|
DEVELOPER SHOPPING FOR NEW SUPERMARKET LOCATION
Mike McCagg
ccSCOOP News
11-29-09 - 5:15 p.m. - A new Price Chopper is in the works for the residents of Chatham, Ghent and surrounding communities.
Ghent Town Planning Board Chairman Jonathan Walters told ccSCOOP that, after weeks of informal discussion, the proposal will officially come before the Planning Board at its meeting on December 2. Barbara Page, spokeswoman for the Golub Corporation, owner of the Price Chopper chain, confirmed the company’s plans but said efforts are still preliminary. “We are constantly looking for areas to improve,” said Page.
Golub Corporation works through a real estate firm, Schuyler Companies, which is advancing the plans for the new store. Walters said the plan would see a new store, approximately 43,000 square feet, on land adjoining the existing Price Chopper store but separate from the plaza that houses the current Price Chopper. “It would be about double the size of the existing store,” said Walters.
At issue with the proposal is the fact that the store would be constructed just outside the village limit, placing the project almost entirely in the town of Ghent. All that would remain in the Village of Chatham would be the parking lot. |
|
Current Price Chopper store in Chatham |
The real estate firm is seeking an extension of the village’s water and sewer lines to serve the new store, which requires approval from the Chatham Village Board. Officials said Schuyler Companies has made a $20,000 a year offer to the village to extend the lines, which officials are said to be considering. “The developer threw out some numbers to get the Village to OK an extension and hopefully they can work it out,” said the Planning Board chairman.
Walters said the Planning Board has already delivered a message to the developer that if a store is to be constructed, it must be “appealing.” “They seem to be getting the message, and we have been clear that we want this to be a nice store and not your standard, gargantuan building dropped in a field,” said Walters. “It has to be appealing.”
Drainage is another issue that must be addressed. “Because of the piecemeal development in that area . . . a situation has been created where that area doesn’t drain well,” Walters said. “Our concern is that they have a very, very solid storm water prevention and discharge plan.”
|
