Murphy and Kirkwood: Chappaqua Needs a Supermarket

CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. - After Chappaqua’s only supermarket, D’Agostino’s, packed up and left town, residents were left having to travel to Millwood or Mt. Kisco in order to shop for groceries. In response, an online petition was created to bring a supermarket back to town, which has caught the attention of County Legislator candidate Terrence Murphy (R,C, I).

“I think we’ve heard enough,” said Murphy, regarding the petition, which currently has 688 signatures. “As a business owner myself, knowing what the process is of getting your shovel in the ground, to opening up your door can be months, if not years. We want to put that in the short-form and make it as simple as possible.”

Murphy and Supervisor candidate Bob Kirkwood presented a business model in front of the closed-down supermarket on Friday afternoon, which they hope to work together on implementing if elected.

“We have models now from other competitive towns. Southeast has done this, Armonk has done this. We don’t even have to re-invent something here,” said Kirkwood. “It’s not as though it’s radical. It’s out there, and we need to get on top of that model.”

One part of Murphy and Kirkwood’s model included a ten-year tax abatement as a way of attracting more businesses.

“You have to open up the door and allow them to come in, and give them an incentive to come in,” said Murphy. “After ten years they’re up to full speed. Put them in a 20-year lease if you own the property. Not only is it a win for the owner of the piece of property, but it’s a win for the applicant.”

With D’Agostino’s set to be replaced by Walgreens, the two did not rule out looking into other areas for potential development, rather than simply looking to fill the vacant storefronts.

“I think one of the properties we ‘ought to consider is Chappaqua Crossing and whether or not that parcel up there is conducive to development. The space that we have here is relatively tight, but there are areas that are available,” said Kirkwood. “We have to think outside the box.”

At Thursday’s candidates forum, Town Board candidate Rob Greenstein recommended looking into the Chappaqua Train Station as a potential area of development for new businesses. While Kirkwood did not rule the possibility out, he believes this proposed plan would not work in an area like that and would be years away.

Click here to follow Daily Voice Chappaqua and receive free news updates.