The Town of Montgomery Zoning Board of Appeals, in the latest of several discussions surrounding the QuickChek proposed for Scott’s Corners, denied four of the applicant’s five area variances during its meeting last Monday, July 15.

A proposal for this 6,400-square-foot convenience store was submitted to the town’s planning board over two years ago and received divisive feedback throughout its review process. Both the applicant and ZBA previously faced litigation from the intersection’s Citgo owner and others due to the project’s size and how it may impact traffic. While the planning board approved QuickChek’s negative declaration on January 29, the ZBA must evaluate the project’s zoning before the developers can move forward in the process.

ZBA Chairman John Fallon listed the applicant’s five area variances, or proposed waivers to the town’s zoning requirements. If the board approves an area variance, it would grant an exception to specifications normally prohibited in the zoning code. These included:

1-2. A project’s entrances must be at minimum 300 feet away from traffic control devices. QuickChek’s applicant proposed two entrances less than 300 feet away from the traffic lights on Scott’s Corners: one 263.1 feet away on Route 17K, and another 183.1 feet away on Route 208.

3. A project’s internal intersection must be at minimum 100 feet away from state highways. QuickChek’s applicant proposed an intersection roughly 47 to 57 feet away from Routes 17K and 208, varying on the project’s three driveways.

4. 10% of a building’s ground floor area must either be adjacent to the structure or comprise 673 square feet of plantings. QuickChek’s applicant proposed 684 square feet of plantings near the store.

5. A building’s parking cannot exceed its front yard setback. QuickChek’s applicant proposed 10 parking stalls that exceed the store’s front yard along Route 208.

Ultimately, the ZBA denied variances for the project’s entrances, internal intersection, and parking, but approved the 684 square feet of plantings. The board’s reasoning came down to concerns about increased traffic congestion and the risk of cars bumping into one another within the gas station’s parking lot. The ZBA submitted its review to the project’s developers, who will need to either change their plans to meet the zoning requirements or appeal the board’s decision.

“I think that there are still issues with their traffic study, the egress, and ingress,” said ZBA member Jeffrey Lyons regarding the variance for Route 17K’s entrance. “I feel that the 17K side is a very big issue. Cars going out east onto 17K would need to cross three lanes of traffic to drive north into Route 208.”

“I’m against Route 208’s entrance because they already have a different entrance and exit 300 feet away, which is in compliance with the zoning,” said Fallon regarding the variance for Route 208’s entrance. “There’s no particular need to have an extra entrance. It would be disastrous.

“For parking, I think if they had parking in the front yard and parking right next to the building, when people leave, they’re going to back up into each other,” Fallon continued regarding the variance for parking.