Tangible progress could finally come soon on two long-vacant properties in Amherst that have become a focus of political debate in the town.

Previous owners of the former Westwood Country Club and “gun club” properties in town had struggled for years to redevelop the sites.

The town floated its own visionary plans to transform Westwood into an Amherst Central Park recreational hub, a proposal stymied by legal challenges and public backlash. Instead, officials announced earlier this year that Erie County would take over the country club site from Amherst and turn it into a nine-hole golf course and passive park, renamed Willowdale Park.

As for the gun club property, on Maple Road near the University at Buffalo North Campus, the town bought the site in December from its student-housing de

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