Church Hill Road—

Police Commission Endorses Gas Station/Convenience Store

By Andrew Gorosko

Police Commission members have endorsed the traffic aspects of a proposal to replace the Church Hill Gas Stop gas station at 47 Church Hill Road with a new Citgo facility, which would contain many more gas pumps, plus a convenience store.

In a unanimous vote on December 4, commission members endorsed the project submitted by CPCI, LLC, of Trumbull, which owns the Church Hill Gas Stop gas station that lies across Church Hill Road from St Rose of Lima Church. The Police Commission is the local traffic authority and makes traffic recommendations on commercial projects to local land use agencies.

The project received a wetlands permit from the Inland Wetlands Commission in September 2006. It will be reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Commission and by the Borough Zoning Commission.

The Police Commission Commission’s December 4 action reaffirms its action on the project following a June 2006 review of the proposal.

Attorney James White, representing CPCI, presented plans for the project to the commission. The facility would include a 3,200-square-foot building holding a convenience store. The store would be located along Church Hill Road, with eight gas pumps situated beneath a canopy located behind the store.

Revisions to the project have revamped the access to the site, improving it, Mr White said. The gas station’s driveway would be aligned with a driveway for St Rose Church, which would improve motorists’ sight lines in the area, he said.

Engineer Bill Carboni explained that the applicant has modified the landscaping design for the project, which would have no effect on traffic flow.

The project has been under review by local land use officials since 2004.

CPCI, also known as Consumers Petroleum, owns a small gas station at the site where employees customarily pump gasoline for customers who remain in their vehicles. The existing gas pumps are very near Church Hill Road. At times, motorists who are waiting in line for gas to be pumped into their vehicles form lines that extend out onto Church Hill Road, creating hazardous traffic conditions on that busy street.

The new gas station/convenience store complex would be connected to Church Hill Road by a clearly marked two-lane driveway. The driveway would lead to an area behind the convenience store where eight gas pump islands would be located. Parking for the convenience store would be located north of the store, well away from Church Hill Road.

Stormwater control devices would be installed on the 1.1-acre site.

CPCI would replace existing underground gasoline storage tanks on the site with new tanks within five years, provided that it receives all required permits for the redevelopment project.