Two commercial projects on West Taft Road ran into the same objection at the Clay Town Board's April 7 meeting, and by the time the fire chief was done testifying, neither one had a vote to show for it. The first was a zone change sought by Northern Credit Union, which wants to build a 3,100-square-foot branch with a drive-in at the corner of Wintersweet and West Taft Road, on land split between Planned Development District and R-10 Residential zoning. Brody Smith of Bond, Schoeneck and King argued the parcel — which one resident said had previously hosted the Parade of Homes — sits amid mostly office and commercial development and is no longer well suited to residential use. Several Inverness Gardens residents disagreed, telling the board they'd made a significant investment in the neighborhood and worried commercial development would lower property values; one suggested the board instead encourage senior patio homes with green space. A neighbor whose property abuts the site asked about hours and noise; Smith said the branch would keep regular bank hours but include a 24-hour ATM, with traffic at Wintersweet limited to right-in, right-out only. Mike Brown, chief of MCFD, told the board he was troubled by how often his department responds to crash calls at the nearby intersection. Councilor Ryan Pleskach asked whether the applicant would consider a berm and screening trees, and whether they'd pursue the less-intensive O-2 office zoning instead of the requested NC-1 designation; Smith said he was open to both. Rather than close the hearing, Supervisor Damian Ulatowski kept it open for more answers, and the board voted 7-0 to adjourn it to April 21. The fire chief returned an hour later for the McDonald's USA special permit hearing, and this time the numbers hardened. Joe Frateschi of Harris Beach, appearing with representatives from Wegmans and Bohler Engineering, described a revised traffic pattern meant to steer customers toward the signaled exit onto Taft Road rather than across the shared lot to Cedar Post Road, though the engineer acknowledged the plan couldn't guarantee drivers would comply. Councilor David Capria, who said he has personally waited through two full signal cycles trying to exit the area, asked about the crash history. The applicant first said there had been four accidents on the stretch over the past three years; Brown replied that his department had seen that many in the past month alone. The applicant then corrected the figure: the four were at the traffic signal specifically, and the stretch of Taft Road has logged 25 total accidents in the past three years. Brown said Cedar Post Road already carries heavy traffic along with kids, pedestrians and cyclists near the proposed drive-thru. Councilor Eugene Young said he favors diverting traffic onto Cedar Post Road, noting the Wegmans lot is already nearly full: "They are Wegmans for crying out loud, they don't need McDonald's." Residents submitted petitions opposing the project to Town Clerk Jill Hageman-Clark, who accepted them along with a small number of signatures she found invalid. The board voted 7-0 to adjourn this hearing too, to May 5. A third case on the same road, the Laurel Springs zone change the board denied outright in August 2024, came back smaller: 12 units per building, down from the earlier proposal, with a positive recommendation from the Planning Board this time. The board closed that hearing without announcing a decision. Elsewhere, the board renewed its adult crossing guard contract with All City Management Services for one year at $33.59 per guard hour, based on 1,980 hours, not to exceed $66,508.20 annually. It set an April 21 hearing on Community Development Block Grant funding that would prioritize repairs to Woodward Way and Winchester Drive over Steelway Blvd. South, now pushed to 2027, and a second April 21 hearing on 2026 block grant funding for Maltage Drive and Goguen Drive. Hearings were also scheduled for April 21 on a Seneca Savings drive-thru bank branch on Route 31 and on Justin's Canine Campus, a proposed dog daycare at Marketfair North Plaza. The meeting adjourned at 8:59 p.m.