Yorktown and Cortlandt region

Fixing Route 202’s traffic woes is as important to Costco from a business standpoint as it is for making plans for a store there palatable to the town.

That was the message to Yorktown Chamber of Commerce board members Tuesday from project consultants.

“Costco is not going to come here if we can’t get the traffic to work,” traffic engineer Philip Grealy said.

Grealy and engineer Nickitas Panayotou gave what have become, since December, a familiar presentation of plans for a 151,000-square-foot store on the site of the former Yorktown Country Inn by the Taconic Parkway.

Residents, so far, have shown some divide on Costco’s merits.

“I think if I was looking for a town to live in and there were two identical towns like Yorktown, and one had a lot of big box stores in it, I’d pick the one without,” said Mark Lieberman.

But Gerarda Brown said she has watched for decades as Yorktown chased off commercial development like Home Depot and Wal-Mart.

“We think, first off, there’s nothing wrong with having a little competition, and also it might help with the tax burden,” Brown said. “The traffic is an issue, but it’s an issue right now without Costco.”

Read the whole story Wednesday in The Journal News and at LoHud.com.

Photo: Engineer Nickitas Panayotou details Costco’s plans for chamber board members. (Brian Howard/The Journal News)

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