BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI
North Country This Week

MASSENA — The Thompson Smoke Shop in Massena is seeking to put in a drive-thru on the premises at 54 Willow St. but the St. Lawrence County Planning Board has four conditions that must be met first.

The smoke shop, which proposed a drive-thru at the front of the building, must relocate the drive-thru to the rear, rerouting traffic to Woodlawn Avenue, as opposed to keeping traffic on Willow Street, which sees far more traffic, the Board said.

“The proposed exit to Willow Street presents conflicts with existing traffic patterns, pedestrians and safety, which can be avoided with a redesign,” the recommendation said.

The smoke shop, which sits in the heavily disputed “Massena Square Mile”, is currently in operation which made some board members question why the plan was sent to the county for review.

Planner II Dakota Casserly commented that it was because of the nature of the changes requested, saying the project was a delayed referral.

“The business is currently open and it’s kind of a delayed project referral to include the drive-thru and parking area. It’s referred to us because of the proximity to the town boundary and County Route 42,” Casserly said.

Communication difficulties also delayed the county receiving the proposal in a timely manner, officials said.

“If we can help the village address those challenges, that’s what we want to do. We’ve seen this in other projects that have already been late to the review game, if you will,” Planning Director Jason Pfotenhauer said.

At present, the business is using an egress that allows customers to pull onto Willow St.

That’s a major concern for both the county and village, who say motorists would be driving on the sidewalk if the original orientation is utilized.

Instead, county officials suggested the shop owners relocate the drive-thru to the rear of the building.

“That’s the problem that we have with this whole site. It would be an easy solution if they were just to exit right out onto Woodlawn, put the drive-thru at the back of the building, and then you don’t have to make that turn. You’ve already got a curb cut. That may be the best solution here. The challenge is once something’s already in place, it’s much more difficult to modify it,” Pfotenhauer said.

County officials suggested that the exit from the rear should lead onto Woodlawn Ave. in an effort to avoid pedestrian traffic but ultimately said it is up to the village to enforce that recommendation, if they see fit.