Wal-Mart scoping outline finished
By ROB PRICE THE COURIER-ADVOCATE

BATH - Engineers consulting with the Bath town planning board on a proposed Wal-Mart supercenter have recommended the town not conduct an economic impact study of the development nor enact a moratorium on "big box" stores.

The recommendation came Thursday as the planning board completed the first phase of an environmental impact study related to the 150,000-square-foot store proposed for a 17-acre site on state Route 54.

Engineering consultant Anne Clarke told planning board members a moratorium is not necessary because the project does not appear to conflict with a comprehensive plan currently being prepared for the town.

Moreover, she said, a moratorium enacted in response to a specific construction project could place the town in legal jeopardy. "Moratoriums are generally about overall land use," Clark said. "To enact a moratorium in reaction to a specific applicant is very dangerous."

Clark also warned requiring an economic impact study could lead to trouble for the municipality. In general, she said, the State Environmental Quality Review Act does not call for a general economic impact study of any proposed development. However, she noted, a fiscal study of a project's impact on municipal services is allowed under SEQRA.

Outside the SEQRA process, Clark continued, a municipality may require a development to abide by local land use regulations; however, Bath has no zoning code that would apply to the Wal-Mart project.

Opponents of the Wal-Mart project have asked town officials to consider both a "big box" moratorium and a general economic impact study of a Wal-Mart supercenter. They have warned the development could force numerous local businesses either to close or cut back on their services.

Beyond those controversial issues, Clarke and Dennis Fagan, of Fagan Engineers, worked with planning board members for about 55 minutes Thursday to clarify a draft scoping document outlining the environmental issues Wal-Mart must address and mitigate in order to receive permission to build its Route 54 store.

Those issues include:

• A fiscal study of the store's impact on local municipal services versus the municipal revenue it will generate through local taxes.

• An assessment of the store's impact on the character of nearby municipalities Hammondsport and Urbana.

• Traffic and a possible realignment of county Route 113 and its intersection with state Route 54 near the development site.

• The project's impact on an underground aquifer.

Planning board members unanimously endorsed the refined scoping outline, which now will be referred to Wal-Mart for its own environmental study.

According to Clarke and Fagan, the next major step for the Town of Bath will be studying Wal-Mart's own proposals in response to the scoping document. Once a final environmental study is prepared, Clarke noted, a public comment period is required under SEQRA.

Planning board Chairman James Emo did not permit public comment during the board's review of the scoping plan.