ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — Plans for the new home of the Buffalo Bills are all but finalized and now the conversation in Orchard Park has turned to the future of what will exist around it.
With an eye on the future Orchard Park Council Member Conor Flynn is proposing a changed to the current zoning code to promote development around the new $1.4 Billion stadium
"My proposal would allow for more than just a hotel," Flynn tells 7 News, "It would also allow for commercial development and retail space."
Flynn also believes that residential development is needed to make the area around the stadium a year round destination.
"If something is going to succeed there, if retail businesses are going to succeed there, if commercial is going to succeed there, there really does need to be an allowance for mixed-use residential development as well, " says Flynn. "They need those regular customers that are going to walk around and stop in these shops."
The proposal is music to the ears of Mark Ebeling who has owned and operated Danny's South restaurant near Highmark Stadium for more than 20 years.
"I think it's a good thing," says Ebeling, "There is a lot of room for development down here. Orchard Park needs to relax and let it happen. You know you can't just shut the town down with a nice football stadium and do nothing."
Flynn tells 7 News that his proposal is one of several that the Orchard Park Town Board is considering, and that the footprint of any new zoning remains undefined, but he believes the time for new development around the stadium is now.
"The area around the stadium is it's own animal," says Flynn, "It's a different part of Orchard Park in terms of character. It's not the sleepy bedroom community. It is at the intersection of two major roadways. I think we can be smart about it especially with the work I have done with Smart Growth America. We can make a walkable vibrant destination for everyone."
Flynn says that he has not been contacted by any developers at this point and that any changes to zoning around the new stadium will be discussed over "the next few weeks and months."
"I have a perfect site for a hotel, hotel restaurant or a brewery," joked Ebeling. "Come on down."
