If you can’t get the fuel, you can’t operate a gas station.
That concept was what ultimately led to the approval of the site layout for Gate Petroleum Co.’s convenience store and gas station in at the corner of Forest and Park streets in Brooklyn.
The approval was deferred March 10 by the Downtown Development Review Board, which held a design workshop Thursday to explore options to convert Gate’s standard suburban site plan into a design that would meet urban design standards.
Attorney Steve Diebenow, representing Gate, prefaced the presentation of possible options by advising the board the company is “highly motivated to make it work” and was hoping to bring a solution to the workshop.
“But there is no solution,” he said.
The board suggested after the first presentation that the store be moved closer to Forest Street to create better access from the sidewalk.
Diebenow said that won’t work because the store has to be away from the street.
“You design for deliveries at the back of the store and customers in front of the store,” he said.
The board also suggested the fuel pumps and canopy covering them could be moved to achieve a more urban layout.
That also won’t work, said Mike Junk, Gate development director.
He said the underground fuel tanks must be near the fuel dispensers to meet state environmental regulations.
In addition, the site has to be designed to allow tanker trucks delivering the gasoline to access the site, park where the fuel is dropped into the tanks and then depart without blocking traffic to the store and carwash.
Fuel delivery has to be considered along with designing a safe environment for retail traffic from customers who arrive in vehicles and on foot.
“We’ve got a little under two acres of land to make all that work,” Junk said.
After more than an hour of discussion, debate and sketching possible design changes, the board voted to approve the original site plan, with the condition that Gate submit a landscape and streetscape plan more consistent with Downtown standards for pedestrian access.
“This is the perfect site for a gas station,” said board member Roland Udenze. “We need gas stations Downtown and these guys are making a commitment.”
Diebenow said the project is a $6 million to $8 million investment.
After the approval, Gate Vice President of Real Estate Becky Hamilton said the look of the complex will be unique among the more than 70 Gate locations in the area.
“I think it will work,” she said. “It will be unlike any other Gate station — and that’s good.”
The board will evaluate the landscape and streetscape plan on April 10 when the project is scheduled to be submitted for final approval.
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