CATSKILL — After the trusses of a structure at the village’s new Stewart’s Shop collapsed last week, another gas station on Route 9W received the go-ahead from the zoning board.
Gas Land Inc. is proposing a new Sunoco station on Route 9W, where Cats Rental is located. The 2,175-square-foot building and three gas pumps will replace the equipment rental building and the adjacent sewing shop.
The zoning board Tuesday granted Gas Land a variance that will allow the project to move forward to the planning board phase for site-plan approval. The project needed a variance because the site is not zoned for gas stations, Planning Board Chairman Patrick McCulloch said.
No date has been set for the project to appear before the planning board, McCulloch said.
Planners will have to consider impacts to traffic, he said.
“DOT is going to have to come and approve another curb cut,” McCulloch said.
The state Department of Transportation will also evaluate the need for a traffic light, McCulloch said.
“I know the village has been trying to get a stoplight there for a while,” McCulloch said. “There is a huge traffic issue there, which is a good thing because it means the village is busy. I’m not sure if they’re going to allow left-hand turns there.”
Another consideration is the effect on stormwater, McCulloch said.
“We also have to worry about stormwater drainage not going back to Walnut Street,” he said. “The people that live behind the gas station have to be taken into account.”
The project will undergo a state environmental quality review, McCulloch said.
“We have to do a SEQR because you have people on Walnut Street who have concerns about possible water down,” Village Trustee Joseph Kozloski said. “Those questions have to be answered.”
The planning board may hold a public hearing for the project, McCulloch said, adding that it will be up to the board.
Additionally, the board is looking to hire an engineering firm to help with the review process, McCulloch said. A specific firm has not been selected at this time.
The zoning board received recommendations from the county planning board, Kozloski said.
STEWART’S COLLAPSE
The recent collapse of the new Stewart’s Shop will not affect the board’s review process, McCulloch said.
“That is unfortunately not something that the board has any discretion over,” he said, adding that it fell into the jurisdiction of the Code Enforcement Office.
Erica Komoroske, a spokeswoman for Stewart’s Shops, said the collapse was due to lack of support for the trusses.
“Upon investigation, the trusses were not fully supported,” Komoroske said.
Work is continuing on the parking lot and the area where the gas tank and gas pumps are located, but work on the building will be on hold for a couple of weeks as an engineer reassesses the site and new trusses are ordered, Catskill Village Code Enforcement Officer Michael Ragaini said.
A new construction company has been hired in the wake of the incident.
“We fired the original company and hired a new one,” Komoroske said. “We found a new contractor due to the circumstances.”
Construction was expected to be completed by early October, but will now be set back to the middle of November, Komoroske said.
The Stewart’s and Sunoco, if approved, will join the ranks of the Speedway, Cumberland Farms and Asad’s Gas on Route 9W. On Route 23, another Sunoco station and a Valero are located on opposite sides of the highway.
“I do hear the ‘why do we need another gas station, pizza place or Chinese food place, etc,’” Village President Vincent Seeley said in August. “My response is that any business that fits our zoning has done their market research, has a solid business plan, has the capital and wants to be part of our growing community; let’s get them to the table.”