Bethlehem will review expansion of Stewart’s
Previously tabled plan on agenda Tuesday before Planning Board
A plan by Stewart’s Shops to tear down its Delmar store by Bethlehem Central High School and replace it with a larger store and add gas pumps will be reviewed again Tuesday night by the town’s Planning Board amid vocal opposition.
The Planning Board tabled discussion of the proposal in December after a local resident and environmental advocate voiced concerns the plan would violate a 1998 promise by the convenience store operator not to build gas pumps at the site, at the corner of Delaware and
Elm avenues.
Stewart’s countered that the town’s own 2006 update to its zoning laws that created hamlet districts, combining residential and commercial buildings in close proximity, opened the door for its current request.
Since December, Stewart’s, which operates more than 330 stores in New York and Vermont, has updated its plans for the new 3,975-square-foot store, which would now include six gas pumps, down from the
eight originally envisioned.
The Planning Board is scheduled to again review the Stewart’s plan at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Due to the pandemic, the meeting will be held via Zoom. The public can watch via a link on the town’s website.
The Planning Board’s agenda materials, which are posted in advance of the meeting, include nine letters or emails the town received from residents on the proposal during the month of February.
All are in opposition to the project.
Most cited the already busy traffic intersection, the proximity to the high school and neighboring residences, and the environmental impact. Many mentioned that gas service is readily available in the area, including at the Valero gas station across the street.
“There is nothing to be gained by the community if the Stewart’s near the high school in Bethlehem puts in new gas pumps, and a great deal to be risked,” Delmar residents Bill and Anne Mccabe wrote in a Feb. 11 email to the town.
The push back by local residents over the project also comes as environmental groups are supporting the idea that new gas stations shouldn’t be approved anywhere in light of government-supported efforts to wean the country off fossil fuels that has led even car manufacturers to announce they will stop making cars that run on gasoline.
GM for instance says it will eliminate gas-powered cars by 2035. Norway is planning to ban gas-powered cars by 2025 — just four years from now.
Some cities in the U.S. are also specifically banning new gas stations, and environmental groups are urging municipalities across New York state and elsewhere that they have the legal right to do so, even though such a decision would be unheard of just a year or two ago. Companies will sue planning or zoning boards that block their plans, and Stewart’s is no exception.
Stewart’s is planning to tear down a former insurance building next to its existing store located near the high school, if the plan is approved. The new store would have electric vehicle charging stations as a courtesy for customers.
Stewart’s has increasingly moved into the prepared food and grocery markets. The Saratoga County-based company also operates a store, with gas pumps, further north on Delaware Avenue.