Chances are increasingly slim a rezoning to pave the way for a new CVS Pharmacy in one town will ever be made.
Members of the Rotterdam Town Board came to a split vote Wednesday, April 11, on approving a public hearing to rezone 1, 7, and 9 Lawndale Avenue and 950 Curry Road from R-1 Residential to B-1 Retail Business.
The rezone is the first approval needed before the town makes any decisions on approving the actual CVS project. Since the board cast a 2-2 vote the hearing won’t be held, effectively ending the process unless it’s brought forward again.
Supervisor Harry Buffardi said on Tuesday, April 17, there are no plans to reintroduce the proposal.
Setting up a public hearing would be the first step in approving the rezone of the property, but only two members of the board want to continue the process. Buffardi and Councilman Robert Godlewski voted in support of moving forward, but Deputy Supervisor Wayne Calder and Councilman Matthew Martin voted against setting the hearing. Councilman Mike Viscusi was absent from the meeting.
Prior to the meeting, the Town Planning Commission had given two separate negative recommendations on the proposal.
The second recommendation was given on Tuesday, April 3, after developers proposed changes for the proposed 13,225-square-foot CVS building. The most significant change was meant to address resident concerns about an increase of traffic coming down Lawndale Avenue by creating a hammerhead turnaround at the end of the street.
Martin has continuously opposed the rezone based on the zoning encroachment. He said the new conceptual plan for the store did a “pretty good job” at addressing concerns of residents, but he still doesn’t support B-1 zoning for the area.
Calder mentioned previous debates over the proposed rezone and said the board needs to weigh all concerns.
“This is a tough decision for all of us, because most of us on this board … went through this last year,” Calder said. “It is hard to make a decision for the eight, nine, or 10 families and the 29,999 people that are going to pay more taxes because we do need a tax base.”
Calder said he was voting against the rezone not to appease neighbors but because of the possibility of increased traffic to the surrounding area. He also cited the majority of the planning commission as being concerned over the increased traffic.
“I can’t base my vote on eight people or eight families, it would be wrong to do, but I am basing my vote on the traffic at the four corners,” he said.
Buffardi voted in support of the resolution based on the “financial interest” of the town to develop the vacant property.
“No one wants anything in their backyard and I understand that,” Buffardi said. “We are in a bleak financial position for a lot of reasons. … We have to look in terms of economic development.”
Neighboring residents opposing the rezone have suggested a small business or strip mall of stores be built at the location instead, but Buffardi said he doesn’t see those projects as realistic possibilities.
He also fears the property will become derelict and blighted, similar to the former Capitol Plaza, which is now the site of the Recovery Room Sports Grill.
“I see this deteriorating in the same way that we saw the Capitol Plaza deteriorate and be an eyesore to this community,” he said.
If the new CVS was constructed, the two existing CVS stores in town are planned to close, according Donald Zee, an attorney representing the developer. CVS leases its stores at Broadway and Five Corners and the leases are close to expiring.
“They don’t own any properties in Rotterdam, so they will go elsewhere,” Buffardi said of CVS.
Zee said if the rezone doesn’t pass at least one of the two existing stores is likely to close.
