ARMONK, N.Y. After Monday evenings presentation to the North Castle Planning Board, CVS calling Armonk home is starting to become a serious reality. Many residents around town, such as Amy Schliftman, wish that the empty store space could be used for something else.
I just dont think the town needs a large pharmacy like that, Schliftman said. It would have been nice if we could have gotten another supermarket in there instead.
Pending a site-plan approval by the planning board and a special-use permit granted by the town board, CVS will soon move into the vacant A&P building. CVS, represented Monday by its lawyer Al DelBello, said it plans to make permanent changes to the facility such as repaving the parking lot, adding a space in the shopping mall for another new tenant and adding a drive-thru window for customers. The store plans to be open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to midnight.
But residents such as members of the Concerned Citizens of Armonk community group are doing their best to keep the CVS from setting up shop.
At their original site-plan presentation, DelBello said that most of the negative light shed on the CVS is due to fallacies spread around town.
There are a lot of misconceptions around town that people have about this CVS, DelBello said at Mondays meeting. This CVS is not going to be the big-box store that most people perceive it to be.
DelBello added that CVS has taken steps to receive feedback from local residents.
CVS originally didnt have any plans for a drive-thru window, DelBello said, who added that the window will only be used strictly for pharmaceuticals, and not general merchandise. But after speaking with people it was seen as a convenience for shoppers such as a mother whos with a sick child and doesnt want to park and get out of the vehicle.
Just down the road from the potential CVS site is Town Center Pharmacy, a local store owned by Armonk resident Charlene Jacobi, who is also a key member of the Concerned Citizens of Armonk group.
We already have a pharmacy here in town and I know that they recently just spent money and renovated their store, Schliftman said in regards to Town Center Pharmacy. And now this is happening and I just dont think its fair.
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