Church Hill Road: P&Z Endorses Gas Station/Convenience Store

By Andrew Gorosko

Following their review of a proposal to demolish a small, antiquated gas station on Church Hill Road and replace it with a modern multipump facility, plus convenience store, Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members are endorsing and recommending the project to the Borough Zoning Commission.

P&Z members, serving as the borough’s planning agency, on December 20 endorsed a proposal from CPCI, LLC, of Trumbull to replace the existing Church Hill Gas Stop gas station at 47 Church Hill Road with a much larger, modern Citgo facility. The site is across Church Hill Road from the St Rose Church campus. It is the only gas station in the borough.

The borough zoners had referred the proposal to the P&Z for planning advice. The Borough Zoning Commission will address the project at a January 9 public hearing.

Attorney James White, representing CPCI, told the P&Z that the firm is seeking four separate approvals for the project from the borough zoners. CPCI wants a special permit, a site plan approval, a Village District zoning approval, and a modification to the borough zoning regulations that would allow the specific land uses described in its gas station/convenience store proposal.

The small gas station, which has been in existence since the 1920s, sometimes poses traffic problems along Church Hill Road, Mr White said. The tiny dimensions of the site sometimes result in motorists who are waiting for gasoline to back up on Church Hill Road. The Gas Stop has a full-service system, in which an attendant pumps gasoline for motorists who remain inside their vehicles.

CPCI wants to raze the tiny gas station, and in its place construct a 3,200-square-foot convenience store, plus eight gas pumps beneath a canopy located behind that store. Parking would be located behind the store. The store’s exterior design would complement the traditional architectural styles of structures located in the Village District zone, according to the applicant.

Mr White told P&Z members that the site design would both eliminate the problem with gasoline customer traffic backing up onto Church Hill Road, as well as improve motorists’ sight lines in the area.

Access to the site would be improved, he said, adding that the complex’s driveway would be located directly across Church Hill Road from the central driveway for the St Rose Church campus.

Mr White said CPCI has gained endorsements for the project from the Police Commission, the Inland Wetlands Commission, and the town’s health department. He described the project, which is known by the name “Wheels,” as “a very nice looking facility.”

Mr White said CPCI is seeking the borough zoners’ regulatory approval to allow a combined gas station/convenience store complex as a permitted land use in the borough, as well as allowing certain types of signage for the facility.

P&Z member Richard English asked whether CPCI would continue to provide full-service to gasoline customers at its proposed new facility.

Whether that occurs would be a business decision for the business’s owners, Mr White responded.

The lack of full-service for gasoline customers would pose an issue for the project, Mr English said.

P&Z Chairman Lilla Dean noted that some customers have patronized the Church Hill Gas Stop specifically because it does offer such full service. Lack of such full service could hurt the firm’s business, she said.

Diesel fuel would still be available for sale at the proposed complex.

P&Z member James Belden pointed out that the site’s proposed driveway layout could pose some traffic-control problems for the town traffic agent, who directs traffic at the entrance/exit to the St Rose Church campus.

CPCI owner Richard Wiehl said the firm would prefer that self-serve gasoline customers pay for gasoline after they have pumped it into their vehicles. If gasoline theft should become a problem, the firm would then shift to having customers pay for fuel before they pump it, he said.

Architect Robert Mitchell, representing the applicant, said the complex would be visually compatible with other buildings in the area, as would the site’s landscaping.

Although the convenience store planned for the site would be a typical convenience store, the building would have a much better appearance than other such businesses, he said.

Mr Mitchell described the streetside lighting fixtures that would installed on the site which are in keeping with the architectural preferences of the Borough Zoning Commission.

Landscape architect Bruce Reinheimer, representing the applicant, described the landscaping plan for the project.

Mr Belden urged that the applicant work to control the spread of any invasive plant species on the site.

Ms Dean said she will inform the borough zoners that the P&Z endorses the gas station/convenience store proposal from a planning perspective.

Also, the applicant’s proposed borough zoning rule changes, which would allow the project to be built, are consistent with the 2004 Town Plan of Conservation and Development, Ms Dean said.