Proposed Lynbrook Walgreens Shut Down by Village Board

Updated Wednesday at 4:50 p.m.

The Village board has denied Walgreens the application to build the store.

"It was just the traffic and the school - it was the wrong place for the store," said Lynbrook Mayor William Hendrick. 

Original Story

By Chris Boyle. 

Lynbrook Village Hall was packed with local residents for a public hearing on Tuesday, and they all appeared to agree on one thing: they don’t want a Walgreens in their town. 

The pharmacy chain, which is currently negotiating with the village in order to potentially build and open a location by purchasing and demolishing pre-existing structures at 230-234 Hempstead Ave. -- including a gym and a florist -- is facing heavy opposition from Lynbrook residents who claim that, among other issues, adding a Walgreens to the area will create numerous traffic, safety and quality of life issues. 

Lynbrook Mayor William J. Hendrick stated that the hearing was a way for the village to hear the concerns of the public and for residents to be able to get their many questions answered by the developers of the property, who had started the process of application submissions with the village in December of 2012.

 “We have not approved or granted anything yet ... this is not a done deal,” Hendrick said. “This is still early in the process. We welcome your involvement here tonight.” 

Among potential issues caused by the addition of a Walgreens in the area cited by local residents are changes in the traffic pattern around the nearby Davison Avenue Elementary School; noisy and disruptive tractor trailer deliveries; the pharmacy’s planned sale of both syringes and alcohol; a lack of adequate parking spaces, as required by law; the potential closing of part of Central Avenue; and the elimination of existing businesses already at the planned location.

However, in a presentation held by Alfred Callegari, the developer of the property, several experts testified before the boards, debunking some of the claims made by residents in an attempt to assuage their concerns. 

Callegari’s zoning attorney, Andrew Guardino, said that, in addition to departing from the traditional “blocky” Walgreens design in favor of a more pleasing colonial style in keeping with surrounding businesses, the proposed pharmacy’s scale would make it among the smaller in the chain. 

“People are saying that the proposed Walgreens will be one of the largest on Long Island, but that is simply not true,” he said. “The typical Walgreens is store is 14,500 square feet in size, but our proposed location would only be 10,615 square feet -- 30 percent smaller than the national average.” 

He went on to say that the building plan calls for 44 parking spots, which provides 31 more spaces than the gym currently situated at the location, which would eliminate ongoing parking issues in the area involving customers parking on residential streets. 

A representative of Walgreens also stated that the proposed Lynbrook location would not be open 24 hours. Instead, the likely hours of operation would be 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. 

“We are proposing purchasing Central Avenue, which is currently a one-way street, converting it into a two-way street that services the two homes on it, and incorporating the remainder into our building plan,” he said. “If the village does not grant this, then we will apply for a special permit for off-site parking, where people will park on one side of Central and then walk over to Walgreens.” 

Harry Baker, a traffic consultant hired by Callegari to do a study of Hempstead Avenue and the potential impact that the addition of a Walgreens could have on the area, stated that the area would not be negatively affected. However, Baker stated that his report was not yet complete, and that he would turn it into the Village Board as soon as it is.

After the presentation, audience members were allowed to engage in a Q&A session with the developers.

One local citizen questioned the possible negative quality of life issues the Walgreens could bring with its coming, and presented a petition signed by 1,500 Lynbrook residents to Mayor Hendrick, objecting to the proposed pharmacy.

Another resident simply questioned the need for yet another pharmacy in the area, citing the two CVS and one Rite Aid in the Village, and a Walgreens on Franklin Avenue in nearby Franklin Square as being more than enough.