Business & Tech

Convenience Store Plans for Terrace Gas Station is a No-Go

Decision was heavily based on traffic concerns.

The Hasbrouck Heights Zoning Board has nixed SuperValue Inc.'s plans to replace its repair shop with a convenience store at its Terrace and Williams Avenue Citgo gas station site. 

SuperValue's team made up of an architect, engineer, planner and company vice president testified before the Board Thursday seeking permission to convert the existing repair shop into a convenience store claiming the new use would improve the look of the property.

However after hearing conceptual plans for the site Board members said they were not convinced of the benefits of the change in use. In addition concerns regarding traffic in an area already known to be congested brought the members to unanimously deny the application. Board members also expressed parking concerns which they believed would be an issue due to the size of the property. 

SuperValue did not bring a full site plan before the board as it had the right to bifurcate the plans into two parts - first seeking permission of the use of the property and following up later with a site plan application if they had received approval for the use. However this did not give the Board the opportunity to review detailed plans or a traffic study. 

The conceptual plans that were brought forth Thursday showed the existing building would remain the same size but would undergo remodeling to replace the garage doors with a window and aluminum store front. The proposed store was designed to carry prepackaged goods with no food prep done on the premises. 

Joseph Vattilo, vice president of SuperValue, said the service station model is changing and the gas station/convenience store model is now a growing trend. He told the Board the company's intention was to have a viable business and clean up the site.

He said he had received positive feedback from local neighbors that a store would be a better for the neighborhood than a auto repair shop. 

However neighboring residents in the audience came forward with different thoughts. 

Lester Vurrel who lives in the neighborhood said backing out of his driveway nowadays is a "nightmare" and would be more so with additional vehicles entering and exiting the property. 

Ray Spinosa suggested the hours of operation for the convenience store would extend past the hours the repair station operations now and therefore could further impact traffic congestion. 

William Kremer, Board chairman, stated he believed that the convenience store is likely a better use for the site however due to traffic concerns and other safety issues he was unsatisfied with the plans. 


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