It may not be long before blasting takes place near the South Hills Mall, as work to construct a new retail development complex in the Town of Poughkeepsie was discussed at a Wednesday, Aug. 6 Town Board meeting.
The blasting will help create trenches needed to build The Shoppes at South Hills, the name of the complex to be constructed off Route 9. Various stores are expected to eventually inhabit the space, including restaurants and retail outlets.
Vornado Retail, a New Jersey company subsidiary of mall owner Vornado Realty Trust, wants the board to expedite the official process required to notify neighbors of the blasting. Company officials said that the process usually takes more than a month, and that any delay to construction could seriously slow the project.
The blasting site is about 400 feet from homes located along Old English Way, Galleria Drive, Smoke Rise Lane and routes 9 and 9D. Around 25 homes may be affected by the blasting, Vornado officials said.
“It might make a lot of sense to measure from the blast site as opposed to the property line,” councilman Dominic Seminara (R-2nd Ward) said.
Before the next Town Board meeting on Aug. 20, at 7 p.m. at town hall, Vornado was expected to distribute a pre-blast survey to homeowners residing in those areas.
If residents agree to the project, representatives would then survey homes to check for pre-existing conditions, to prevent falsely reported insurance claims.
Vornado Project Manager Brian Thompson said the project calls for 560,000 square feet of retail space.
Community affected?
Councilman Stephan Krakower (R-5th Ward) asked Vornado’s local attorney, Harold Mangold, to explain how the project will be “less intrusive on the neighbors,” a comment Mangold made during the meeting.
Mangold said no nearby homes or businesses are expected to be affected and said blasting would only run six days a week for 30 days.
“It takes about 60 days to acquire a license to ‘dig and rip,’ and the fastest and safest option would be to ‘blast the trenches,’" Mangold said. “In order to do that we must have a license issued by the town. We must have a licensed blaster.”
“Your ability to make your investment should not damage somebody else’s,” Seminara said. “I would not want to weaken for the entire town, or even give you a waiver, if subsequently somebody’s foundation is cracked and they have no recourse. Four-hundred feet may sound like a lot, but it’s not very far.”
Supervisor Patricia Myers said via phone that town ordinance states if a homeowner or property owner requests a pre-blast inspection, they must contact the developer within 30 days after notice of completion of blasting if there is a problem.
L.P. Drilling is the New Jersey company that would perform the blasting.
Stores on the South Hills site that have remained open during recent work include Burlington Coat Factory, Chuck E. Cheese restaurant, Kmart, ShopRite, and Silver Cinemas.