MIDDLETOWN -- The Zoning Board of Review heard exhaustive testimony last night regarding a proposal for a gas station in a shopping center at 1360 West Main Rd., but did not vote on the request.
The hearing was supposed to end a dispute that started in July of last year, when the shopping center's owner, Starlight Wasserman Middletown LLC, subdivided a 24,000-square-foot lot. This raised concerns among some residents and town officials that the company was attempting to get around town regulations, which prohibit gas stations from being built in shopping centers.
The board resolved to continue the meeting to March 5 at 6 p.m. to hear more testimony.
Much of last night's hearing was taken up with testimony to reassure the zoning board. Linda Costanzo, a manager at Stop & Shop, the applicant for the permit, said the gas station would accommodate six cars at a time and be open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sundays.
Kendell M. Cardwell, an engineer with Vanasse Hangen and Brustlin, a firm hired by Stop & Shop, said the gas station designs take into consideration both enviornmental and aesthetic concerns. The board was shown a color rendering of the gas station. It showed tall pines and green bushes, but no sign of pumps or traffic.
According to Robert M. Silva, the lawyer representing both Starlight and tenant Stop & Shop, the hearing was a simple procedural matter, because Middletown requires a special permit to be granted before any gas station can be built.
"This is a very run-of-the-mill, garden variety application," he said before the meeting. "We are just doing what the rules require you to do."
The presence of three lawyers, a small army of experts and a group of gas station supporters wearing "Yes" stickers, some of whom worked for Stop & Shop, gave the hearing the feel of some importance, however.
The Town Council, Middletown First, and some residents object to application for environmental reasons and concerns about over-development.
"We think the risk to the watershed isn't worth Stop & Shop getting a bigger market share," said Gail Greenwood, founder of Middletown First, an anti-development group. The lot is in the town's watershed. "There are 10 gas stations within a two to three mile radius," she added.
In January, the council attempted to buttress existing regulations on gas stations by amending the list of prohibited uses to include subdivisions.
"We made it clear that we, as a Town Council, don't want to see a gas station in a shopping center," council member Charles J. Vaillancourt said yesterday afternoon.
That amendment came too late for Starlight's proposal, however. Because their application was filed before the council's resolution, it does not apply.
Some residents who attended the meeting last night favor the gas station. For Middletown resident Jeff Coppola, another gas station would bring prices down.
"It'll open up competition," he said. "There's a lot of price gouging going on on the island."
His friend and fellow town resident Al Marzetta thought objections to the gas station were too late. He said he remembered West Main Road when it was mostly farmland, before the town made it a general business district. "It's called payback," he said of the proposal.
To contact Jenny Holland, phone 253-1200 or e-mail jholland(at)projo.com.
