Walgreens Review Continues In Derby

The application to redevelop Red Raider Plaza and add a Walgreens to the shopping center is making its way through the city’s review process.

Walgreens has an application pending in front of the Derby Planning and Zoning Commission to tear down part of Red Raider Plaza, redevelop the building that houses Xpect Discounts, and to build a Walgreens pharmacy.

The public hearing on the application is still open and the commissioners are scheduled to discuss the application again at their March 20 meeting (assuming the commission meets on their regularly scheduled date).

Click here to visit the commission online.

Walgreens owns Red Raider Plaza. Click here and here for previous stories on the Walgreens application.

Click here to read about the impending closure of Xpect Discounts, a tenant in the plaza.

Internal traffic flow and the access to the redeveloped site from Pershing Drive were the most pressing concerns among people who spoke about the redevelopment project at the Feb. 21 P&Z meeting.

Red Raider Plaza sits at the corner of two very busy roads — Pershing Drive and Division Street. Getting into and out of Red Raider Plaza is already tricky due to speeding cars trying to get to Route 8 and motorists trying to get in and out of the plethora of other shopping centers along the Pershing and Division commercial strip.

Rocco Cingari, who owns the ShopRite plaza across Pershing Drive from the proposed Walgreens, urged the Derby commissioners to pay close attention to traffic flow inside Red Raider Plaza. Cingari, who was also represented at the Feb. 21 by a lawyer and an engineer, worried traffic back-ups inside Red Raider Plaza could spill onto Pershing Drive and hamper motorists from getting into the ShopRite plaza.

Cingari urged the commissioners to be vigilant about traffic — just as they were when they approved his development.

Cingari said the redevelopment of Red Raider Plaza is “long over due.”

Carmen DiCenso, a member of the Derby Board of Aldermen, noted that getting out of Red Raider Plaza and onto Pershing Drive is already a headache.

He worried the redevelopment of Red Raider Plaza — plus the eventual redevelopment of the former Valley Bowl next door — will make a bad situation worse.

He urged the commissioners to focus on traffic flow.

“It’s a dangerous situation right now and both plazas are half empty,” DiCenso said.

Mayor Anthony Staffieri also spoke at the Feb. 21 P&Z meeting. He said the concerns about the project can be worked out among the various property owners.

“They are willing to work with their neighbors,” the mayor said. “I’ve been hearing all the right things to make the City of Derby better.”

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