You can’t do much worse than this: Rite Aid lost a vote before the Buffalo Common Council on September 22, 1998 by a vote of 13-0. The Council turned down Rite Aid’s request to expand its existing drug store at the corner of Elmwood Ave and Bryant Street. A citizen’s group called “Forever Elmwood” said the Rite Aid plans would have severly changed the ambiance of the Elmwood Village area. “We are not against big buildings on Elmwood,” said Forever Elmwood member William Wisniewski, “but play by the rules, and don’t put something up that we’ll later regret.” The regrets, however, will be all on Rite Aid’s side. The project’s developer tried to present another version of the expansion on the same night that his original plan was shut down. Initially, the Rite Aid plans called for demolition of houses and buildings south of the store, and later behind it. The Buffalo Planning Board has assured neighbors that the Rite Aid II expansion proposal is DOD (dead on delivery).
For further details, the President of Forever Elmwood in Buffalo, NY is Michael Ferdman. If you can’t find his number in the book, email me and I’ll get if for you.
