After selling used cars for 16 years on Freemans Bridge Road, Glenville business owner Rick DiCresce had to pack up and move to make way for a new Lowe’s Home Improvement Center.
But DiCresce’s new location, at 178 Freemans Bridge Road, is zoned only for new car sales, and the town recently cited him for trying to operate his dealership there.
All I want to do is work here in Glenville, where I have for years. I feel that if I had not agreed to move, there would not even be a Lowe’s, said DiCresce.
Now local businesses are standing behind DiCresce. Many are planning to put up signs supporting him, and about 50 have signed a petition asking the town to allow him to continue operating at the site.
DiCresce, who sells only used cars and also works as a mechanic, said the new location is right down the street from the original dealership. He said the town led him to believe that he would be grandfathered in if he moved and that town officials would work with him on zoning issues given the fact that he had to relocate.
`All I am doing is moving a quarter mile down the road, and what they are doing is upsetting a lot of small business owners — all for a big business. I made a lot of improvements to the new property, and now I will have to go to court over it. I am pleading with the town to do the right thing,` said DiCresce.
Supervisor Frank Quinn said he never made any promises to re-zone the property.
`He purchased the property knowing what the zoning is,` said Quinn.
Dan Carlton of Salisbury Chevrolet, who sold DiCresce the new property across from his own dealership, said he believes the town owes it to DiCresce to make a zoning exception.
He said he sold the land to the used-car dealer because he was looking to downsize and he wanted to help a fellow business owner.
`Given the economic times, I can’t just sit by and watch someone lose his business,` said Carlton.
DiCresce said that while under pressure from the town to move in order to make way for the home improvement store, he was called a `hero` by town officials.
`They actually called me a hero and promised me they would help me work through zoning. This is what I was lead to believe so I went ahead and bought this property,` said DiCresce.
He also said that before closing his original location, where construction of Lowe’s has since begun, he had to sell off his entire inventory because he was unsure of the future. He said he sold cars below their value, resulting in what he says is about $20,000 in losses.
Meanwhile, the town has cited DiCresce for not only violating zoning laws but also for having unregistered vehicles on the property, a metal carport, and paving the parking lot and putting up a sign without a permit.
Lowe’s officials paid landowner Raymond Piotrowski $3.1 million for the Freemans Bridge Road site after almost two years of studies and planning issues.
Town Planner Kevin Corcoran said Monday, Nov. 10, that ground has been broken, and Lowe’s plans to open for business next fall.“