Bronx Meets Big Box
Superstore retailing companies, determined to enter the massive New York City market, are meeting resistance as residents and local officials recognize the costs a large retail store can impose on the surrounding community. In the Bronx, a proposed 130,000 square foot Home Depot on East Gun Hill Road and Ely Avenue got the thumbs-down from Community Boards 10 and 11 this spring. Transportation consultant Brian Ketcham has studied traffic impacts of "big box" stores, estimates the indirect annual costs of the store to local residents at over $23 million. Using data from another Home Depot site, Ketcham predicts 5,000 more cars, 100 light trucks, and 50 heavy trucks will enter the area daily. Because the location is not directly accessible from the Cross-Bronx or the Hutchinson Parkway, traffic attracted to the store will impact local streets tremendously, boosting congestion, pollution and vehicle-related accidents and injuries. With other developments expected nearby, civic leaders fear Co-op City may become "trapped by traffic." City Councilman DeMarco and Senator Velella also oppose the project. Velella's office noted the redundancy of this Home Depot, only three miles from another one under construction in New Rochelle. Moreover, two similar large home-improvement type stores lie within a mile of the site. Home Depot says it is a good neighbor, providing jobs and tax revenue. It says it will erect a sound wall and landscape to divide the store from homes, add two traffic lights, and instruct its trucks to use the most direct route to the highway. The megastore wants to open by December 1996 -- it has completed its application for rezoning and is set to begin the Uniform Land Use Review Process, requiring public hearings and approval by the City Council and Borough President.
