STEWART’S

with the store behind them.

The Planning Board suggested that Stewart’s reduce the size of both the store and the gas pump canopy to make the project comply with the hamlet zoning law.

But Gillespie says that would defeat the purpose of the project, which is intended to increase revenue at the store in the face of competition.

A Valero gas station and convenience store is located across the street from the existing Stewart’s store, which is one of the smaller in the region.

Stewart’s, which has nearly 350 stores in New York and Vermont, is spending tens of millions of dollars building new, larger stores and replacing its smaller outdated stores with larger ones that also offer gas service. The company is headquartered in Saratoga County.

“We think this is a good location, and we want to continue to be here,” Gillespie said. “One of the reasons that we are here is to be able to expand our services. To be successful in that though, we have to be able to keep up with the competition. Part of that process is to build more space.”

Stewart’s has a deal in place to buy the lot next door where an insurance company used to be located and to tear down that building to make way for the new store. The back of the new store would shield a home on the next parcel over from the store’s lighting, Gillespie said. The other issues over the store’s location deal with how cars and delivery trucks can circulate around the store. The home that would be located next to the expanded Stewart’s is currently for sale.

Planning Board Chair Gyory stressed from the outset of Tuesday’s meeting he was frustrated that Stewart’s keeps coming back to the board with designs that ignore the hamlet rules. The board has repeatedly asked Stewart’s to bring back a design that complies with the hamlet zoning, which is designed to balance pedestrian access with motor vehicles and push parking away from the roads.

“It’s kind of a nonstarter for me,” Gyory said. “It’s not something we can move forward with.”

Rob Leslie, the town’s director of economic development and planning, said just next door Keystone Builders had constructed a project that met the hamlet guidelines, with an office building on the sidewalk and apartments and parking in the rear.

Radworth Anderson, a Planning Board member who is an expert in urban geography and regional planning, suggested that Stewart’s use the design of its store at the corner of Western Avenue and Russell Road in Albany, which is across from an elementary school. The store is right on the sidewalk, although it does not have gas pumps.

“Why can’t it be more of a version” of that? Anderson asked.