Three Years Later

Three years ago, people turned out regularly, over several months, to speak out against the proposed construction of a mega gas station and convenience store at the Bell's Pond intersection in Livingston. Dan Udell's videos of the public hearings on the project can be found here and here. 

In the second video, from August 7, 2019, jazz pianist and composer Armen Donelian describes the project as "a large, ugly, and harmful gas station accompanied by a redundant convenience store," and author Jonathan Gould calls the proposed building "a standard piece of commercial roadside architecture . . . that is just an advertisement for itself."

Despite opposition from the community, the project had the support of the chair of CEDC (Columbia Economic Development Corporation) and the president and CEO of the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce, and after a delay caused by DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) seeking more information about interference in the fragile bald eagle habitat at Bell's Pond, the project was finally approved by the Town of Livingston Planning Board. 

Today, on its Facebook page, the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce announced the official opening of Alltown Fresh Livingston, complete with ribbon cutting. Below are some of the photos that accompanied the announcement.