Barone's site to become CVS, other plans abandoned

By Amy Stewart BYRAM — Applicants from First Hartford Realty, CVS Pharmacy and Barone's testified at Byram's Feb. 2 Planning Board meeting about changes in their application to develop the property where Barone's sits on the southbound side of Rt. 206. The changes come after months of meetings with the planning board and neighboring residents who voiced their concerns about the plan. The initial application called for Barone’s to be torn down and three buildings to be built on the two lots that currently exist on the property. Plans for two of the buildings, a 10,000 square-foot building for retail space and apartments, and another 5,000 square-foot space, have been abandoned. Construction for the 12,900 square-foot CVS is still part of the application. The amended plan calls for the CVS to be built behind where the restaurant is presently located, but on the same lot. Barone's will still be torn down. All plans for developing the adjacent lot to the south have been abandoned. There are plans to build two entrances off of Rt. 206 which have been approved by the DOT. One will be located on the north side of the proposed building and one on the south side. The southern entrance will line up with Lackawanna Drive, which is being realigned as part of the Rt. 206 expansion project. For northbound traffic, a left-hand turning lane into the property is being constructed, also a part of the Rt. 206 expansion project. If the current plan receives approval from the planning board and township council, the CVS will have a drive-thru pickup window in the back with parking in the front. Plans call for the lot to be excavated, leaving the building and paved areas approximately eight feet lower in elevation than its neighboring structures, many of which are private homes. The neighbors and adjacent property owners in the High Glen section of Byram have several concerns about the development and about the work that has already been done on the southerly lot. Ed Brice, a resident of High Glen, questioned the applicant about the possibility of building a fence to divide the properties, which would provide privacy, noise reduction and security. A fence was initially agreed to but then removed by the applicant when Brice and Earl Riley, another neighboring property owner, mentioned the preference of a tree buffer. “Instead of the having a view of the trees like I used I have, I'll have the view of the roof of the CVS out of the back of my house," said Riley. "All of the trees have been cut down from the southerly lot, so the back of my house is now exposed to 206.” Byram does not have a tree ordinance and the property owner was within their rights to cut down the trees. Riley said that with the addition of the CVS there will be a lot more traffic coming in and out of the parking lot. “It becomes a privacy and security issue without the trees on the southern lot,” he concluded. Michael Selvaggi, of Courter, Kobert and Cohen, speaking for the applicant, and David Caruso of VanasseHangenBrustlin Inc., testified that they will plant a double row of trees on the northern lot line. However, the lot's development, along with the tree plantings, stops before the property lines of the residential homes in High Glen where the two lots meet. Residents of High Glen want to see trees planted across the back of the building and along the side which would create natural buffers between the residential area and the commercial site. Riley added that his biggest concerns are privacy, security and noise. “The noise from 206 and the operations of a CVS diminishes the quality of life for the residents of High Glen," said Riley. "Without natural buffers, there is no privacy between the properties which also lends itself to security issues.” The matter was rescheduled to be heard on the planning board's agenda for March 2. The applicant must get approval from the planning board, then the Byram Township Council, before any work can begin.