[R]UTLAND — Officials want to know more about the traffic that would be generated by a Dollar General store proposed for Pittsford as they review the permit application.
The developer is being asked to give the District 1 Environmental Commission more documentation before the panel issues partial findings under the Act 250 review process.
On Tuesday a public hearing on five of the land use law’s 10 criteria covered the development’s potential impact on wetlands, traffic, public investment, primary agricultural soils and settlement patterns.
The recess order focuses primarily on traffic-related issues. It requests that the applicants — Pittsford BTS Retail and Frank von Turkovich, who owns the parcel on Route 7 in the village north of Rutland — provide additional information on the frequency of truck deliveries as well as the size and loaded weight of the vehicles used by Dollar General.
The applicants have also been asked to provide figures on truck deliveries from the two Rutland stores averaged over the past year.
At the hearing, developer Matt Casey said Dollar General typically delivers its retail merchandise in an 18-wheel tractor-trailer once a week. Other deliveries are made in smaller vehicles as needed, he said.
Dollar General has more than 30 stores in Vermont and two on Main Street in Rutland. There’s also a Dollar General farther north just off Route 7 in Vergennes. At Tuesday’s hearing several residents questioned the wisdom of opening another store so close to the Rutland locations.
“That is true,” said Pittsford Town Manager John Haverstock, “but I’ve also heard on the other side that there’s quite a lot of folks in Proctor who might be pleased to make a shorter trip over to Pittsford to shop at Dollar General.”
Concerns were also raised about the absence of sidewalks at the intersection of Route 7 and Plains Road where the store would be. The recess order asks the applicants to provide feasibility studies of constructing sidewalks along portions of both roads.
Route 7 is a state highway, and any modifications would have to be coordinated with the Agency of Transportation. The Pittsford Select Board would be involved in any changes to Plains Road, which is owned by the town. The commission also asked the developer to evaluate the feasibility of implementing crosswalks on both roads.
A long-awaited upgrade to Route 7 in Pittsford is not scheduled until 2028. In August the county delegation and town officials met with Transportation Secretary Chris Cole to discuss ways of improving Pittsford’s sidewalks before the upgrade is completed.
The applicants have until Oct. 31 to submit the additional documentation and feasibility studies.