Traffic, Safety Concerns Surround Proposed 24-Hour CVS

A proposal to build a new 24-hour CVS/pharmacy on the corner of South Wellwood Avenue and Montauk Highway was met with numerous questions from the Lindenhurst Village Planning Board and local residents who raised concerns about additional traffic the new retail outlet could bring to the already busy intersection.

During a meeting of the planning board this past Thursday at Lindenhurst Village Hall, plans for the 12,000-square-foot store were discussed.

They were presented by Steve Kretz’s law firm of Donohue, Kretz and Garabrant – which was asked to represent the project by CVS and the developer – along with architect Harold Gebhard. Patrick Lenihan, an engineer with Westhampton Beach-based Dunn Engineering Associates, presented the traffic study.

According to the plans drawn up by Gebhard, the proposed new drugstore would span the length of West Montauk Highway from South Wellwood to Washington Avenues and include a large parking lot, driveways on Wellwood and Montauk, and buffering plantings, berm and fence.

The plans would require the current structure – formerly the MarineMax boating center and previous home to the – a residential home and a building housing the aforementioned law firm to be demolished.

Before any construction could begin, the village would need to rezone the sites of the house and law firm for commercial use. The owners of all three properties have already negotiated with local developer Matrix Realty Associates, which will buy the properties, develop the land and lease the building to CVS.

While the construction of a CVS would replace a now vacant storefront, several residents who live in the area around the property voiced a number of concerns. These included the potential for additional traffic and for the location to become a hangout for kids, the timing of deliveries and the impact on property values and taxes.

In addition, the location is in close proximity to , and some residents who spoke expressed safety concerns about the potential for additional vehicle traffic combining with student traffic at the end of each school day.

“I was a crossing guard for six years at the corner of Wellwood and Montauk. I was one of two. We wore uniforms. And I was hit one time in the walkway,” said Colleen Ullmer, a former crossing guard. “We used to say that there are 12 lanes of traffic that come through there–three lanes from four corners.”

“The strong reaction is understandable, and they had legitimate concerns,” noted Kretz, whose firm sent notifications to residents in the standard 500-foot radius of the site.

Many of their concerns were shared by members of the planning board. Deputy Chairman Richard Burke asked Lenihan to come back with traffic data for the intersection from 2003 to 2005. The time frame was chosen because traffic in the area was heavier at the time largely due to the presence of the Island Jeep car dealership and the movie theater being open.

In addition, to quell concerns that the initial traffic study presented to the board didn’t take into account the amount of kids in the area after school, Burke requested that Lenihan complete a pedestrian count during the time when the school day ends.

“We’ll do an addendum, and let the original study stand on its own,” Lenihan said.

In discussions about traffic flow in and out of the property, plans revealed the driveway on Wellwood would allow traffic entering and exiting the property to turn left and right and be placed 10 feet north of the existing landscaped median, said Lenihan.

The Montauk Highway driveway would serve as entrance/exit but exiting traffic would only be permitted to head west by placing a channelizing island in the driveway, and by a new restriction ordinance, he said. Both the ordinance and the island’s placement would need to be approved by the village.

To further calm residents still gathered post-meeting, Planning Board Chairman John Liebl and Member Joseph Barone assured those in attendance that this meeting was a preliminary hearing.

“There’ll be at least three additional meetings,” Liebl said. “This was preliminary. It has to go the village board next, then back to the planning board and then to the zoning board of appeals.”

“That’s if it even happens, if it’s even approved to move forward to those stages,” added Barone. “So there are still more meetings.”

Another question that remains unanswered for the moment deals with the fate of the current CVS at 150 South Wellwood Avenue. It’s not known if this store, located less than one mile north of the proposed location at South Wellwood and Montauk, would close if the new store were to be approved by the village.