The Village Pantry Deli, open since 1983 in the same spot on the corner of Old Trenton and Edinburgh Roads, is still open. Some residents assumed the store was closing when they saw its antique gas pumps included in a photo taken during a tour of the township’s areas in need of improvement led by council member Barbara Pfeifer. (The News, September 8)
Pfeifer organized the tour in August, and among the spots visited were the abandoned section of the Ellsworth shopping center, the Windsor Compost waste site, and the intersection where the Village Pantry stands.
“Lucky” Lee and his son, Scott, have run the deli as a family business and have been hurt by the implication that their location is an eyesore. “We’ve lost business,” said Lucky. “People come in here and say they thought we were closed. You don’t mess with someone’s business, with their livelihood. Our family depends on this.”
“It is unfortunate that my appearance at a location with in our township that is unsafe and in need of County Department of Transportation attention has caused the owner of Village Pantry any concerns. It was not my intention and I will contact the owner and stop in to speak with him,” said Pfeifer.
“I went to that intersection to make the point that there are areas in need of attention in our township that fall outside of the redevelopment zone,” says Pfeifer, whose stated purpose for including the corner in her tour was to promote “a safer road configuration.”
Pfeifer defended her inclusion of the site on the township tour. “I never mentioned the Village Pantry — I spoke about the intersection and followed that part of my tour with a new intersection further up Old Trenton at the newly opened Dantone Road at the new Renaissance senior development.”
The Lees agree that something should be done to relieve the heavy traffic back-ups at the intersection.
“I’d like to meet with the county Department of Transportation, the Mayor and Jim Parvesse and understand what exactly is slotted to happen to that intersection,” said Pfeifer.
