Greenburgh Insider: Press Release.

WESTCHESTER COMMUNITY STANDS UNITED AGAINST SAM’S CLUB PLAN TO BUILD HARMFUL MEGA GASOLINE CENTER IN ELMSFORD.

“Proposed Plan an Environmental Risk at Best…a Potential Catastrophe at Worst”.

200 Jobs to be Lost by Businesses that Pay More in Taxes Combined than Sam’s Club.

 

 

GREENBURGH NY – FEB. 9, 2022: At a rally today attended by dozens of concerned members of the Greenburgh community including owners, employees, and family members of women- and minority-owned small businesses, environmental advocates, civic leaders, and New York State Assemblymember Thomas Abinanti (92nd District), Westchester County Legislator MaryJane Shimsky (BOL 12th District) and Jewel Williams Johnson (BOL 8th District), the message was clear: Greenburgh’s Town Board must not approve a zoning change that would allow Elmsford’s Sam’s Club to build a mega gasoline station center. Hundreds of signatures from regular customers and local residents have been collected by the stations opposing the zoning change.

 

A recent environmental review by DT Consulting Services, Inc. concluded that the area proposed for petroleum bulk storage at the Sam’s Club site sits in a special flood hazard area and is within close proximity to three water bodies (Saw Mill River, Mine Brook, and an unnamed tributary which all feed into the Hudson River). The study concluded that "granting approval of an auto fuel center within this area could cause undue risk." 

 

“If the Town Board approves Sam’s Club’s request for a spot zoning change, this would have an immediate and drastic impact on 200 local small business employees and the environment,” said Gerald Bunting, an attorney challenging the zoning change on behalf of the business community. “We are here to say ‘No’ to Sam’s Club’s plan and ‘shame on Town Hall’ for even contemplating this proposal that would store underground tanks holding 60,000 gallons of fuel within close proximity to the Saw Mill and Hudson Rivers. This is an environmental risk at best, and a potential catastrophe at worst.”  

 

Leo Zulfikar, owner of a BP station on Saw Mill River Road which features an outdoor iconic 20-foot-tall Paul Bunyan statue, shared: “For 25 years I’ve put blood, sweat, and lots of equity into this station, and it feeds the families of 10 of my employees. I watched as Sam’s Club tried pushing this very same plan forward in 2004 and it was smarty denied by the Greenburgh Zoning Board of Appeals. I don’t know why now, 18 years later, our local government would want to hurt us – they are supposed to support us to build and grow to better the community, not stack the deck against us.”

  

The proposed change, titled “Local Law amending Section 285-28 of the Zoning Ordinance, entitled “DS Designed Shopping District” as it relates to Automotive Fuel Station Uses” will hear public comment tonight at 7PM via Zoom. The Greenburgh Town Board is not allowing in-person attendance due to Covid-19.

 

The zoning law is also opposed by many local civic groups. A resolution was read that had been sent by Madelon K. O’Shea, chairperson of the Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations: “At a Council of Greenburgh Civic Association meeting held by Zoom on January 20, 2022, representatives discussed the application seeking an amendment to the Greenburgh Zoning Ordinance which would permit the Sam’s Club membership warehouse on Saw Mill River Road to sell automotive fuel.  By majority vote CGCA representatives adopted a resolution to oppose the requested zoning change and to support the numerous independent gas station operators and their employees in Greenburgh who would be negatively impacted if the requested zoning change was permitted.”

 

Vince Ferrandino, an Elmsford-based planner and principal of Ferrandino & Associates Inc. reported, in a traffic review of the project, that the 16 new fueling stations would have a significant negative impact on traffic and parking at the Sam’s Club site and along the Rte. 9A corridor: “Sam’s Club intends to eliminate at least 113 parking spaces to make way for their proposed gas station, and that would be particularly onerous during holidays and on weekends. Additionally, the proposed fueling facility will negatively impact circulation throughout the parking lot, and along adjacent streets on both Rte. 9A and Warehouse Lane. For these and other reasons, we recommend that the Town deny the application.” 

 

Tonight’s Greenburgh Town Board public hearing will begin at 7:30PM and individuals can register to speak at the public hearing using Zoom. (Zoom accounts can be created free at https://zoom.us/freesignup/.) To sign up to address the matter, an e-mail must be sent to PublicHearing@GreenburghNY.com by 6PM on Feb. 9, or it can be submitted via written comment at the same e-mail. Speakers have up to five minutes related to the proposed zoning law amendment change and the e-mail subject line should refer to “Local Law amending Section 285-28 of the Zoning Ordinance, entitled “DS Designed Shopping District” as it relates to Automotive Fuel Station Uses.”