"The effect of this kind of project would be devastating," Dave Reilly said at the June public hearing. "This project would absolutely overwhelm the island."

The site is zoned for manufacturing but it's surrounded by more single-family homes, along with some business properties and a hotel, and the island as a whole hasn't seen a commercial development of this scale in its history.

Late last Monday afternoon, more than 50 members of a coalition of project critics protested outside Town Hall. The same group said it has collected nearly 1,000 signatures on anti-Amazon petitions and has a goal of collecting 1,000 more.

Some Grand Island residents are urging people to oppose the Amazon "Project Olive" development in the town.

Grand Island has a list of investments it wants Amazon to make in the town. Whitney has declined to make the list public while negotiations continue but sources have described it as substantial.

Finally, while Onondaga County officials made a public push for the project, their counterparts in Erie County had said little about Project Olive since February. This changed late last week when Poloncarz touted the project's value to the region in an interview with The News and at a news conference the following day.

Poloncarz said his office has worked on the project for two years and he doesn't want to see Erie County lose it.

While the amount of tax breaks Trammell Crow and Amazon would receive hasn't been made public, the developer under an anticipated payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, or PILOT, agreement would pay $51 million to Grand Island, Erie County and the Grand Island School District over 15 years.

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As Grand Island project stalls, massive Amazon center near Syracuse is built - Buffalo News