County Planning Board okay’s new UHS building

[By Matt Freeze]

The Tioga County Planning Board recently reviewed and recommended local planning board approval for a proposed replacement UHS Primary Care building on Whig Street in Newark Valley. 

The proposed project calls for demolishing the current 2,300-square-foot modular facility and replacing it with a new 4,845-square-foot modular facility to accommodate updated features for patients.

The new building will be set back further on the parcel than the current building. 

Planning documents state the current building will remain in use during construction of the new building, which is expected to open by year’s end.

The building will be constructed offsite and is expected to take a couple of months to assemble once onsite.

The state Department of Health must inspect it before it can open for use; once inspected, the old building will be removed. 

County Planning Director Sara Zubalsky-Peer said the new parking space improves off-street parking availability and meets existing village code.

Former Village of Newark Valley Mayor Jim Tornatore, who serves on the county planning board as an alternate, called the upgrade “really necessary.”

“It is a very small facility, and with the number of patients I know who go there, it really is necessary,” Tornatore said. “Really good for the whole area.”

(Matt Freeze is a senior writer for The Morning Times)