Plans for Wilmington Dollar General on hold for now

WILMINGTON | Controversial plans for a Dollar General store in Wilmington are on hold for now, but it's likely the issue could resurface in the future, Supervisor Roy Holzer said. "They're not totally done by any means," Holzer said. Once the company decides an area would be good for business, it seldom gives up, he added. But a site on Rt. 86 in Wilmington across from the State Police barracks is no longer in play, because the land contained wetlands that would have required compliance with Adirondack Park Agency regulations. Rather than tangle with the APA, the company withdrew its application from the town planning board, Holzer said. Dollar General tends to be a polarizing company, with some equating it with cheap products and poorly paid staff that run home-grown businesses out of a community. But others say those very same cheap products are a lifeline to families on limited budgets in areas where there are few other shopping options. But to many people in Wilmington, dollar stores are the antithesis of the image as an upscale tourist town that they want to project. A public meeting of the town's planning board last March drew nearly 150 people who seemed predominately opposed to the project. Particularly objectionable, some said, was the location — it would have been the first business westbound travelers would have seen entering the hamlet, and just a few doors down from the Little Supermarket, a popular business for locals and tourists alike. It was feared Dollar General would be a serious threat to Little Supermarket's existence. Because of a financial interest in the grocery, Holzer said he has not taken a vocal role in the Dollar General controversy. But he said in talking with town residents, "A lot of the Dollar General concerns were with the size and where they wanted to put it." The store would have weighed in at 10,600 square feet, with parking space for about 30 cars. Without strong land-use regulations, the town has power to tweak design plans, but can't outright stop projects that its citizens don't want. Holzer said it may be time for the town board to tune its regulations which might, for example, limit the size of buildings in the hamlet. Ultimately, he said, residents should have a say in how their community takes shape. "I wish we could put things like this up to a vote," he said.

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Plans for Wilmington Dollar General on hold for now

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