Winchester Board of Appeal to Review CVS Pharmacy Proposal in May

With no updated site plan to review, the Winchester Board of Appeal granted a continuance for CVS Pharmacy until May 14 during their meeting Tuesday night at Town Hall.

Acting Board of Appeal chairman Richard Sampson explained that the town has a rule stating that site plans need to be submitted at least five days before a meeting and CVS did not provide the plans ahead of Tuesday's session. He added that the board would not be voting on anything related to the project until the new plan has been received and reviewed by the board.

CVS, which has a location on Main Street in Winchester, is proposing to develop a roughly 12,000 square-foot location in the area of 278-292 Washington St., 12 Swanton St. and 16-20 Swanton St. The area is currently zoned as mixed use, which would allow for commercial development.

Attorney Marie O'Connor, representing developer Gershman Brown Crowley Inc., discussed the CVS project but could not provide the board with the latest site design.

"Several weeks ago we alerted (Janine Viarella of the Winchester Building Department) of a further need for a continuance because of the remand back to the Planning Board and Design Review Committee," O'Connor said. "Based on close workings with the Design Review Committee, the design has been significantly redone based on their input. It is being finalized."

She later added that the architectural elements of the project have been "substantially altered" but did not elaborate as to what those changes were.

On April 16, the Design Review Committee is expected to review the site plan so they can provide further and final comment, according to O'Connor.

"They needed direction...from either your board or the Planning Board to take further action," O'Connor told the Board of Appeal, adding that the Planning Board voted to recommend no approval on this project at their March 14 meeting.

About three dozen people, mostly abutters to the project, attended the session and several expressed their discontent with CVS not having the site plan readily available for a second consecutive meeting. 

"...This huge corporation with I don't know how many resources, they can't deliver the goods and here we are once again waiting for a site plan. Do you have to keep accommodating these people because they jerk us around and not only us but you too?" said Oak Street resident Ron Clark. "Why are they calling all the shots?"

Board vice chairman Donna Patalano said, "If we chose to we could vote to deny the petition, (but) it would never be held up on appeal and it would come right back to us."

A Winchester resident suggested the town commission a traffic study before the school year ends, which the board took under advisement.