The owner of land that houses a small Petrol gas station on Route 9W in Glenmont is hoping to further develop the area.
A proposal went before the town’s Development Planning Committee on Thursday, June 21. Paul Nelson is looking to expand the gas station to include a larger, 3,000-square-foot building with a convenience store inside. The project also calls for new fuel islands to be installed.
A diesel fuel station for larger trucks would be located at the side of the building with a larger parking area for those vehicles. Somewhere on the property, the project also calls for a new, 2,415-square-foot fast food restaurant to be built.
Bill Dow, the station’s current manager, said the hope is to have both the convenience store and the restaurant open 24 hours to be available to truckers. He said most likely, truckers would not be parking in the lot overnight because they usually park within the Walmart parking lot.
The plan was presented by Rob Osterhoudt and Jim Gillespie of Bohler Engineering.
“We do not meet the canopy setback requirements for 100-foot along 9W, but we are improving what is there today,” said Osterhoudt. “So, we understand that a variance would be needed there.”
Projects at the site have been put before the town for years. In 2006, Cafua Management Company had sought to place a Dunkin’ Donuts on the property north of the gas station. The town asked the developer to eliminate curbs cuts in the plan and install a service road. The project did not go forward.
A similar plan to develop the gas station was put forward in 2009, but the town felt the state Department of Transportation would not approve it because wetland studies had not been done. The town was also concerned about traffic flow because its Route 9W Corridor Study showed that portion of the road was reaching capacity. A 2011 proposal differed in that it only called for the Petrol property to be redeveloped with access roads connecting to other properties.
DPC members had issues with both the 2011 plan and the current proposal. The committee does not have approval authority, but offers suggestions on projects before they go to the town’s Planning and Zoning boards.
The current plan calls for three curb cuts with two right-in/right-out accesses and one entrance at a traffic light. The committee said it would be best to eliminate one curb cut. Members also had issues with traffic flow for the site because cars and larger trucks may intersect as cars attempt to go through the restaurant’s drive-thru. They suggested moving the restaurant farther from the convenience store and past the wetland area, saving the area for a future project.
“There’s going to have to be some more internal circulation because it’s zoned general commercial,” said Mike Morelli, Bethlehem director of Economic Planning and Development. “Because if and when the economy improves, you’re going to have more office and retail space on the adjacent site, so we’re trying to come up with a more master plan.”
Gillespie said the property owner might not back down on the curb cut issue because it took a lot to convince him to install certain landscaping and right-in/right-out entrances.
The committee recommended developers speak with the state DOT about traffic flow and the entrances into the site, update its wetland study and approach the town for a variance to the setback requirements.
Bohler Engineering is also representing Price Chopper in a project to install a new drive-thru pharmacy window at its Glenmont store. The DPC said there might be issues with the close proximity of drive-thru and entrance into the parking lot. Members said it could cause confusion for drivers and developers may need to eliminate parking spaces from the plans. The elimination of more parking spaces could result in not having enough spaces for a plaza of that size under the town code.
Both projects are expected to appear before the Planning Board a later date.
