TOB PLANNING ADVISORY BOARD RECOMMENDS APPROVAL OF GLEN HEAD CVS SITE PLAN; ZBA MUST STILL OK SIGNAGE
April 5, 2017 -- At its March 30th meeting, the Oyster Bay Planning Advisory Board recommended that the Town Board approve the site plan for a new CVS pharmacy that will be located at the intersection of Glen Head Road and Glen Cove Road in Glen Head, adjacent to the Bottle Buys liquor and wine store. The national pharmacy chain, which already has three locations in Glen Cove, must still get approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals for its proposed signage.
An attorney for CVS stated that the ZBA was at that time awaiting Planning Advisory Board approval before taking action on the signage variance. The pharmacy is seeking permission to install two 20 foot tall pylon signs, each with a surface area of 40 square feet - greater than the zoning regulation of 32 square feet, but smaller than their original proposal of 50 square feet. Additionally the building will have three exterior wall signs, one on each side of the building that faces a roadway - Cedar Swamp Road, Glen Cove Road, and Glen Head Road. The attorney said that the sign on the east face of the building would not be illuminated - an accomodation, she explained, to the Village of Old Brookville which had expressed concerns about the signage. The pylon signage, the CVS attorney asserted, would enhance safety by alerting drivers, especially those travelling north on Glen Cove Road, of the store’s location. There is not an entrance on that road, she explained, and that drivers would have to make a right on Glen Head Road before turning left into the parking lot, thus necessitating a sign that would be visible from afar. One resident who spoke expressed skepticism that the larger signs would improve safety, saying that the vast majority of people who would use the store are residents of the area and would therefore know its location. As for the entrances and exits to and from the parking lot, the existing access from Cedar Swamp Road (north of Bottle Buys) will remain; and there will be three on Glen Head Road - the one closest to Glen Cove Road designated for truck deliveries only, and two more further east for cars. There will be no entrance on Glen Cove Road, but there will be an exit with drivers only being able to make a right turn. Each of the three residents who spoke on the issue pointed out that traffic congestion is already a problem at that location, and expressed concerns that the new CVS would add to those problems. The CVS attorney responded that the property is zoned commercial and that, as of right, the property owner can have a CVS or any other retail store at that location. A representative of VHB engineers stated that a traffic study had been done and that it was anticipated that at peak times, during the morning and evening rush, about 50 cars would pull in and out of the parking lot each hour, but that half of that traffic was expected to be people who were already on the road and not making a special trip to the store. Additionally the engineer said that as part of the approval for construction of the Garvies Point waterfront development project in Glen Cove, the developer is required to construct an additional travel lane in each direction on Glen Cove Road where it intersects with Glen Head Road. That project, he continued, is about 90% of the way through the approval process and that he expects construction to begin by the end of this year, with the two lanes being carved out of the center median. In its approval statement, the Planning Advisory Board recommended that the pylon signage be within the zoning regulations of 32 square feet, but noted that that decision rested with the ZBA and that the Planning Board’s opinion was only advisory. BACK TO WEEKLY |
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GLEN HEAD RESIDENTS AND OB VILLAGE SEEK TO BLOCK VARIANCE FOR NEW CVS STORE SIGNAGE (Jan. 18, 2017) |