New 7-Eleven Approved Pending Conditions

The Zoning Board of Adjustment unanimously approved the new 7-Eleven and gas station on Lacey Road pending several conditions.

“I’m really uncomfortable with this application but I really don’t see a no vote changing anything,” board member Colleen Bradley said Monday night.

The 7-Eleven was originally built with a drive-through window but corporate policy changed, eliminating access to the store’s signature feature. Since then, the site underwent

One utility pole had to be relocated while another was removed. During the process of relocating the pole, JCP&L had to rework utilities above ground because there were not enough conduits below ground to service the auto-repair shop next door.

JCP&L also could not install the electrical box on the back of the 7-Eleven, which is not far from what would have been the drive-through window, to another part of the building.

“I’m not happy with how it came out,” said Bradley, who showed concern over the utility work and electrical box.

Monitoring wells were also paved over during the construction of the store. The problem has since been alleviated, attorney John Marmora of K&L Gates LLP said.

The site will open without the drive-through window, the associated menu board and a canopy. There will be 30 parking spaces for the public out front and four for employees in the back, where the drive-through would have been.

The size of the gas station’s kiosk was also increased to 7-feet wide. The gas station will have six dispensers plus an additional diesel dispenser.

“I don’t think it’s an optimum situation,” board Engineer James McKelvie said. “The board has been presented with some things that neither you nor (the applicant) has any control over.”

The applicant is now required to provide signage surrounding the back of the store that says “employees only” and “no trucks or thru traffic,” install concrete sidewalks from the back of the building to the front, provide a letter from JCP&L indicating the reason why the above ground utilities were installed, provide a letter from DEP confirming that the issue with the monitoring wells has been fixed and block up the drive-through window.

Marmora asked the board for a temporary Certificate of Occupancy, which would permit the applicant to proceed with operation at their own risk. The applicant is anticipating completing the project by the end of next week and was hoping to open Shell prior to 7-Eleven.

“What you see is what you get at this point, It’s completed at this point,” he said. “We’d really like to get going,” he said.

The conditions would have to be met prior to the issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy and the township engineer would have to make the approval, board Attorney Thomas Gannon said.

The 7-Eleven will be permitted to open after it is memorialized at the zoning board meeting on Monday, April 2.