Can I help you find something?

SEARCH
Search by town


Search our
calendar of events

Search our Classifieds


Need help?

HOW TO USE THIS SITE

THE TRAFFIC CIRCLE FAQ

EMAIL SUPPORT










Taking it to cyberspace: Residents use Internet to stop development of CVS Pharmacy in Kingston
By staff2 , Sep 09 2008. Viewed 2141 times.

Residents and business owners in the historic Uptown section of the city of Kingston are taking it to the Internet to battle the planned location of a CVS Pharmacy.
Developers want to put the CVS on property formerly occupied by the Ulster Platers building and the former Kingston Diagnostics building at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Schwenk Drive.
In addition to opposing construction of the CVS, residents, business leaders and common council members would also like to see a six to 12 month building moratorium on the Washington Avenue corridor as it leads into the Uptown.
A “Stop CVS and Replan/Revitalize Uptown Kingston” petition can be found at www.ipetitions.com/petition/stopcvsuptown/index.html.
In the petition, signees say they “wish to express our strong opposition to the 12,900 square-foot CVS pharmacy/convenience store proposed for Washington Avenue because it threatens the economic vitality of an already struggling Uptown business district and because it will jeopardize two ongoing planning efforts to improve the Washington Ave. corridor.”
They say that allowing a CVS would “be a direct threat to Nekos-Dedrick’s, a longstanding, family-run anchor business for Uptown.” Nekos-Dedrick’s is nearby on North Front Street.
Business owners point out that in the Uptown there are already three pharmacies: Walgreen, Hannaford and the aforementioned Nekos-Dedrick’s.
Traffic that would travel to a new CVS is also a concern expressed by residents claiming the Washington Ave. corridor already, “features some of the worst congestion and stoplight delays in the region.”
Additionally, they see the CVS as the first of what maybe a number of chain stores that would create a strip/chain development at the “gateway to historic Uptown and undermine the character of the district.”
City Planner Susan Cahill has said that a proposed discussion of CVS will no longer happen at the September planning board meeting because CVS officials have asked for another month to prepare its presentation and to conduct a traffic study.
Uptown merchants have joined with Alderman Thomas Hoffay, D-Ward 2, in calling for the building moratorium saying that it would give the city a chance to revise its zoning regulations and establish building guidelines.
Hoffay has said that such a moratorium will give the city a chance to come up with guidelines as to how it would like to see the gateway to the Uptown developed.
Mayor James Sottile has responded that he would support a three to four month ban but believes that a six to 12 month ban is far too long.


By Robert Ford
Ulster County Press

REPORT INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT


VIEW LAST 10 REPLIES | VIEW ALL REPLIES
WOULD YOU LIKE TO POST A COMMENT? IF SO, PLEASE REGISTER HERE