By Patrick Adrian
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CLAREMONT — The long-shuttered former Rite Aid building at 79 Washington St. will finally have purpose again as a medical treatment center for patients dealing with chronic kidney failure.
The Claremont Planning Board on Monday unanimously approved an application from the new building owners Washington Claremont LLC, based in Miami, Florida., to repurpose the former pharmacy into a dialysis clinic, which will employ between 11 to 14 people and operate during the hours of 5 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
“I can’t believe the day has finally come when people won’t have a vacant Rite Aid to complain about for 20 years,” said Councilor Nicholas Koloski lightheartedly, who serves on the Planning Board as a council representative alternate.
While 20 years was a clear exaggeration, the building has been vacant for more than a decade, since Rite Aid relocated its pharmacy to 73 Pleasant St.
According to a recollection from Planning Board Vice-chair David Putnam, Rite Aid’s stay on Washington Street was short-lived, as the drug store chain only decided upon the location due to other options being unavailable at the time.
Planning Director DeForest Bearse said she was unable to find the year when Rite Aid relocated.
The proposed changes to the 11,000-square-foot building will be minimal, according to Daniel Flores, a project manager from the Windham-based company, SFC Engineering, who represented the building ownership on Monday.
The primary changes will be to the outside building, according to Flores. The former pharmacy drive-through structure will be removed to create space for delivery vehicles. Other changes include the relocation of doors, accessibility upgrades and driveway signage.
The only concern from Planning Board members was the plan for delivery trucks.
SFC Engineering proposes to restrict entry through one of its two driveway entrances to delivery trucks, which aims to allow trucks to make three-point turnarounds on the property rather than back-up into Washington Street, which poses a higher safety risk.
But several Planning Board members noted this solution would allow trucks to enter the property by making a left-turn across two lanes of traffic without a traffic signal.
“A lot of the traffic in the city of Claremont is dangerous,” said board member Bruce Kolenda. “We’re getting busier on two major highways and it’s not getting any better.”
Kolenda also referred to the growing safety risks on Charlestown Road, which has increased in commercial activity considerably over the past decade, resulting in a rise of vehicular collisions, two of which led to fatalities.
Despite concerns about 79 Washington St., the planning board members agreed that the proposed plan is “the best solution for this site.”
Board Chair Richard Warlich said the left-turns will probably be made safer because of the other entrance being a traffic-controlled intersection, which will stop oncoming traffic for the trucks.
Additionally, the facility only expects to receive one delivery truck per week at most, according to Flores.
Koloski also noted that many businesses on Washington Street, particularly in this section, have the same safety problem of vehicles making left turns across two lanes of traffic, including some tractor-trailers that have reversed on Washington Street to back into a lot.
The Planning Board also approved a request by SFC Engineering to waive a requirement to submit a new site plan, due to there being minimal changes to the existing site plan to necessitate it.
reporter @eagletimes.com
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