By Nathan Mayberg
LIBERTY — January 13, 2003 – A "mini Wal-Mart" may be on its way to the Town of Liberty.
Officials with Village Properties International, a local development company, likened their planned store for Liberty – a Dollar General – to a small version of the national retail giant.
The company only needs to make minor adjustments to its plan and gain Department of Transportation approval before they can go ahead with construction.
Dollar General will be located on Route 52, across from the Panda Parlor and car wash east of the village (near the Trading Post, ShopRite and Warehouse Paint and Carpet). The building will be 8,100 square feet and will replace a trailer and storage facility that exists at the site.
A public hearing took place Thursday night – without any public comment.
The county’s planning department, however, voiced concerns over the company’s plans for loading docks and environmental issues in a letter to the Town of Liberty Planning Board.
The planning board came to an agreement that Village Properties would only make pickups and deliveries before 10 a.m. The board hopes that this will prevent disruptions to normal area traffic.
The county also wanted stormwater measures on the property, but the company and board thought this was unnecessary. According to the planning board, such measures are unnecessary if less than an acre of the property is being disturbed. They concluded that this was the case.
The board did require Village Properties to use a sign that did not stand high over the ground. They suggested a monument-type sign, and representatives of the company concurred.
The planning board declared themselves to be the lead agency in charge of review.