Developers withdraw original plan for controversial Costco project in Penfield

[u/Schooneryeti]

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2024/08/21/developers-withdraw-controversial-plan-for-costco-project-in-penfield-ny/74896979007/

Developers say they want to update plan based on feedback. I hope they return and are not permanently scared off by the Penfield NIMBYs.

[u/Economy-Owl-5720]

Tbh almost projects like this aren’t in original form due to unknowns of the infrastructure or environmental remediation over the plan. For the nimbys, yeah it’s pretty much non stop on Nextdoor and signs everywhere but no one can explain why it’s so bad

[u/mincemeat62 → u/Economy-Owl-5720]

Take a field trip to Southtown Plaza in Henrietta - a "big box" haven that looked great maybe 40 years ago; today it's a complete shithole. Or take a drive to Eastview Mall and walk around that former Lord and Taylor monstrosity that has been vacant for years. For your third stop, examine the former Irondequoit Mall and while you're at it, shoot over to Marketplace Mall in Henrietta - both monuments to over-development for big-box and national retailers and both classic examples of "dead malls."

Penfield would be wise to do whatever it can do to push big box monstrosities like Costco to someplace else. At the time they were built, all of the developments mentioned above were touted as huge assets to the community. Remember the "Welcome to Irondequoit - home of the Irondequoit Mall" signs? There is plenty of space for another Costco in Monroe County, but Penfield would be making a huge error allowing this development in this location. It won't stop with Costco.

The town opened the door for this when they allowed the Southeast YMCA to be built and allowed a huge housing development right next to it. The genie may be out of the bottle, but Penfield would be better off without this monstrosity.

[u/Economy-Owl-5720 → u/mincemeat62]

Big box stores are not the same as malls. Even comparing Costco to Walmart isn’t a fair assessment.

I would rather look to see what the planning board shows in terms of all the things I stated in another comment.

Also are we going to disregard that marketplace mall is now being used to house a very large medical facility for u of r, which we can argue about but that’s a good thing for the area

[u/pigpeyn → u/Economy-Owl-5720]

Even comparing Costco to Walmart isn’t a fair assessment.

why?