Dollar General proposed at Route 40 and East Schaghticoke Road gets its first hearing

A new Dollar General is on the drawing board for the corner of NYS Route 40 and East Schaghticoke Road, and it drew a full first hearing before the Planning Board on July 1. Nobody at the meeting quite settled the big questions — screening, lighting, truck traffic, and water — and the board is down two of its members on this application after two recusals.

The proposal

Presented by an engineer from Lansing Engineering, the plan is a 10,600-square-foot store on a 1.95-acre lot, carved from an 8.17-acre parcel that would be split into three lots. The store sits on the middle lot; the two others — including the Route 40 corner — would stay with the current owner, Brian Rohloff. Access would be off East Schaghticoke Road, with two site entrances, private well and septic, and about one delivery a week at 7 a.m. A traffic study has been done and signed off by the town’s engineer.

What neighbors and the board raised

• Screening. A Meadowview Drive resident said there are no trees to buffer his home from the store’s light and noise. Board member Peter Klotz pressed — for the fourth meeting running — for adequate screening of the surrounding homes, and disputed a claim in the applicant’s engineering correspondence that “additional screening is not required,” asking that the minutes reflect the disagreement. The applicant’s engineer said a row of evergreens is planned along the road and on the lot; board member Elizabeth Hale suggested mixing in deciduous trees for a more natural look.
• Lighting. The proposal calls for pole lights up to 18 feet tall to clear delivery trailers; Klotz noted that exceeds the height the Zoning Code permits, and a fuller lighting discussion is expected in August. (Outdoor lighting like this is exactly what a bill in Albany would rein in — see our explainer on the Dark Skies Protection Act.)
• Truck traffic. A land surveyor who owns most of the frontage on East Schaghticoke Road said the town road isn’t built for tractor-trailers — it’s been repaved twice in ten years, and each repaving pushes more runoff onto his land — and suggested closing the road past the store’s driveway and routing trucks another way. The town attorney noted the town has no police power over truck traffic; enforcement runs through code enforcement and the town court.
• Water. With no municipal water in the area, a resident of Old Schaghticoke Road called water supply a serious concern and asked the town to look at extending municipal service. The surveyor raised a reported contaminated well behind the site — which he said already forces added filtration at a nearby restaurant — and urged hydrological study. The engineer estimated the store would use about 50 gallons a day, roughly half a typical household.

Two recusals

Before the hearing, Chairman Frank Alessandrini and board member Vince Ragone recused themselves, each saying they intend to bid on building the store. Tom Martin chaired the hearing in Alessandrini’s place.

What’s next

The written-comment period is open for 14 days after the July 1 hearing — comments can go to the Town Clerk or the Town Supervisor — and the application returned to the Planning Board on its August 5 agenda, with the lighting questions expected to be taken up then. That meeting has now been held; we’ll post the minutes and what was decided as soon as they’re available.

Source: the July 1, 2026 Planning Board minutes (draft). Confirm details against the town’s official record.