Brockport's proposed Super Wal-Mart meets opposition

The proposed Super Wal-Mart was greeted by super opposition at a full-house meeting at the Brockport High School auditorium on January 13.

"This is retail imperialism," Jan Benham said during the informational meeting.

Residents were given an opportunity to voice their concerns, raise questions and state their opinions during the meeting. The concerns raised, they were told, will be taken into consideration during future planning board meetings. Planning Board Chairman Craig McAllister informed residents that the meeting was an information gathering meeting only.

McAllister had previously expressed concerns about the increased traffic in that area if the store were constructed. He also wondered at the fate of yet another empty storefront if the present Wal-Mart location were vacated.

Neal Madden, of the law firm Harter, Secrest & Emery, is representing Wal-Mart. He explained the scope of the proposed construction of the 203,000 square foot supercenter. The store would house an eight-bay tire-lube express section and a seasonal garden center in addition to the grocery and general merchandise components of the store.

Tom Lucy, an engineering consultant with APD Engineers, said during the course of the construction, "we would leave the wetland area mostly undisturbed and we would leave as many of the mature growth trees as possible, and supplement them with more pines, other trees."

There were no answers forthcoming during the meeting when residents from Talamora Trail raised questions and concerns about the noise and light pollution to which they would be subjected. "This store will be 60 feet from my backyard," Talamora Trail resident Caurie Putnam said. "There will be increased crime … this is not the right use of this parcel of land."

Changing the face and character of the town was a worry for Bob Getz. "I’m not within the noise or vision line of this new Wal-Mart, but the impact this will have on the character of this town will be devastating," he said.

Doug Hickerson urged planning board members to stand their ground against this proposal. "We are a model community which has stood our ground and kept our historic downtown," he said. "This will change who we are."

Traffic congestion, even with the proposed right and left turn lanes, was a concern raised by most of the residents who stepped up to the microphone. Residents were not placated by the traffic study that was commissioned by Wal-Mart. "Traffic in this town and village is out of control," Mary Beth Nesbitt said. "This will only make it worse."

Norm Wright, former councilman for Town of Sweden who served for more than 16 months on a committee that was charged with updating the comprehensive plan for the Town of Sweden, said Wal-Mart doesn’t fit into the plan. "I’m not against a superstore, but this doesn’t fit into the comprehensive plan we worked on," he said. "This isn’t in our vision."

Town of Sweden Supervisor Nat "Buddy" Lester spoke and said the planning board does have the power to stop the project. "This is a very experienced board, they won’t roll over and simply let a project go through," he said, citing the length of time they have been working on the Crystal Ridge development project. "But at the same time, they aren’t going to pre-judge an application. ... This isn’t a done deal."

Following more than two hours of residents' questions and concerns being raised, and left unanswered, the meeting concluded.