for state acquisition help."

       As part of a presentation to the advisory board by town and Planning Department officials, she added, Amherst presented samples of more than 1,000 supporting letters and a petition with more than 3,000 signatures.

       "I've never seen this kind of reaction, ever, to a land preservation proposal," Mrs. Santillo said.