Stewart’s told to retool plan for Schenectady site
Convenience chain seeks to open 10th shop in city on Mcclellan
Stewart’s Shops is looking to add another store to its Schenectady footprint.
The retailer appeared before the city’s planning commission multiple times for approval to open a shop at 1020 Mcclellan St., but was sent back to the drawing board to tighten up its designs.
Its current plan calls for building a 3,975-square-foot convenience store with selfservice gas. The land, although stationed on Mcclellan, runs onto 1501 and 1503 Union St. Presently, there is a Sunoco gas station on the corner and a funeral home next door.
The city council granted Stewart’s Shops leeway across the three parcels by rezoning parts of the land for commercial use. But Mary Moore Wallinger, the city’s planning commissioner, said she and board members expressed concern about the new construction, mostly surrounding how the site plan could alter the Union Street corridor’s residential and pedestrian-friendly “architectural character.”
Under the most recent site plan, Stewart’s created a layout that would park the storefront’s canopy on Mcclellan and absorb the funeral home.
“To lose that building and have (a) new station further back from (the) road would be a big change,” she said.
The commission would like Stewart’s planners to revise its design so the building fronts onto Union Street and is closer to the intersection, with parking in the rear and “rigorous screening ” between it and residences, Wallinger explained.
Erica Komoroske, Stewart’s Shops’ director of public affairs, said pushing the building to the rear was detrimental to the neighborhood. The building would act as a shield to the commercial activity for residents and switch-activated lights at the rear would prevent lights from automatically turning on in the neighborhood’s face, Komoroske said.
Commission members also asked Stewart’s to incorporate similar Union Street architec
tural details, including a store entrance from the sidewalk rather than just the parking lot to maximize entry.
“I personally questioned whether a gas station belonged there at all for those very reasons, but it is an allowable use,” she said.
“If it is going to be there, it has to be done to the highest possible quality.”
The commission tabled Stewart’s application in the interim and advised the franchise to return once it reconfigured its plans.
Stewart’s Shops has worked with the commission to get approvals in the past. The Mcclellan Street location would be the city’s 10th Stewart’s Shops if authorized.
Komoroske said the company outlined a tentative opening date for March, pending approvals from the city.
“We are working to develop the most beneficial plan for the neighborhood through the planning commission,” Komoroske said.
“With our established history working with the city to redevelop five other locations; we are confident that we will be able to develop a win-win plan for everyone.”