New Lindenhurst CVS store opens amid traffic, safety concerns
The site on the northeast corner of Wellwood Avenue and Montauk Highway where a CVS opened after more than three years of planning and development. A private home, law office and vacant boat store had been at the site, pictured in November 2011. Credit: Google, 2011
A new CVS store that nearby residents had opposed has opened in Lindenhurst, winning rave reviews from shoppers but facing continued concerns from neighbors.
The store on the northeast corner of Wellwood Avenue and Montauk Highway opened this week after more than three years of planning and development. A private home, law office and vacant boat store had been at the site. The store replaces a smaller CVS at 150 S. Wellwood Ave.
Shoppers said they were happy to have the 24-hour, 12,600-square-foot store. "Now when my kids have a fever in the middle of the night, I have somewhere to go to get medicine," said Melissa Rodriguez, 30, of Lindenhurst.
Plans for the store, first proposed in 2011, were attacked as being too big, with concerns about increasing traffic. A redrawn plan with a smaller building and modified exits was submitted in 2012 and the store was approved by the village planning board last year.
Washington Avenue neighbors remain concerned. Frank James, 38, said he's worried for the children, including his own, who use a school bus stop near the CVS exit.
Buffering and landscaping were added to the site and additional traffic studies were commissioned after initial complaints, said Tony Gallinari, vice president of acquisitions for developer First Hartford Realty, of Manchester, Connecticut.
"CVS has made a very good faith effort to address concerns," he said.
The village board yesterday accepted $100,000 from CVS, a fee charged to help offset costs incurred in the planning of the store. The money is to be split between the village's general fund and its community development fund.
