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CORTLANDT, N.Y. – At least two members of the Cortlandt Town Board expressed outright opposition to the proposed Wal-Mart Super Center, across the street from its current location in the Cortlandt Town Center. With the exception of one board member, others expressed a cool opinion on the proposal, and were skeptical that the current conceptual design would be appropriate for the 36-acre a lot on Route 6.
“No way, no how. It’s too big. It’s too invasive. It’s too big for Route 6,” said council member Richard Becker.
“I think it hurts everything here,” he said about competition with pharmacies, automotive repair shops and grocery stores. He added, “It’s not bringing in any quality jobs.”
Town Supervisor Linda Puglisi said she was opposed to the Wal-Mart, but would support a development similar to Ridge Hill in Yonkers.
A formal application for the 22-acre megastore has not yet been made with the Town Board. Instead, Westrock Development showed the Town Board a conceptual design, and held a community meeting to gauge public opinion. Many neighbors expressed concerns about additional traffic and light and noise pollution.
For Westrock Development to begin the planning process for what would become a Walmart-owned property, the Town Board would need to rezone 26 acres of the property from residential (R-40) to commercial development (C-D). Westrock would need to submit a formal application to the town, be referred to the Planning Board for review and then come back to the Town Board for a vote on the rezoning.
The current Wal-Mart location in the Cortlandt Town Center is about 147,000 square feet. The new location would be 170,000 square feet and would include a grocery store. Wal-Mart currently rents the property in the Cortlandt Town Center, and is barred through a noncompetition agreement from offering groceries.
The new Wal-Mart Super Center location, as it was proposed during a community meeting, would be open 24 hours a day and have an automotive repair shop and a grocery store. The Wal-Mart would have 893 parking spaces, and developers said traffic would not significantly increase because of the store.
The rear of the property would buffer about 80 homes and Van Cortlandtville Elementary School.
Town Board members said Westrock Development would be brought into a future Town Board work session for board members to discuss their concerns.
The only board member who did not express serious concerns about the proposed store was council member Ann Lindau. “Why don’t we just listen? I don’t think traffic’s going to be that bad,” she said.
“I wouldn’t say to somebody, ‘No,’ but they would have to do a heck of a lot of convincing,” said council member Frank Farrell. Council member John Sloan said he was concerned about traffic, noise and light pollution and he hadn’t seen a viable solution from the developer.
Westrock Development currently has an application with the town for the same parcel to build 90,000 square feet of retail space, with about 10 homes behind the stores. The developer has said that by building the Wal-Mart, it would be able to offer a traffic light at Baker Street and sewers for the nearby neighborhoods.
Comments (13)
Can someone clarify the line "Town Supervisor Linda Puglisi said she was opposed to the Wal-Mart, but would support a development similar to Ridge Hill in Yonkers."
Ridge Hill is a very large development with a large number of stores.
Is she saying a Ridge Hill type development could go on this same parcel, or somewhere else in town?
Most people do not realize it, but Ridge Hill actually has housing as part of the development. I would imagine that is what she is talking about. Or maybe just a group of smaller stores, not one huge one.
Civic Minded : You will still have a hole in the town center if Walmart moves across Rt.6. It would be better for all concerned if Walmart negotiated with A&P and the Town Center management and just expand on the present site.
No way no how should Walmart be allowed to be build on such a small lot. They (walmart proponents) will argue low prices, greater competition and increased tax revenue. But what they don't want to be discussed is the small town charm that will surely become extinct as it has become in other towns that have over-developed in search of additional tax revenue by enabling these mega-store vultures to roll in and destroy the small mom and pop shops.
And if you don't think traffic will become an issue- take a look at Rt 4 in Paramus, NJ on a Saturday afternoon, that is what our future will look like.
And for the person that commented Walmart will pick up and move to Yorktown, I say let them have them. I would much rather see a Target move into the Cortlandt Town Center anyway. The store has a better selection, similiar prices, will be a compliment to the stores already there and will mostly likely attract much better behaving, dressing and not to mention better looking patrons- have you seen www.peopleofwalmart.com lately? It's a sad reality and scary.
Comparing Route 6 in Cortlandt to Route 4 in Paramus is a ridiculous thing to do. And it's not like there aren't stores there already, this is maybe a 20% increase in retail space (at most). Would you be supporting it if it were a Super Target? I could certainly see Target taking over the empty space is WM moved across the street.
Also please educate as as to which mom & pop places on Route 6 you are concerned about WM competing with.
Traffic? Shop local? Is anyone missing the point that a SuperWalmart would BRING more shoppers to the Rt. 6 shopping strip. You know, Walmart doesn't stock everything nor will everyone prefer Walmart jeans over, say, Old Navy. With more people combining trips to save on gas, a trip to Walmart may also mean a trip to Bed Bath and Beyond or to Wallauer's. It would also mean options for residents to stretch their dollars on necessities....and maybe have more to spend when they aren't at Walmart. Traffic to our community also means exposure for our community.. and that is a good thing. It is very unlikely that an upscale shopping center in the same location will bring the same total economic benefit to the area as a SuperWalmart. Has anyone been at JV Mall on a Saturday lately? Retail shopping in our area is a sometime thing. Walmart and bargain hunting are the norm. Fighting this development is bad for residents and bad for local businesses. Open your eyes and think different, TOC board. Be the future instead of fighting it.
I am against this project. Traffic will be a nightmare and I don't like that it's so close to the Van Cortlandtville Elementary School. There is a lot of empty space in the area, why squeeze it in here?
Where exactly is all the space that you claim exists elsewhere to build a store of this size?
Again the town board is being shortsighted. If this isn't approved Cortlandt will lose Walmart (probably to Yorktown), will have a huge vacancy at the town center, and w
I'm sure if they offer to put up a plaque thanking supervisor puglisi the project will get fasttracked....
I am totally opposed to this project. It goes against the grain of SHOP LOCAL, building our local economy and protecting the store owners that are currently here. I applaud Rich Becker's comments on this issue and appreciate Supervisor Puglisi's opposition to the project.
Dani Glaser
What local stores are you concerned about? A&P and Shoprite are no more local that Walmart is. I don't like WM but your reasoning makes no sense.