This story was updated on May 5, 10:18 a.m.
Harrison has moved another step closer to approving the construction of a Wegmans Food Market along the Platinum Mile after the town Planning Board voted to approve the proposal’s environmental review.
After determining the project would pose no environmental risks, the Planning Board unanimously voted in favor of a negative declaration, which completes the review without an environmental impact statement. The statement typically describes the positive and negative environmental effects of a plan.
The proposal, which calls for the demolition of an unoccupied building at 106-110 Corporate Park Drive, was given the green light on the review on April 25 at the board’s most recent meeting.
Mayor Ron Belmont, a Republican, said that with this latest step and without any resistance from residents as of yet, town officials are now anticipating the food market will open in summer 2019. “We’re hoping it opens by then because it’s going to be really nice for the town and the whole area,” he said.
With approval from the town, the privately owned regional supermarket chain would open its first location in Westchester County.
Wegmans is a chain headquartered in Gates, New York, which is located near the city of Rochester. The company, which owns 92 stores across the mid-Atlantic and New England regions, is known for selling locally sourced food and has operated since its founding in Rochester in 1916.
The proposal, which has already garnered local support from organizations like the Westchester County Association, calls for the construction of a 125,000-square-foot, 2-story grocery store—it will also include a café area—at the Corporate Park Drive location.
The family-owned supermarket has partnered with Normandy Real Estate Partners, which owns several other properties along the town’s Platinum Mile area, to construct the chain’s first location in the Lower Hudson Valley region along the Interstate 287 corridor.
“They’re a really wonderful company to work with,” said Councilman Rich Dionisio, a Republican. “It seems like [Wegmans is] going above and beyond to comply with everything that’s required.”
Dionisio added that with the way the company is quickly moving through the review and permitting process, it could possibly open even sooner than expected, he said of Belmont’s prediction.
The Town Council would still, however, have to approve a zoning change that will allow the company to operate in the special business district of Harrison.
The specific location designated for construction requires special approval from the Town Council and restricts buildings from being constructed beyond 4 stories high.
The council is expected to approve the zoning change on May 4.
