By Sharron Luttrell
The owner of the Sav-On gas station and convenience store on Hartford Avenue East wants to put an identical business at the other end of town, at the corner of Rte. 16 and Hartford Avenue West.
Johnny Hatem of East Falmouth, who owns Sav-On Mart at 147 Hartford Avenue East, plans to purchase six acres at 23 Uxbridge Road and build a 3,776 square-foot convenience store and coffee shop with a drive-through. In front would be four fuel pumps beneath an overhead steel canopy. The structure would stand on 1.5 acres with road frontage, which is zoned for business use.
A single family home currently stands on the site, which is owned by New England Steak and Seafood restauranteurs, brothers James and John Quirk.
At a public hearing last night, Hatem’s consultant, Halin Choubah, showed the Planning Board site plans that take into account Rte. 16 improvements that will add turning lanes and a traffic light to the intersection. The Planning Board voiced concern about left-turning traffic from the site’s exits onto Hartford Avenue West and Rte. 16.
“I think it’s a challenging location,” Planning Board member Frank Niro said.
The board continued the hearing to Nov. 16 and requested the developer’s traffic engineer be present to answer questions. In the meantime, Graves Engineering will review the plans for the town.
The house on the property was built around 1900 and is considered to be historic, Town Planner Dylan Lindholm said. It has already gone through a demolition review, and the Historic Commission has requested access to take photos for the town’s historical records after the current renters move out, Lindholm said.
If approved, construction on the gas station and convenience store would begin in the spring and be completed 10 months to a year later, Choubah told the Planning Board.
