HOWELL – Members of the Howell Planning Board have unanimously approved an application that will result in the construction of a 7-Eleven convenience store and gas station at Route 9 north and Strickland Road.
An existing 7-Eleven at Route 9 north and Casino Drive will move a short distance up the highway to the new 3,000-square-foot store. The existing Exxon gas station on the property at Route 9 North and Strickland Road will be demolished.
The site that will be developed with the 7-Eleven is across from Woolley’s fish market and next to a Starbucks coffeehouse.
The application proposing the 7-Eleven was heard during the Planning Board’s April 1 meeting. The applicant, 7-Eleven Inc., and the owner, SAP American Choice Inc., were represented by attorney Jason Tuvel.
The applicant sought preliminary and final major site plan approval and permission to raze the canopy and other improvements at the Exxon gas station and to construct a 3,000-square-foot 7-Eleven and a gas station with 12 fueling positions.
The applicant proposed creating 25 parking spaces with new landscaping, lighting, trash facilities and storm water management infrastructure at 639 Route 9 North.
Tuvel said the property is in Howell’s Highway Development zone. He said the application was “substantially compliant” with municipal regulations.
Wycoff Mills Road and The Villages adult community are behind the property where the 7-Eleven will be constructed.
“The application is for 24-hour use … In terms of numbers of employees, the convenience store will have three employees which can consist of one manager and two employees, and the gas station will have two attendants,” Tuvel said.
The 7-Eleven would receive one or two deliveries by tractor-trailer each week and the trucks would be at the site for between 30 and 45 minutes. The store would receive one or two daily deliveries by box truck and those trucks would be at the site for between 10 and 15 minutes, Tuvel said.
Fuel would be delivered to the gas station four or five times per week, the attorney said.
Testifying on behalf of the applicant, engineer Jeffrey Martell of Stonefield Engineering described the 1.4-acre property and reviewed its history as a gas station for members of the board and the public. He said the applicant was proposing to remove all of the existing features associated with the Exxon.
Martell said the 7-Eleven will face south, toward the proposed fuel pump area. He said two underground storage tanks are proposed at the location.
Following the conclusion of the testimony, a motion was made to approve the application. Planning Board Chairman Brian Tannenhaus, Vice Chairman Nicholas Huszar and board members Robert Nicastro, Robert Seaman, John Leggio and Paul Boisvert voted “yes” on the motion.
