A Mattituck gas station is planning to add more pumps and expand an existing convenience store.
The owner of the business, on Main Road at the intersection of Old Main Road, has applied to relocate the convenience store on the 1.45-acre site to the south, with the storefront facing Main Road and the rear along Old Main Road.
Seven pump islands, totaling 14 filling stations, and an overhead canopy would be in front of the store, perpendicular to Main Road. The applicant — North Fork Petroleum Inc. — wrote in a Full Environmental Assessment Form dated April 29 that the “new configuration will improve the internal traffic flow, provide adequate parking, add a canopy above the pump islands, and additional landscaping along Main Road using native plants will improve the site’s aesthetics.”
The new convenience store, clocking in at 3,000 square feet, would be on the first floor of a two-story building with 2,500 square feet of office space on the second floor. As described in an April 20 traffic assessment, the site contains an existing 1,600-square-foot convenience store and two dual pump islands.
“I think that it’s pretty obvious that there’s more traffic on the road, and that’s a small station,” said attorney Charles Cuddy, who is representing the project. “Sometimes it’s difficult to get in and out of it. So I think [the applicant] had some additional land and decided that it would be to his benefit, and actually the public’s benefit, to have a larger station.”
The traffic impact study, prepared by Dunn Engineering Associates, found the expansion “will generate a small number of new traffic trips,” but the “increase is small and will have little impact.” The application indicates plans for 29 parking spaces and another 10 land-banked parking spaces. Two spaces will be handicapped accessible.
The study acknowledges that town code requires 53 spaces — 30 for the convenience store, 20 for the office space and three for the gas station — but argues that data from the Institute of Transportation Engineers indicates actual parking demand should be 24 spaces.
“It should also be noted that the proposed office space will be used only by the owner to operate the family business and is expected to be utilized by only two or three persons. The nature of the business is not one which generates frequent visitors, such as real estate offices or insurance offices,” the assessment says.
The impact study also notes that the proposed redevelopment, “while adding some new traffic to the area, will add significant new traffic control to safely accommodate the traffic utilizing the site” by adding curbing that limits site access to formalized entry points.
According to the FEAF, the canopy requires a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals and the relocation of the convenience store will require a special exception.
“The owners of the existing fuel station desire to improve the aesthetics and function of the facility,” the FEAF says. “These improvements include additional pump stations to reduce queuing time, increased parking with defined stalls, enlarging the convenience store and office facility, repositioning the building to provide visibility and improved access, and increasing landscaped areas with native plant species.”
The FEAF emphasizes that the proposal will comply with state, county and town regulations and laws. Existing noise levels at the site and nearby area expected to remain the same, according to the FEAF, although “a temporary increase in noise may be experienced during certain periods of construction activity.” Lighting will be compliant with the town’s “Dark Skies” code.
The station is among at least seven others along Main Road in Southold Town, according to the FEAF.
The applicant also owns a new gas station that has nearly finished construction at the corner of Youngs Avenue and Route 48 in Southold, according to Mr. Cuddy. The Suffolk Times has previously reported that the Southold station will have 12 pumps and a convenience store.
The application for expansion in Mattituck is in the early stages of the process, according to Mr. Cuddy. “It’s going to take considerable time to finish.”