Woodbury Common is planning yet another expansion
WOODBURY – As the Woodbury Village Planning Board begins its consideration
of another expansion of the Woodbury Common Factory Outlets, State Assemblyman
and Senator-elect James Skoufis is calling on the village to “advance
a new Metro-North station as part of their application.”
Currently, the closest station is Harriman, about a mile away.
He said a Metro-North station at the mall would “remove tens if not hundreds of thousands of vehicles from our interchange annually.”
In a letter to the planning board, Skoufis also objected to a proposed heliport. If one is approved, “it should only be permitted for medical evacuations. Commercial or private helicopters flying into and out of Woodbury Common is an over-the-top and undesirable prospect for the people who live in the surrounding area,” he wrote.
Woodbury is presently undergoing a $150 million transformation of the
exit 131/Routes 6-17-32-Thruway interchange, “as a project necessitated
by the outlet mall – and its 13 million annual visitors –
outgrowing the surrounding infrastructure.”
He said the project is “meant to provide relief to the Woodbury community and surrounding region; it is not intended to provide additional capacity for Woodbury Common.”
The shopping venue’s expansion proposal includes 2,000 more parking spaces, new stores, a spa and hotels. That would “significantly reduce the interchange upgrade’s benefit to local residents, an unacceptable consequence.”
