Orange Confidential: Port OKs new Rite Aid in Pike Plaza
Port Jervis has approved construction of a new Rite Aid in Pike Plaza, after the former store was closed in 2011 because of numerous structural problems.
Construction on a new 15,000-square-foot building is expected to commence at the plaza within the next several months, raising hope of business and community revitalization.
The Rite Aid store had moved to a temporary location on Front Street.
Ellicott Development Co. of Buffalo bought Pike Plaza at a 2012 tax sale.
The development firm said it plans to upgrade and beautify the parking lot soon, as well as renovate the shopping mall, which had become an eyesore over the past couple of years.
Middletown will hold a public hearing next month on re-passing a housing law that was struck down in June.
The law, passed in 2009, originally would have made the more than 100 multifamily homes in areas zoned for one- and two-family homes illegal by 2014.
However, state Supreme Court Judge Robert Onofry ruled that Middletown should have referred the law to the Orange County Planning Department for review.
The Middletown Landlords Association has been challenging the law.
The hearing on the new law will be at 8 p.m. Aug. 5 in the Common Council chambers.
It would phase out the multifamily residences three years after the law is passed — in late 2016, presuming the law passes later this year.
E-ZPasses are now being sold at Wawayanda Town Hall.
The tags cost $25, with $15 immediately available for toll usage and $10 put to the balance when the tag is registered, said Town Clerk Kathryn Sherlock.
Using E-ZPass saves drivers 5 percent on tolls in New York, and can also be used in more than a dozen other states.
The Town Hall, on Ridgebury Hill Road, is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday.