Last week, Amazon petitioned the Town of Wawayanda Planning Board to overrule the Town's Zoning Board of Appeals and approve a major height variance for its massive proposed 3.2 million square foot warehouse.

Amazon claims that it qualifies for a special permit, effectively a waiver of the Town's height requirement because its project serves the community's needs and local fire officials attest that they could extinguish a fire at any new building.

However, the very factors which caused the ZBA to reject the project still apply: it is out of scale with the community; it will introduce significant congestion and markedly increase air pollution, and it will alter the nature of the community. Each of these factors weighs significantly against grant of the relief Amazon is now again requesting.

Moreover, under the Town's zoning law, the Planning Board is not authorized to review and reverse determinations which are within the jurisdiction of the ZBA, and grant of such a variance is squarely a ZBA decision which Amazon has failed to challenge in State Supreme Court, its actual recourse.

As the Democratic and Working Families Party candidate for County Executive, I strongly oppose grant of the requested relief and any county IDA subsidy of a company with a terrible record of union busting, dangerous workplace conditions and disrespect for worker rights. I remain concerned that the pervasive use of robotics will accelerate workplace injuries for remaining workers as it increases unshared corporate profits. I join with many in the community who oppose this project and the conversion of the Town into a warehouse mecca.