Sweden planning board
gives site plan approval to Lowe's, Wal-Mart

Final site plan approval was granted by the Sweden Planning Board on January 23 - with contingencies - to both Wal-Mart and Lowe's proposed projects.

According to planning board secretary Phyllis Brudtz, now that they've received final approval from the planning board, the next step for both companies is to obtain the necessary permits and receive approval on their building plans from the building department.

Matthew Minor and Ellen Bahr voted against the approval of site plans for Wal-Mart. Minor said his contention was, and continues to be, traffic. "A project of this size will affect traffic more than has been realized or reported," Minor said.

Highway Superintendent Fred Perrine said at the meeting that he was not happy with the road coming out of Transit Way. "There were plans to make a T-intersection and now we are looking at plowing around a curve," he said. "We typically like a dead end with a hammer-head turnaround, otherwise we will end up in the Wal-Mart driveway with our plows and we'll be backing up in to traffic."

The site plans received final approval contingent on the issues raised by Perrine being addressed. The site is located on Route 31, east of the Route 19 intersection.

Landscaping issues were raised and addressed during the Lowe's presentation to the board with Minor asking for elevations to be listed on the landscape plans.

"I'd like to see the landscape elevation added to the plans, not just to the minutes. The new tractor supply building that was constructed was supposed to have landscaping and we certainly didn't get what we expected there," he said. "I want it delineated on the plan. The idea of the landscape and the trees is to keep the light sweep out of the houses across the road from the store."

Shane Hajjar, P.E., T-K Engineering, presented updated plans showing where changes had been made to the layout of the traffic flow and stop signs in front of the store. "We've expanded the pedestrian zone to 100 feet, moved stop signs and added a yield sign at the garden center," he said.

Planning board member David Hale said he is not happy with the location of the middle driveway. "I'm disappointed. I didn't think it would be that hard to move a driveway so that it's not a straight shot to the door," he said.

Hale was the lone dissenting vote on the site plan approval granted to Lowe's. The parcel is located on Owens Road.

January 29, 2006