The developer who’s trying to build a Lowe’s home improvement store in Geneseo, New York, better reset his watch. Opponents of the project are delighted to report that the progress to date has been minimal. Sprawl-Busters received the following report from local residents: “The Lowe’s project gets more interesting day by day. Fourteen months into the Newman Development Group’s proposal to build a big box in Geneseo, they
have made little progress toward approval. The submission of a second, modified proposal led the Town Planning Board to request important additional information that had been left out and to require Newman to conduct a “real” traffic study. Newman remains unresponsive to local concerns; it continues to resist the efforts of the Town Planning Board to evaluate this project’s effects on traffic, our historic district, and the beauty of our valley. Meanwhile, the State Historic Preservation Office and Department of the Interior are reviewing the application. Most recently, Newman submitted their proposal to the Livingston County Planning Board for their review and approval. However, the County Planning Board postponed approval pending completion of a traffic study and a reengineering of the project so that the proposed Lowe’s faces Volunteer
Road, not 20A. The County Planning Board also requested that all vehicle access to Lowe’s come from Volunteer Road. This logic behind reorienting the building is to encourage development within the Gateway District, as intended when Volunteer Road was built, rather than continued sprawl along 20A. The County Planning Board also suggested this change might limit the visual impact of the massive building. Should the Town Planning Board agree with these recommendations, Newman will probably need to submit a new application. The next Town Planning Board meeting is June 12th.”
Residents in Geneseo are urging town officials to complete their Master Plan, and to finish the Access Management Plan for the Route 20A corridor, which already has a dead Wal-Mart discount store across the road from the new Wal-Mart supercenter. For earlier stories on this community, search Newsflash by Geneseo. For local contacts fighting the Lowe’s, contact [email protected]
