City Newspaper Archives - 12/2007
DEVELOPMENT: Walgreens: Swallowing a bitter pill
Published by Jeremy Moule on Dec 11, 2007
Walgreens is back on the agenda in Fairport. | The company has plans for a 9,800-square- foot store at the southeast corner of South Main and Church streets, says Mayor Fritz May. The building is no smaller than it was in an earlier proposal developers withdrew in September, though there are some changes. The plans shift the location of a drive-through and move the South Main Street driveway away from the intersection. | During Monday's meeting, the Village Board acknowledged the application and set a January 14 public hearing and January 10 public information meeting. The board must issue a special permit for the project to proceed because the building exceeds the 6,000-square-foot limit set under recently enacted design guidelines. | Residents and village leaders are concerned the store could harm Fairport's historic character. A large-scale, cookie-cutter building design won't mesh with the surrounding buildings, they say. Applying the design standards will prevent that from happening, May says, and if something is built, it should be reusable just in case Walgreens bails.
