KINGSTON – Dick Peters has owned and operated Peter's Market in Napanoch for 38 years. Of plans to locate a 132,000 square-foot Walmart near his business, he told members of the Ulster County Planning Board that he's "not thrilled," but not necessarily opposed, because he believes the community is "retail-deprived."

Peters only asked the board to recommend that Walmart "play fair and go by the rules."

One issue at hand was whether Walmart would be required to comply with the town's new zoning laws or could be grandfathered in under the old ordinances — a law allowing for the grandfathering was passed at a January Wawarsing Town Board meeting, but questions regarding the law have arisen from some critics of the retailer's application to build a store in Napanoch. As lead agency, Wawarsing's Planning Board has final say in the matter, but Ulster County's Planning Board weighed in at their meeting last Wednesday, March 4.

Jacob Billig, Walmart's local counsel, argued that the plans call for the redevelopment of an existing shopping center, and, as such, should not be subjected to the same rigorous reviews as a new development. "We're 125 percent confident in our interpretation of the case law," he said, adding, "we don't see any inconsistencies with the comprehensive plan and we've been making modifications to the look of this, based on input that we've had from the local community, to the extent that we can."

Members of the county planning board asked questions ranging from traffic impact studies to economic and crime analyses. When a board member noted that the proposed building's exterior is "traditional," with no evidence of eco-friendly materials, Walmart's representatives contended that many of the environmentally sustainable aspects are not readily obvious, such as the pre-cast panels used for the building's exterior walls.

A key efficiency feature, called "daylight harvesting" will be implemented in the Napanoch store, said Walmart's representatives. The engineer explained that skylights are installed in the building's roof for every 1,000 feet of floor-space to flood the area with natural lighting; outside electronic sensors detect cloud cover and trigger the store's artificial lighting to gradually compensate.

Using the Ulster County Land Use Review Guide as support, Matthew Rudikoff, a planning consultant representing Shoprite — whose Ellenville location would compete with the proposed store — said the Walmart application raises questions that warrant further investigating, including the fact that the company submitted no draft EIS, or Environmental Impact Statement for the project.

Describing the local economy as "small and shrinking," Ellenville resident Steve Krulick said he believes locating a Walmart in Napanoch will seriously and negatively affect the town's economy because a store this size "is designed to generate $1-1.5 million in sales," and could potentially "drain and siphon a large amount of the existing monies currently spent in that town."

Addressing the traffic study, Krulick, who represents Wawarsing-Ellenville for Responsible Development (WERD), noted that Walmart's engineers only looked at a small segment of roadway and never considered seasonal traffic. He said, "That road can have two to three miles of traffic on it at any time in the summer."

Following the discussion, Ulster County's Planning Board voted unanimously to recommend a positive declaration, pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), a move many of the audience members have long requested of the Wawarsing Planning Board. Wawarsing's planning board representative abstained from voting on the matter.

In addition, the planning board recommended that Walmart broaden the scope of their limited traffic study, and conduct crime, economic impact, sewage capacity and community services impact analyses of the project. Other improvements were also suggested, including extended walkways, designated and signalized turning lanes, and LED parking lot lighting.

Reached by phone after the meeting, Walmart's spokesperson Phil Sergini said, "While we have the utmost respect for Ulster County's planning board, they are not the lead agency on this project," referring to the Wawarsing Planning Board; despite the county's recommendation, the issuance of a positive or negative declaration will be decided by officials in Wawarsing.

Sergini said Walmart plans to utilize some of the board's recommendations, but does not agree with the need for a full environmental impact assessment. He believes that Wawarsing's planning board will support Walmart's interpretation of the comprehensive plan.

Chairman of the Town of Wawarsing's Planning Board, Marty Lonstein, said the town's engineers and lawyers are looking into the county's recommendations. The recommendations will be reviewed by the planning board a during the March 24 meeting.

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