A major Texas-based developer of student housing won permission from the Amherst Town Board to construct town houses and cottage-style apartments for nearly 1,800 students on a portion of the Muir Woods property in Getzville.

Aspen Heights Partners of Austin would build on a 42-acre parcel at 1081 and 1121 North French Road, just north of where John James Audubon Parkway meets the Lockport Expressway, that is zoned for student housing.

The developer needed to amend a 2015 findings statement because it proposes changing the property's use from the previously approved commercial and retail development. The Town Board on Monday agreed to the change, determining the student housing would not harm the environment.

Aspen Heights would build 515 student-housing units, along with space for recreational activities and other amenities, in two phases.