Richmondville residents have a chance to check out Dollar General's plans--and have their say about those plans--at a meeting next week.
The village planning board will visit the site of the proposed store at 4:30pm Thursday, June 9. Now, the site is a field just east of Radez School.
A public hearing will follow at 5:30 at the Richmondville Volunteer Emergency Squad building, which is convenient. It's right across Route 7 from the planned Dollar General site.
Richmondville has already held one public hearing on the proposal, and the response was mixed, according to Mayor Kevin Neary.
Some felt Dollar General would draw business to downtown Richmondville, about a quarter-mile away. Mayor Neary doubted this.
"I think people are going to drive to Dollar General and then drive away," he said.
"My other concern is how people are going to walk there from the village. There's no crossing, no walkway."
The planning board will make a recommendation to the village board, which has the final approval, Mayor Neary said.
Diana Spenello, co-chair of the planning board, said a recommendation may not be coming next Thursday if many people speak and the hearing is long.
She believed residents generally favor the store but added that the planning board will see how it fits into the village's comprehensive plan.
Saying she's still gauging public opinion, Ms. Spenello added that whenever planners make a recommendation on the store, it may come "with possible changes."
Several issues may be pedestrian access and lighting.
"We'll have to see what Dollar General will do with the issues we have, what kind of good neighbor they'll be," she said.
Plans at the village office show the store would be on 1.52 acres now owned by Harold and Marie Loder. Sale of the property--to Primax Properties of Charlotte, North Carolina--would be contingent on approvals.
The store would be about 9,100 square feet and landscaped in front.
If approved, the Richmondville store would join other Dollar Generals opened in recent years in Cobleskill, Middleburgh, Sharon Springs and Duanesburgh.