P&Z Reviews Walgreens Pharmacy Proposed For South Main Street

By Andrew Gorosko

Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are reviewing a developer’s revisions to a Walgreens Pharmacy proposed for the busy corner of South Main Street and Mile Hill Road, in seeking to decide whether the 13,640-square-foot building would be a workable facility for the prominent site.

The P&Z held a second public hearing on the redevelopment proposal on October 16, reviewing a variety of changes which applicant Newtown Main, LLC, has made to the project in response to comments made by P&Z members and the public at an initial October 2 hearing. Those concerns include the practicality of the site’s design, potential traffic problems, and environmental issues.

The developer has reduced the height of a tower on the proposed building from 48 feet to 36 feet. Also, the developer has revised a proposed sign, depicting a more subdued design.

The developer also would place speed bumps and stop signs on the 1.45-acre site at 47-49 South Main Street to better control traffic flow on the property.

However, plans still call for a drive-through window at the rear of the building, a feature of the proposal that has drawn criticism from some P&Z members who question the need for such a window and whether it would be workable on the site.

On October 16, P&Z members received copies of a preliminary environmental study of the site, which formerly held various automotive uses, including a gas station.

The site, which has been vacant for the past several years, formerly held Newtown Tire and Service, Newtown Oil Company, Trudeau Service Center, and Trudeau Oil Company, among other businesses. The Republican Town Committee currently has its election campaign headquarters at 49 South Main Street.

Traffic Engineer Michael Galante, representing the developer, explained the traffic flow and site access aspects of the project at the October 16 session. The developer recently hired Mr Galante, of Frederick P. Clark Associates, Inc, to perform traffic studies to augment the initial traffic research performed on the project by Atlantic Traffic & Design Engineers.

Mr Galante explained that his firm has done much traffic research in Newtown and is familiar with traffic issues near the site. “We have a lot of very recent traffic data in this area,” he said.

Traffic study has focused on the project’s impact on traffic on South Main Street, Mile Hill Road, Country Club Road, and Queen Street, he said. Mr Galante described in the detail the expected traffic effects of having a Walgreens on the site.

 An estimated 70 percent of traffic entering the site would enter at a proposed entrance/exit on South Main Street located about 350 feet north of its intersection with Mile Hill Road, he said. About 30 percent of the traffic would enter the site from an entrance-only driveway on Mile Hill Road, he said.

All exiting traffic would leave from the South Main Street driveway, with about 60 percent of drivers turning left onto southbound South Main Street, and about 40 percent of motorists turning right onto northbound South Main Street, he said.

The presence of the pharmacy would increase the amount of time that motorists must wait to exit Country Club Road onto South Main street, he said.

The redevelopment of the 47-49 South Main Street site would better organize traffic flow entering and leaving the site, Mr Galante said.

Although a pharmacy would generate more traffic in the area, the site would be designed to make traffic flow as safe as possible, he said.

Southbound South Main Street would be widened at the point where southbound vehicles would be making a left turn into the pharmacy’s entrance.

 P&Z members questioned why motorists traveling on eastbound Mile Hill Road should be allowed to make a left turn into the site’s entrance-only driveway there.

Mr Galante pointed out that the signal phasing on the traffic signal at the intersection of South Main Street and Mile Hill Road would be modified to improve traffic flow through the area.

Mr Galante said that motorists would not necessarily shorten their travel times by cutting through the pharmacy site from Mile Hill Road to South Main Street. Speed bumps on the site would slow down those drivers, he said. P&Z members had mentioned such potential cut-through traffic as a safety problem.

A loading area on the site would be clearly marked for traffic control, Mr Galante said.

Drive-through windows at pharmacies are not very busy compared to drive-through windows at fast food restaurants, he said.

P&Z Chairman Lilla Dean then asked, “Why do you need it?”

A Walgreens official has said that drive-through windows at pharmacies increase business volume.

If there were no drive-through on the site, many site design problems would be solved, Ms Dean said at the October 16 session.

“I’m very unhappy with the drive-through,” she said. Without the drive-through, the application would be a simpler application.

Ms Dean noted that in response to objections from the P&Z, the applicant has reduced the building’s height and has modified the commercial sign design. “The stumbling block now becomes the drive-through,” she said.

Ms Dean suggested that the applicant seek a pharmacy without a drive-through and then apply for a drive-through modification to the building at some point in the future.

P&Z member Robert Mulholland said that in view of traffic congestion and safety issues, eliminating the proposed drive-through would improve conditions on the site.

Another stumbling block for the project may be possible environmental problems on the site, based on its past automotive uses, Ms Dean said.

Lawrence Keane, representing the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) of 11 Mile Hill Road said the presence of a Walgreens would worsen existing traffic problems in the area. Mr Keane also expressed concerns about possible environmental problems on the site.

In a telephone conversation on October 21, Ms Dean said that an initial environmental study of the property was under review by P&Z members.

P&Z discussion and action on the Walgreens application may occur at a November 6 P&Z session, she said.