Greenburgh rejects shopping center expansion

Members of the Greenburgh Planning Board recently rejected a proposal to construct two  buildings at the north end of the Midway Shopping Center in the Edgemont area of town.

Citing traffic and parking issues, planning board members sided with residents who live near the shopping center who say there isn’t enough parking spaces to support an expansion. The center is one of the most successful in the region and is often busy with traffic and shoppers, officials said.

The construction proposal, which could still be approved by Town Board members, included a two-story, 10,800-square-foot building with ground-floor retail and second-floor restaurant space and a one-story, 3,500-square-foot building for both restaurant and retail tenants.

Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc. of Greenwich, Conn. leases and manages the Midway Shopping Center.

The proposal included ways to improve traffic flow and parking. However, nearby residents say there is already insufficient parking in the neighborhood and that an expansion would increase the number of accidents in parking lots. 

Some residents have requested a parking garage be required as part of granting a permit, while others say any expansion should be on the south end of the shopping center where there is less traffic.