MANCHESTER, N.H. – On Thursday, the Manchester Planning Board will address three items related to a proposed Z-1 Express gas station near the corner of Wellington Road and Edward J. Roy Drive.
If approved, the new 6,500 square foot facility would have 12 gas pumps, two fast-food restaurants and a convenience store.
Currently the site is zoned as a B-1, or “Neighborhood Business District”, which allows smaller retail, restaurant and service establishments, but not gas stations.
The proposal comes after years of lawsuits, with the Planning Board voting down the initial site-plan application twice in the spring of 2018.
In a presentation to the Planning Board on May 21, spokespeople for Victory Distributors Inc., the company seeking to build the gas station, estimated approximately 45 to 70 vehicles would be entering and leaving the site during peak hours, stating that many of those vehicles would already be in the area traveling to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hospital nearby or driving down Wellington Road.
Residents in neighborhoods near the proposed gas station voiced a wide variety of concerns ranging from traffic and property values to environmental concerns and even crime, submitting over a dozen statements to the board asking them to oppose the proposal. Ward 2 Alderman Will Stewart, who represents the neighbors on the Manchester Board of Aldermen, also voiced concerns about the proposed station being placed near the only point where local residents and those at the hospital can head out of the area, meaning an accident near the station on Edward J. Roy Drive would effectively trap residents and anyone at the hospital until traffic could be cleared.
Additionally, residents also were frustrated by the fact that due to the pandemic, they were not able to provide testimony in real-time on May 21, submitting written and audio statements in advance that representatives of Victory Distributors responded to during the meeting.
Although neighbors near the proposed site are unified in their opposition to the proposal, their level of opposition varies.
For nearby resident Jeff Hanson, a new store geared toward local residents as recommended for B-1 zoned land parcels would be appropriate. However, he fears the level of traffic that would come from the gas station if it becomes a reality, stating that the scope of proposal would make it the largest gas station in Manchester and the inability to put an exit directly onto Wellington Road from the site due to wetlands restrictions and easements would create bottlenecks on Edward J. Roy Drive.
“I don’t have a problem with that piece of property being developed, it’s not a sacred piece of dirt,” said Hanson. “I think they’re looking for people to come off the Interstate and get gas. That’s not a neighborhood gas station.”
Attorney Roy Tilsley, representing Victory Distributors, believes changes to the original proposal in 2018, such as reducing the number of pumps from its original 16.
He added that a recent expansion of Dartmouth-Hitchcock was approved despite including traffic figures that projecting the gas station’s eventual existence given that the earlier site plan proposal was still pending in the courts.
The three items are one of six coming before the board on Thursday’s meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. Anyone with comments can submit them to the board at planningboard@manchesternh.gov or by calling 603-792-6737.
Discussion on gas station from the May 21 meeting can be found below (or on the Manchester Public Television website ) with the discussion lasting from approximately the 2:53:00 mark to the 5:29:00 mark.
05/21/20 Planning Board from MPTS – Channel 22 on Vimeo.
