Politics & Government

Stop & Shop Gas Station Plan Withdrawn ... Again

A "fatal error" caused the withdrawal of the first zoning application for Monroe Gas LLC to build a five-bay, 10-pump gas station for Stop & Shop supermarket at 528 Monroe Turnpike. Now a similar issue sparked Attorney Stephen Studer to withdraw a second application Thursday night.

The first withdrawal was due to a boundary issue. The map used for the application showed a Design Business 2 zone, but Town Planning Administrator Will Agresta had pointed out that it did not account for two slivers zoned residential in back of the property.

This time around, Monroe Gas LLC initially tried to gain an approval allowing the gas station to use an existing septic system on the residential portion of the property before deciding to withdraw the application and come back with a request for a zone change to make the entire parcel DB-2.

During the hearing, a question arose over whether Monroe Gas LLC could hook into a septic system on residential property for a commercial use.

Planning & Zoning Commission Chairman Patrick O'Hara told reporters that Studer expressed his belief that it is still appropriate to have a gas station on the property, but said applying for a zone change will put the septic issue to rest.

While some are excited over receiving discounts on gas through points racked up on their Stop & Shop store cards, opponents have expressed environmental concerns due to the brown field's close proximity to a public watershed, the potential for flooding, traffic issues and the cheaper gas putting area gas stations out of business. 


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