LANCASTER
Board holds off Wal-Mart OK pending changes
Expected approval for a new Wal-Mart superstore in Lancaster got short-circuited Monday, as the Town Board pulled back a site plan for the 150,228-square-foot project for further “tweaking.”
During a special meeting of the Town Board and the Lancaster Planning Board, Wal-Mart representative Gary B. Olin outlined a number of new conditions the company has agreed to.
The store is to be built near the northeast corner of William Street and Transit Road behind Applebee’s restaurant at 4967 Transit.
None of the new conditions Olin spoke about appeared anywhere in the language of a formal resolution the board was set to adopt.
For that reason, Council Member Donna G. Stempniak said she thought it best to withdraw the measure, put specific conditions in writing and resubmit it to the Town Board in two weeks.
Among the conditions Wal-Mart has agreed to:
• Eliminate a tire and lube express operation at the Lancaster store.
• Install traffic improvements on William and Transit, including a new signal at the William Street entrance.
• Create a new westbound right-turn lane to the store on William Street as well as an eastbound left-turn lane. A northbound right-turn lane would be installed on Transit.
• Restrict truck access to the Transit Road entrance only. No trucks would be allowed to access the superstore off William Street.
•Loading docks will be shifted so that truck traffic does not mingle with parking areas.
• Trash compacters — not dumpsters — will be used at the Lancaster store site.
In other business Monday, the board approved a zoning change (from agricultural residential district to multifamily residential district) that will allow Affordable Senior Housing Opportunities of New York to proceed with a project to build housing for senior citizens at 6026 Broadway.
The board also held a public hearing on another senior project, affiliated with Niagara Lutheran Health Care Services.
That organization wants to build 24 townhouse units for active senior adults that will complement the existing Greenfield Health and Rehabilitation Center on Broadway. No one spoke in opposition to the project during the hearing.
