By Charles Stannard
ESSEX— The zoning commission’s public hearing on permit applications for the proposed 14,673 square-foot Rite Aid pharmacy at 124 Westbrook Road will resume Monday at 7 p.m. in the auditorium at town hall.
The hearing, which began on Sept. 21 and continued on Oct. 19, focuses on the special permit and earth removal permit applications submitted by Acquisition Holdings LLC for construction of a 14,673 square foot Rite Aid on the site now occupied by the Oliver’s Tavern building. Separate public hearings are scheduled for Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m.on revisions to existing permits and site plans for the Essex Veterinary Clinic at 114 Westbrook Road and the Essex Paddle and Tennis Club because plans for the Rite Aid call for separate entrance through the veterinary clinic property that would change approved site plans for the clinic and the tennis club parcels.
Nearly 100 residents turned out for the two previous hearings, with most, but not all in the crowd expressing opposition to the size of the proposed pharmacy building and the possible impact of the project on traffic patterns around the busy intersection of Essex Road, Route 153, and Bokum Road. The new Rite Aid would replace the existing pharmacy located in leased space at the nearby Bokum Corners shopping plaza.
The commission is expected to receive a petition signed by 178 residents calling for increased scrutiny of the Rite Aid project, including a review of design plans for the new building by an ad hoc committee of local architects.
Marian Staye, zoning enforcement officer, said any petition received Monday would not change the commission’s time line for action on the Rite Aid applications. Staye said professional traffic consultants for the town and the applicant, who were unable to attend the Oct. 19 hearing, will be present at the session Monday. After it closes the public hearing, the commission will have 65 days to act on the permit applications.
