Essex Zoning Commission to Hold Public Hearing on 24 Hour Fitness Center, May Begin Rite Aid Deliberations

By: Charles Stannard

ESSEX– The zoning commission will hold a public hearing Monday, December 21st on a special permit application for a Snap Fitness 24/7 fitness studio at the Bokum Center Shopping Plaza on Westbrook Road.

The commission, in a session scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in town hall, may also begin its discussion of the controversial proposal for a large Rite Aid pharmacy on the site of the existing Oliver’s Tavern building at 124 Westbrook Road. The panel closed a four-part public hearing on permit applications for proposed 14,763 square-foot pharmacy on Nov. 30. The commission has 65 days, or until the first week of February, to act on the permit applications.

The Snap Fitness studio, a franchise of a Chanhasen, Minn.-based company, would be located in the 4,050 square-foot space at the shopping plaza that was formerly occupied by the Essex Paint and Wallpaper store. Members of the fitness club would have access through a key-card security system.