The new Stewart’s location at the corner of Henry W. DuBois Drive and North Chestnut Street in New Paltz was largely completed in a very short amount of time. However, the work seemed to peter out before the sidewalks and other work involving digging was completed. It’s led some to speculate that some kind of toxic problem was discovered, such as leaked gasoline from the fueling station that was formerly on the site, but village building inspector Cory Wirthmann says that this is not the case. Rather, the holdup is a bureaucratic one: the state permit to work on or alongside a state road has yet to be approved.
“The blanket answer is that permits take 18 months, and this has been in for a year,” Wirthmann said. That permit impacts the workers’ ability to complete work such as sewer hookups and storm water drainage. “As they dig more, they find more stuff . . . . it’s common, and they take awhile.”
Wirthmann said that a temporary certificate of occupancy could be issued for the building right now, but if that request was made — it hasn’t — there would be a concern about people in cars being unable to pull in and out via North Chestnut Street at all. The location would have to be open to walk-up traffic only, “but it’s a gas station and it might not be worth it for them.”
A traffic light will also require approval from state transportation officials. Wirthmann has explicit permission to grant a temporary certificate of occupancy when that’s the only open issue, and is likely to do so. “I think the logistics of the lights will be a bit [of time to complete]. They aren’t in that business.”
The permitting issue may also play a factor in the opening of Zero Place. The building is nearing completion, but Wirthmann said that the DOT permit application was filed nine months ago, three months after the one for the Stewart’s project.
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