Politics & Government

Tax Help by Council Keeps CVS Project Moving Forward

Governing body introduces abatement to help reduce costs for retail chain.

Some financial sleuthing by the Morristown Council has led to the forward movement of a CVS store and pharmacy to be placed on Speedwell Avenue.

According to morristowngreen.com, the council voted 6-0 to introduce an abatement enabling the convenience store chain to reduce its in-lieu-of-taxes payments by some $1.3 million over the next 30 years.

The reason for doing so was no thanks to the historical winter Morristown suffered, which saw a partial building collapse due to the weight of snow on the structure that would house the retail store.

Find out what's happening in Morristownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Because of the collapse, CVS officials said costs of an asbestos cleanup greatly increased, the report said. That cleanup has been coupled with an environmental work and design changes mandated by Morristown that have added about $1.5 million in costs, the report said.

All those factors were beginning to threaten the viability of the project, according to the report. 

Find out what's happening in Morristownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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