Concerns raised by the town Conservation Board, the town engineer and the town Highway Superintendent during their January 14 meeting, led Ogden Planning Board members to table their decision on preliminary and final site plan approval for Phase – 1 – Rite Aid – of the Spencerport Mixed Use Center proposed for the southeast corner of the Nichols Street (Route 31)/ Union Street (Route 259) intersection.
The environmental assessment for the project – including the impact of the eventual full buildout of the 33.1 acre site – as well as the space allotted in plans for delivery trucks, are major concerns for the town.
“The SEQR needs to be cleaned-up,” Planning Board member Tony Halaris said.
Planning Board member Mary Lou Hetzke agreed, stating the project is still facing too many problems to proceed. “It’s too loosey-goosey now,” she noted.
Approval was tabled in anticipation of two additional revised Environmental Assessment Form (EAF) documents, and assurance that developers will meet with town staff to address concerns raised during the January 14 meeting.
The Conservation Board expressed during the meeting that it, “… wants to see what the maximum (environmental) impact (of the project) would be … with the maximum build-out per code.”
“We are concerned with the way the paperwork is progressing,” the Conservation Board’s representative said, “we are not comfortable making a recommendation.” He noted members have never seen a SEQR like the one submitted by Ellicott Development, with two sets of numbers on the same form – one for the overall project and one for the Rite Aid.
“The SEQR doesn’t follow the plans … the numbers don’t work,” he said.
Additionally, the Conservation Board is concerned initial development will involve disturbance of more than five acres – the limit for a single SEQR, as plans show 6.7 acres will be disturbed.
Ogden Town Engineer John Freel agreed, saying general site work, “… is in excess of six acres. That’s more than the five-acre threshold.”
Freel also disagreed with project manager Tim O’Brien’s assessment that the Rite Aid development is designed so trucks as large as tractor trailers can get in and out.
“I’m not in agreement that the truck traffic works,” Freel said, and added that he foresees problems with entrances and exits onto Union Street and Nichols Street.
“With 33 acres, you can make it grow to accommodate potential truck traffic,” Freel said.
Ogden Highway Superintendent David Widger said he agreed with Freel. “These are the permanent entrances to the whole place,” Widger said, “the overall traffic needs to be looked at for the whole site.”
Project engineer Tim O’Brien explained that he has worked on 50 Rite Aids laid out in a similar manner.
“The DOT has reviewed the plans,” he said. “We will go back to them.”
Additionally, O’Brien told board members that although Walgreens is in the process of buying-out Rite Aid, Rite Aid is still interested in the site. “We are moving forward as a Rite Aid, we have other Rite Aid projects,” he said.
O’Brien explained that the Rite Aid may eventually be changed to a Walgreens.
He added that developers now believe the site can be serviced by public sanitary facilities rather than by the septic system originally planned.
“The sanitary lines down the road (Route 31) are deep enough,” O’Brien said. He said Ellicott Development has scheduled a meeting at the site with local officials including the Village of Spencerport to discuss the sanitary facilities.
