KeyBank N.A. wants to open a branch at the corner of Hopkins and West Klein roads in Amherst.

The Cleveland-based bank said this week that it has begun the approval process to build a branch at 804 Hopkins Road, a former gas station site. The bank doesn't yet own the property but is trying to purchase it now, a bank spokesperson said.

If approved, the branch would become the bank's fifth newly constructed office in the region, part of a three-year plan to open a total of six new branches in the region. A branch opened this week on Grand Island and three others have opened in the area since mid-July 2009.

KeyBank's proposal to rezone the 804 Hopkins parcel was approved May 3 by the Amherst Town Board, said Gary Black, assistant planning director. The bank must now submit a proposed site plan to the town planning board, which it has not yet done, he said.

Details such as size and scope of the proposed branch won't be available "until all approvals are in place," bank spokesperson Therese Myers said. She said the bank hopes to finalize the deal sometime this fall.

KeyBank operates 44 branches in four counties of Western New York, including an office at 5173 Sheridan Drive that is less than two miles from the proposed site at Hopkins and West Klein. Myers said the bank will not close the branch if the proposed office gets approved.