HOWELL – Members of the Planning Board have given the green light for a Walgreens pharmacy to be constructed on Route 9.
Approval was granted at the board’s June 19 meeting. An application filed by Fort Partners sought site plan and subdivision approval to build a Walgreens pharmacy and a bank next to the Howell Lanes bowling alley.
The property is on Route 9 south where Casino Drive meets the highway. Fort Plains Road is to the rear of the bowling alley and to the rear of the proposed pharmacy and bank.
During the hearing, testimony about how to mitigate potential traffic impacts were discussed.
Attorney Kenneth Pape, representing the applicant, submitted comments on behalf of Howell Patrolman Scott Brooks that suggested several speed calming measures.
Although the suggestions were submitted into the record, Planning Board attorney Ronald Cucchiaro advised Pape to obtain those suggestions from Brooks in a written statement.
Traffic engineer Kenneth Fears, representing the applicant, said rumble strips would be installed as a traffic-calming measure. He said four such rumble strips are proposed between the bowling alley and Walgreens.
Fears said the rumble strips will help to increase driver awareness by creating sound and effectively reducing the speed of vehicles that are moving between the properties.
Board members advised the applicant to install a sidewalk in the vicinity of the project, and Pape agreed to that stipulation.
O
ne of the most significant improvements
the applicant would make in connection with this application is providing a complete storm-water management system. The site currently runs on a septic disposal and well system.
According to project engineer Richard DiFolco, “The main improvement is to extend the gravity sewer from Casino Drive and the Point O’Woods development into the Walgreens property. This will provide service to the bowling alley, which is presently on a septic system, in addition to Walgreens and to the (proposed) bank. Public water would be extended from a public storage facility south of the (project) site through the Walgreens lot to provide public water service and fire service for the bowling alley as well.”
According to a report prepared by the board’s engineer, Ernest Peters, the applicant will remove an existing one-story building and construct a 14,820-squarefoot one-story Walgreens pharmacy and a 2,500-square-foot one-story bank on the parcel next to Howell Lanes. The pharmacy and the bank will each offer driveup service. A parking lot will accommodate 98 vehicles.
The property totals 4.6 acres and has frontage on Route 9 and on Fort Plains Road. A right-turn-in/right-turn-out driveway is proposed on Route 9 south, while a full-movement drive is proposed on Fort Plains Road. The property is in a Highway Development-1 zoning district.
Although the applicant received final approval to construct the Walgreens pharmacy, it has not received final site plan approval for the proposed bank because a tenant has not yet been acquired for the bank.
Pape said the area where the bank is proposed will be maintained as a lawn until a tenant for the bank is secured. He said the applicant will return for final site plan approval once a tenant for the bank is found.
Board members James Burgess, Susan Schroeder Clark, Robert Nicastro, Paul Sayah, Vincent Tantillo and Vice Chairman Curtis Vislocky voted in favor of the Walgreens application.