New Chick-fil-A Would Bring Road, Traffic Improvements
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
A new Chick-fil-A restaurant, proposed for a site on the border of White Plains and Greenburgh, would come with purported road and traffic improvements at the company’s expense.
The project is not yet approved for the former CVS site at 20 Tarrytown Road and has been accompanied by protests from neighbors as the municipality’s planning boards weigh the site plan for the new restaurant and a special permit for the new parking lot, respectively.
“We’re going to be widening Old Kensico Road to provide an additional lane approaching 119,” Phillip Greeley, project engineer, told the White Plains board during a public hearing last week. The meeting came with few questions and no substantive debate after the panel had been previously introduced to the application.
Additionally, the developer will be replacing the “entire signal system” at the Aqueduct Road, Old Kensico Road and Tarrytown Road (Highway 119) intersection. Right now, according to Greeley, the signal changes based on fixed timing because of failing vehicle detection technology there.
The White Plains Planning Board could act as soon as Aug. 27 on the portion of the site to the east of the CVS building, where it’d like a permit to add 30 additional parking spaces. That was once the area for loading and dumpsters.
The former convenience store will be demolished to make way for new construction; however, that aspect falls under the jurisdiction of the Greenburgh Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals, according to its Robert Stout, attorney with the applicant.
“The site plan is relatively straightforward – two driveways out to County Center Road and parking in the middle. We’ve got ADA accessibility here with a sidewalk connection out to the public right of way that patrons could use to walk out to County Center Road and up to the Chick-fil-A lot if needed,” said Tim Freitag, project engineer.
The Fulton Park Neighborhood Association and Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations are among the organizations opposing the project. They relayed their concerns, ranging from the list of variances and the impacts of the layout to its attractiveness as a “gateway” into the communities.
“Everything about their plan is literally edge to edge building with very little setback,” said Tom Bock, president of the Fulton Park Neighborhood Association.
“We don’t want more impervious space. We don’t want additional parking. We want more green space and I’m not a tree hugger,” he added.
Andy Milone has been a freelance reporter covering local government for various New Jersey and New York news outlets since May 2024. The Chatham, New Jersey native and Gettysburg College graduate previously worked as a full-time reporter for The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier in Iowa, Pine Barrens Tribune in New Jersey and The Shippensburg News-Chronicle in Pennsylvania. He began working as a professional journalist in 2018. You can reach him at 201-406-7222 (call/text) or by emailing andymilone@protonmail.com.
