Costco Attracts Overwhelming Opposition from Penfield Residents
On August 8th, the Penfield Planning Board held a public hearing regarding the proposed Costco development on Rt. 250, and seldom has such a hearing attracted so much attention from residents, most of it negative. A full video of the hearing can be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/996863024.
The main auditorium at Town Hall was packed to capacity, with every seat filled and onlookers lining the walls. Many visitors were diverted to a secondary room to watch the proceedings over a live video feed. After a presentation by the developer during which few of the Planning Board’s questions were answered with any sort of substance (although Planning Board Chairman A.J. Hetzke did earn a round of applause for his frank comments seen here), attendees were given the opportunity to voice their concerns.
Residents spoke for nearly two hours, and of the many, many people who spoke, only one person without a clear financial interest in the project spoke in its favor. However, that speaker mainly extolled the virtues of Costco as a company, with little comment regarding the specifics of the proposed plan. Given the number of opposed speakers who prefaced their feedback by sharing their fondness for Costco or that they held an active membership, it would be fair to say that the company’s merits are not at the core of the opposition.
Local media outlets covered the event:
