Despite residents’ pleas, the first hurdle is cleared in a longstanding struggle to rezone land for a proposed CVS Pharmacy in Rotterdam.
The Rotterdam Town Board approved sending a proposal to the town Planning Commission for a recommendation on rezoning four residential properties at the corner of Lawndale Avenue and Curry Road from R-1 Residential to B-1 Retail Business. Neighboring residents continued to speak out against the proposed CVS, claiming it doesn’t fit the character of the surrounding community.
Councilman Matthew Martin was the only member voting against the resolution on Wednesday, Feb. 8, citing the dissent.
Councilman Robert Godlewski continued his support for the referral and argued the Town Board has the final say.
“All the Planning Commission is going to do is give us a recommendation,” Godlewski said. “Once we get that recommendation the board has to decide whether they want to do the zone change … it has to come back to us.”
Martin continued his opposition based on the “encroachment of the zoning,” which has remained unchanged since the original proposal.
“It has nothing to do with the conceptual plan,” Martin said. “My vote is ‘no’ at this time.”
Deputy Supervisor Wayne Calder previously voted against the resolution, but he said the revised site plan led him to change his mind. Also, he said the last time the board voted on the resolution it would have approved the zone change without the project coming before the board again.
“There was some changes, some decent changes, which I was happy they tried to do,” Calder said. “It is not easy to make a decision like this because it affects people, but there has been a lot of discussion over this … hopefully (the Planning Commission) is going to be watching out for everybody’s best interest and I think they will.”
Andrew Brick, an attorney representing developer Gershman Brown Crowley, explained changes to the preliminary site plan before the board voted. The revised application package submitted to the Town Board wasn’t publicly available before the meeting.
“These revisions are in response to concerns raised by members of the public as well as by Town Board members,” Brick said.
The revisions include prohibiting right turns onto Lawndale from the southwest exit; installing signs prohibiting trucks from entering neighborhood; clarifying that the Planning Commission will determine what fencing is installed on residential facing sides; identifying where landscaping will be placed for a visibility buffer; marking existing curb cuts along Lawndale Avenue with proposed curb cuts; clarifying the dumpster will be fully enclosed and out of sight; showing areas to be landscaped along Guilderland Avenue and Curry Road; and setting proposed sidewalks.
Required documents not previously submitted were also given to the town, said Brick, which included consent from property owners, copies of all owners’ deeds and the proper environmental assessment form.
“We have worked diligently to address the concerns articulating by the neighbors and the Town Board,” he said.
Calvin Rugg, a Sunrise Boulevard resident, claimed the proposed rezone was spot zoning and not carefully planned.
“Spot zoning, I feel, offers little quality of life improvement when you are changing a residential area to a commercial area,” Rugg said. “The attorneys for the proposed project can stand up and wave the plan in the air with their arms and say, ‘This plan complies with your building codes, why not approve it?’”
Rugg asked board members to consider if they were a neighboring homeowner and what their decision would be.
“Is this something you would like to see as you look out your front window?” Rugg asked.
Roxanne Heller, living nearby on Oakdale Avenue, spoke out again against the proposed CVS. She said residents aren’t against the vacant building getting turned into “something useful,” such as a strip mall with small shops.
“This town, this area, does not need another CVS,” Heller said. “We have two within five minutes of here and we have Rite Aid right across the street. I cannot see where shutting down two more buildings and combining them into one is good for our community.”
She suggested CVS should upgrade its current nearby buildings if it wants to generate more business. CVS purchased the land for the proposed Rotterdam storefront over three years ago.
After the board approved the resolution, several residents opposing the plan murmured, “They’ve already sold us out,” before angrily leaving the meeting.
