Walgreens Pharmacy Gains Site-Design Approval From Zoners

By Andrew Gorosko

Following additional review, Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members have given a site-design approval to a development firm to construct a large Walgreens Pharmacy on the busy northern corner of South Main Street and Mile Hill Road.

After discussion at a June 3 session, P&Z members unanimously approved the developmental details for the project proposed by Newtown Main, LLC, which had gained a basic P&Z endorsement in May 2009. Newtown Main is represented by Sutphin Properties of New York City.

Design engineer Kristin DeLuca of Bohler Engineering of Ronkonkoma, N.Y., presented the design details for the approximately 14,200-square-foot structure, which would have 56 parking spaces.

Three existing buildings on the 1.45-acre site at 47-49 South Main Street site would be demolished to make way for the redevelopment project. Access would be provided via driveways on South Main Street and Mile Hill Road. The Mile Hill Road driveway would serve only as an entranceway. The pharmacy would have drive-through window service.

The property is the site of the former Newtown Oil Company, a firm that went out of business in December 2002 amid a scandal over the company’s failure to deliver home heating fuel to customers who had signed prepaid fuel contracts.

Ms DeLuca described the design aspects of the project to P&Z members, explaining that the property would be landscaped with trees along its road frontages.

The developer needs to obtain approvals from the state Department of Transportation (DOT) to connect its stormwater discharge pipes to an existing drainage system in the area, Ms DeLuca said.

Of the P&Z’s review of the site development plan, George Benson, town director of planning and land use, said, “This is the final step in a long process we’ve been through.”

Walgreens has long sought to have a large pharmacy on the street corner. A July 2005 proposal to build a Walgreens at the site, which was pursued by another developer, was unsuccessful. That proposal included a request for drive-through window service, which had proved to be a stumbling block for that project. The issue of added traffic in the congested area also has been a persistent issue facing redevelopment at the site. 

In November 2008, the P&Z approved a required change of zone for the Newtown Main project, but due to a technicality, that approval was later rescinded by the P&Z. The developer then appealed that rescission in court, after which the P&Z and developer reached a settlement, which eventually led to the project’s approval.

P&Z Chairman Lilla Dean said that the town’s Design Advisory Board is satisfied with various architectural changes that the developer has made to the project.

Mr Benson stressed that any environmental cleanup work that is required at the site to make it a suitable place for new construction will be necessary before any building permits for the projects are granted.

In approving the pharmacy’s site plan, P&Z members decided that the project conforms with the purpose and intent of the 2004 Town Plan of Conservation and Development.

The site is in the South Main Village Design District (SMVDD) zone. In July 2007, the P&Z created the SMVDD regulations as a mechanism to respectively preserve and promote the New England appearance of existing and proposed commercial development and redevelopment projects along South Main Street.