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HANOVER -- A Dollar General store is eyeing a location in the former village of Forestville and many residents are not happy about it.
According to Deputy Supervisor of Hanover Louis Pelletter, the current building inspector was notified of interest of the store coming to Sheridan Hill, however he was against it due to safety hazards.
The newest proposal is for 6 and 8 Lodi St. The potential building owner wants to tear down the houses that are there and possibly reroute the creek. Currently that area is zoned residential. A couple houses over, heading toward village center, is zoned commercial.
"My understanding is that they wanted us to spot zone it to commercial for those two properties," Pelletter stated at the November workshop of the Hanover Town Board. "No action was taken by the building inspector because it's in a residential area. They have to make some kind of proposal to the property owners to get the ball started which would have to go through the planning board and zoning board."
Resident Aimee Rogers presented the concern of roughly 15 citizens regarding the possible variance request. "We ask not to pass any requests for variances and zoning in any residential area in Forestville. Allowing this change or variance would not be in the best area of interest for the residents of Forestville, or for the aesthetics of the hamlet, especially while we are discerning the future of Forestville."
Currently the deal is in limbo, as there is currently no proposal that has been made to the property owners yet. The residents of Forestville would like to see the hamlet cited as a historic district in hopes of preserving the atmosphere currently present. Some would like to see the store come in; others would not, but all agree that the location on Lodi is a bad one.
"People are going through there at 45-50 miles per hour all the time," Anna Galofaro said. "Having a business there, where people are turning slowly in and out of the driveway, I see as a real disaster. I don't have an issue with Dollar General coming into our town, I have a problem with where."
Hanover Supervisor Todd Johnson was concerned over the last minute desires of the former village's residents, even though he too would like to see their history preserved. The village was formally dissolved in 2016 and a survey of its residents was conducted to find out what its residents would like to see the future of Forestville become.
"You have until Dec. 31 to put in any type of request for any type of changes for zoning and planning in the former village of Forestville," Johnson stated. "We had to keep all of the current laws on the books for a two-year period. If nothing is brought up to be changed by Jan. 1, 2019, you live with the town rules. So if you have things you want to see for your community, you need to bring them forward very soon."
According to the board, this should have been done earlier so planning boards had time to work on the former village's requests. They believe that the residents might be out of time.
A formal request was made that evening and now it'll be passed on to the planning boards and the zoning boards for consideration.