To the Editor:

There definitely is one thing that Chuck Marshall (Stewart’s real-estate representative and face of the company at most of the village board meetings) and I agree on: Stewart’s is not leaving the village of Altamont.

Anyone who patronizes the store even occasionally has to characterize the place a “gold mine” and what business would want to leave that situation.

It’s a very busy store most of the day and maybe it should revamp to enable it to better serve its customers. What it does not need to do is add an inordinate amount of blacktop that will not accomplish that goal.

The Stewart’s plan doesn’t even provide for solving the parking issue some seem to think is the main advantage of the proposed new Stewart’s (unless you call the one additional space provided in their new plan a solution).

As I read the submitted forms, the old Stewart’s has 25 parking spaces the “new” Stewart’s proposal has 26. The bigger lot will mostly provide open space that may encourage drivers to be less cautious driving in and out and possibly be hazardous to pedestrians; it does nothing to alleviate parking shortages.

As a number of people have suggested, why can’t Stewart’s come up with a new plan that satisfies the need for an appropriately-designed, up-to-date building and keeps it in tune with the architecture and scope of Altamont?

Surely, such a well-heeled, good-neighbor business, which brags about being community-oriented, could shut down the place for a few months and construct a lovely new store and lot within its same footprint that would well serve both its customers and its surroundings. And in doing so, solve the perceived parking woes by moving their patrons in and out more efficiently.

Ted Neumann 

Altamont