CONNEAUT — Plans to rebuild and enlarge the True North convenience store at State and Mill streets jumped their first regulatory hurdle at Tuesday night’s Planning Commission meeting.
Members unanimously gave their blessing to an application from Diamond Z Engineering of Cleveland, filed on behalf of True North, to upgrade the store. The matter now moves to the Zoning Board of Appeals, which meets next week.
Dan Stapp, of Diamond Z Engineering, told commission members True North wants to demolish the existing store and erect a 3,000-square-foot replacement. The company has acquired property west of the store and will factor the extra space into the project.
The reborn True North will include several pumps that will dispense gasoline — one devoted to diesel fuel — as well as a two-bay self-serve car wash. The larger store may prompt True North to add an extra employee during the day, Stapp said.
Existing storage tanks and lines will be removed and replaced with a “state of the art” system, Stapp said. True North has a contractor it uses for most of its Ohio projects, but that company usually farms out some of the work to qualified local contractors, he said.
True North hopes to start demolition in March 2009 and welcome its first customer to the new store by Memorial Day, Stapp said. Some demolition and preparatory work can begin on the new building before the store is shut down, he said.
Stapp anticipates a 45- to 60-day period during which the site is closed completely.
A fence will be erected to give neighbors to the south some privacy, Stapp said. Outdoor lighting issues and variances to deal with setback standards must be addressed by the zoning board before the project can move forward.
Planning Commission members were enthusiastic about the True North project. “It looks good,” said chairman William Ryan.
“Thank you for investing in our community,” said member Judith Parlongo.
If the work proceeds, it could be the second convenience store-gas station project in Conneaut in 2009. Love’s Travel Stop and Country Stores of Oklahoma City plans to build a truck stop at Route 7 and Interstate 90 next year. Like True North, the Love’s project is expected to start in the spring.
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