When presented with an option to have a supermarket, bank and restaurant on a vacant piece of property in Whitehall, the Whitehall Town Board voted against growth, jobs and an expanded tax base.
Richard LaChapelle, Farrell Prefountaine and David Hollister. These are the Whitehall Town Board members who voted against a proposal that would have brought a new shopping center, jobs and an expanded tax base to Whitehall.
Recently a company named Donnelly Industries came before the Whitehall Town Board with a proposal to build a new retail center, which would contain a supermarket, bank and restaurant. In order for a major supermarket chain to locate there they needed a building ordnance passed to limit commercial space to less than 75,000 square feet. This would allow a supermarket to be built.
The ordnance was based on the fact that the demographics of Whitehall and the surrounding area can only support one supermarket chain. If a chain moves in, they don’t want a large retail box store like Wal-Mart or K-Mart then coming in and putting them out of business. This was the history behind the proposed ordinance.
Even though this matter had been discussed for months, the three members voting against the proposal did so for vastly different reasons. Mr. Prefountaine was concerned that there had not been enough public input. Mr. LaChapelle was concerned about the liability of flooding from certain adjoining dikes even though the developer had said they would assume responsibility for the dikes. Mr. Hollister voted no on ideological grounds because he didn’t want to limit the size of any commercial property. While certainly a valid argument, no big-box store is even considering coming to Whitehall at this time.
So when given the chance to expand the tax base, bring jobs to Whitehall, and have something positive happen in Whitehall for a change, Mr’s LaChapelle, Prefountaine, & Hollister all voted NO.
Councilman Jim Putorti voted YES and Town Supervisor Richard Gordon would have voted YES if a tie had occurred.