There’s a no man’s land along Harlem Road near the Kensington Expressway in Cheektowaga.
The area, which includes several cemeteries, a few small businesses and the former Buffalo Drive-In property, is not in any fire protection district.
It’s not that volunteer firefighters do not respond to calls there — they do. Both Cleveland Hill and Pine Hill companies are dispatched to emergencies.
And not being in a fire district wasn’t an issue until the drive-in, which had a low assessment, was demolished to make way for a multimillion- dollar medical campus.
Now that doctors and other medical professionals are moving into the new office building, the two fire companies both want to reap the taxes from the property, which is currently assessed at more than $4 million.
The town wants the fire companies to come to a mutual agreement. If they can’t, the town has the authority to draw fire district lines, according to Town Attorney Kevin G. Schenk. It will be a decision worthy of Solomon.
“I feel like I’m cutting the baby in half,” Supervisor Mary Holtz said. “Both fire companies feel they have some reason to have that property.”
Both companies have responded to calls to the Buffalo Drive-In property and the cemeteries over the years. Pine Hill has been getting the tax revenue from the drive-in property, and Cleveland Hill’s district abuts it.
“It’s one of those glitches nobody paid much attention to when it was vacant property,” said Joseph A. Schoellkopf, the attorney for Cleveland Hill Fire District. “I’ve represented the fire district over 30 years. This is the first time I’ve seen anything like this come up.”
“I don’t know why it’s gone on this long,” Schenk said.
No one is clamoring for the tax-exempt cemeteries to be in their district, but most seem to agree that when the medical complex issue is settled, the cemeteries should be placed in a district as well.
The two fire companies have different tax rates. While they are volunteer companies, taxes pay for the fire halls and grounds, equipment, utilities, maintenance and insurance.
The fire companies have been talking for months but have not agreed on a solution.
“We were hoping they could come to some resolution themselves,” Holtz said.