Vote due on CVS rezoning

May 22, 2001

Vote due on CVS rezoning

By DAN KULIN

A City Council vote on the rezoning of about 3.6 acres in Hagerstown's North End for a CVS Pharmacy is scheduled for tonight.

A split City Council gave preliminary approval to the rezoning last month.

Council members Alfred W. Boyer, J. Wallace McClure and Susan Saum-Wicklein voted in favor of rezoning the property for commercial use.

Councilmen William M. Breichner and Lewis C. Metzner voted against the measure.

The property currently has an agricultural zoning classification.

The rezoning request for the property at the corner of Potomac Avenue and Eastern Boulevard has drawn opposition from several neighbors.

Boyer and McClure have said they see sufficient change in the neighborhood to warrant the rezoning. Boyer cited the new YMCA building on Eastern Boulevard, which is scheduled to open later this year.

Metzner has said it would be "incredible" to consider the neighborhood, which includes The Terrace and Oak Hill Avenue, has changed because of the YMCA.

Metzner said there has been no change in the neighborhood since the last time the council voted to deny rezoning of that property. That was in November 1998, when GEMCO Development wanted to rezone 14.5 acres, including the corner, for an undisclosed project.

This time, property owner Richard Hopkins has said he wants to put a CVS Pharmacy on the land.

Staff writer Julie E. Greene contributed to this report.

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