ORANGE — The construction of a new gas station across the street from the Post Office is expected to be completed by October.
“What we’re getting is a typical gas station, with an additional market space and retail food vendor,” explained Alec Wade, Orange’s planning and community development director.
The site at the intersection of East River and South Main streets is being constructed by South Coast Development LLC, though Wade said he does not know who the location’s tenants will be. Wade said the plans have generated mixed reactions from community members.
“There were some that were gung-ho and excited to see it come in; others had concerns,” he said.
The construction work resulted in the relocation of the locally-beloved wooden eagle carving adjacent to the site. The Planning Board has discussed the carving’s potential next homes and it is thought that Riverfront Park or outside the former Butterfield School would be appropriate spots. Wade said he believes the Orange Fire Department is housing the carving for safekeeping in the meantime.
The lot was previously the subject of contentious Planning Board meetings five years ago, when the Honey Farms convenience store chain got approval to build an eight-pump gas station at 24 East River St. A public hearing was held over the course of four meetings and residents had their voices heard in favor and in opposition of the project, which ultimately received a special permit.
Honey Farms proposed a gas station with an overhead canopy, a 4,500-square-foot convenience store with a drive-thru and a 26-by-50-foot single-bay car wash. Honey Farms also has a location at 167 Daniel Shays Highway.
Patrick McLaughlin, a civil engineer with MHF Design Consultants in New Hampshire, said during a public hearing session that the proposed project was altered in response to concerns expressed in public, departmental and initial peer reviews. McLaughlin and Senior Project Manager Heather Monticup of Greenman-Pedersen Inc. in Wilmington have said they revised the project’s driveway configuration and pedestrian access, as well as the location and architecture of the car wash.
But Richard Sheridan, who was a Planning Board member at the time, said this week that those plans were scrapped when landowner Wilfred Iandoli, the president and CEO of Honey Farms, died on Sept. 17, 2016, at age 89. Iandoli’s seven sons sold the Honey Farms corporation in 2017.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.