Pennington’s Rising Taxes and a CVS inconvenience store.
by Benjamin Zander

Pennington NJ, a small town of just 2600 people, is known for having a close-knit community, family-owned shops and small local businesses. Like any town, however, the borough of Pennington faces some issues within the community.

One such issue is the topic of rising property taxes.

Mr. Jackson, a Pennington resident, has seen friends and family leave the town because of it.

“I have friends whose parents moved out because they just didn’t want to pay the taxes,” said Jackson, adding “It could be because of the school district.”

“From what I understand people who live in Jersey think taxes are high, so they want to move to Pennsylvania,” said Mrs. Mass, Broker Associate at Gloria Nilson & Co. Real Estate in Pennington.

“Pennington and Hopewell, they have great schools and that’s a reason why taxes can be what they are,” said Mass. “If you want the amenities, if you want the police, the firemen, the roads taken care of, that’s what entail taxes.”

“I have a relative who lives down the street, and she pays more for land taxes than she does for anything else,” said Mr. Jefferson, Pennington resident and employee of the Pennington Stop & Shop.

With all that said, some believe that there are even more pressing matters at hand.

“Property taxes are extremely high,” said Mr. James, cashier at Valley Wines and Spirits, “…but if there is any contemporary issue in Pennington right now, it’s the fact that Al’s Sunoco on [route] 31 is potentially thinking about selling to a CVS pharmacy.”

While other towns may welcome big business, James explained that Pennington is unlike other towns.

“Bringing in a corporate conglomerate of any kind is taboo for Pennington,” explained James. “We like to use ‘mom and pop’ shops and CVS might bring in urban demographics. I’m not trying to be pretentious, but Pennington is designed to be a small quiet town and those populations don’t intrude because it doesn’t have a lot of attraction there.”

Pennington’s Public Safety Director William Meytrott had something to say about the issue.

“People are concerned about the traffic and the changing character of the town when you have quote ‘big bucks stores’ moving onto your door steps,” said the Director.

Ms. Williams, resident of Brandon Farms in Pennington Proper, expressed disapproval of the drug store as well, and with good reason too.

“I had a small business in town, and it’s very difficult to have a small business,” she said.

“It was an arts and crafts studio. It closed because I couldn’t make it through the recession.”

“They want to have a full-fledged 24/7 CVS on a corner that’s already ridiculously busy,” said Williams.

Williams’ arts and crafts studio was called ‘Laugh Craft & Be Well.’ It closed in September of 2013.

“It would be very, very different if we didn’t have access to pharmaceuticals. But we have Robins Pharmacy nearby, our neighbor owns the one on main street – Pennington Apothecary, and we have a Rite Aid already, so what’s the need?” she said.

As for the cooperation of CVS in this controversial issue, Williams hasn’t heard good things.

“I wasn’t able to attend the township meeting but I heard [CVS] was pretty brazen at thumbing their nose at the requirements that were established,” said Williams, “Having opened a small business here, I know that not all of them are easy to stomach, but when it comes to big businesses, that’s why they are there.”

According to Williams, the requirements, which include signage and how close to the highway a business can be, are put in place in order to keep the small-town feel and look of Pennington.

Williams had some information as to what the town is doing in response to the situation.

“People are attending [township meetings] and are fighting [CVS] and I think that the zoning committee is listening, but I also think [CVS] will come back and wear them down,” she said.

According to a zoning meeting summary found on Merceme.com, those who would like to express their voice on the issue, can attend the next zoning meeting, which is being held on Wednesday, June 1, 2016 at 7:30pm at the Hopewell Township Municipal Building,