HELLERTOWN, Pa. — Even with a number of other gas stations nearby, including a Turkey Hill and Wawa to the north and a few smaller stores heading south on Route 412, a proposed Sheetz store got Hellertown planners' preliminary approval Tuesday.
The panel voted 5-2, with planners Joseph Pampanin and Robert Lepley voting against the potential 24/7, 12-pump gas station and convenience store at Kichline Avenue and Main Street.
That’s considered a use “by right” on that 2-acre lot, according to borough code.
Initial concerns from the group included effects on traffic, light pollution for nearby residential properties and the amount of parking on site.
Sheetz currently has a couple of locations in both Easton and Allentown, and one in Bethlehem.
The land
The area in question is made up of four separate parcels and two sections of alley right-of-way in the Highway Commercial and Flexible Redevelopment Overlay districts, which will be consolidated if the plans are ultimately approved.
Star Pre-Owned of Hellertown currently operates there on about 3,000 square feet.
Sheetz Inc., of Altoona, Blair County, is currently under agreement to build its new facility on site but doesn’t own any of the land at this time, officials said.
No project is finalized as of now.
Sheetz, advised by Bohler Engineering, still has to apply to go before the township Zoning Hearing Board regarding parking and likely will be back before the Planning Commission before its potential date with Borough Council.
'Good neighbors'
Mary Bachert, project manager with Bohler Engineering, said the more-than-6,000-square-foot development is planned to include six double-sided pump units, but no car wash or drive-thru as at some other locations.
Bachert said developers are thinking of nearby residential properties by including natural buffering in the development plans and will look to revise its store lighting scheme. Canopy trees already up on site would remain standing, she said.
Plans call for a more than 6,000-square-foot store with six double-pump units, but no car wash or drive-thru like some other Sheetz locations.Potential new Sheetz location in Hellertown
Franklin and Hemlock streets are just to the west of the site.
“We’re doing everything we can to be good neighbors here,” Bachert said.
The lot is now 99% impervious surface, and developers look to reduce that by more than 10,000 square feet after completing the required landscaping, parking lot and building.
An updated bus station on site and its respective maintenance and potential advertising still need to be hashed out with the borough and other parties involved, development officials said.
Developers want to have 47 parking spaces in lieu of 82 required by ordinance, an amount Bachert called “a little bit outdated and aggressive.”
She said that number would be more apt to serve “a small grocery store.” Renderings show the site also would feature two ADA parking spaces.
“We’re doing everything we can to be good neighbors here."Bohler Engineering Project Manager Mary Bachert
“I would say probably half that lot is going to be vacant, empty,” commission Vice Chairwoman Kim LaBrake said, if the 82 spaces required by ordinance were ultimately required in this case.
“Impervious surface, rainwater, plowing — all those other things come with it.”
She said this particular Sheetz would operate “somewhere in between” a gas station/repair shop and a neighborhood convenience store.
Major roadway nearby
The project planning came with respective traffic studies, calling for traffic signal retiming, a right-turn lane from Route 412 to Kichline Street, a left-turn lane from Kichline Street onto Main Street, restriping and maybe more once plans are finalized.
Planner Maria Diaz-Joves said traffic studies are important but she was nervous to approve what could be a potential “nightmare” of a project negatively impacting vehicle flow on a busy state thoroughfare.
“How is that going to actually impact the day-to-day, because one thing is numbers in a computer and another thing is actually a drive at 5 in the afternoon."Hellertown Planner Maria Diaz-Joves
Planner Liz Thompson said that while there are a number of other gas stations in the surrounding area, the developer has done its homework in making sure the project is economically viable.
She described the situation regarding traffic flow as a “catch-22,” and said the borough couldn’t approve or deny a project based on personal opinions.
“How is that going to actually impact the day-to-day?" Diaz-Jones said. "Because one thing is numbers in a computer and another thing is actually a drive at 5 in the afternoon.”
