7-Eleven Vote Put Off for Another Day

At some point there's going to be a vote.

At a meeting Monday night, Philip San Filippo, the attorney representing Dina Enterprises, asked the board to put off on voting on his client's proposed plan to convert a convenience store on E. Front Street into a 24-hour 7-Eleven.

A vote on the plan was expected Monday after the board from its last meeting in order to better accommodate the public hearing portion and San Filippo's closing arguments. After a few public comments and about 20 minutes, however, San Filippo asked the board to carry the application because of a couple of absent board members, to which the board acquiesced.

Dina Enterprises is seeking several minor variances to facilitate the conversion into a 7-Eleven, including installing an illuminated sign and building a 356-square foot addition to house a freezer and refrigerator. Those variances haven't received much opposition when compared to what nearby residents are really fretting, the expansion of operating hours from 16 to 24 hours a day.

San Filippo has argued that his client doesn't need a variance to operate 24 hours a day because a previous application - one approved in 1975 - doesn't restrict hours of operation. It's a concept that's rankled residents and confused board members who have openly acknowledged the leaps in logic it's taken to arrive at that consideration.

For now, however, nothing is official.

During the short, half-hour meeting Monday, several residents spoke out against the conversion plan.

Rosemary Costa has been living on River Road next to the Welsh Farms since 1955. She told the board she remembers when there used to be a gas station on the site and how tow trucks would pull in and out of the property at all hours, disturbing her family's sleep and negatively impacting their quality of life. A 7-Eleven would do the same, she fears.

"It is unreasonable. It's abusive, it has been an abusive property," she said. "And it's disgusting."

Costa is one of more than 200 people who have signed a petition aimed at stopping the 7-Eleven. Though she and other residents have been vocal in their opposition to the project, they won't be afforded the same opportunity last time. While the applicant is allowed to request a continuation, the public comment portion of the application was closed Monday night, giving San Filippo uncontested audience with the board in more than a month when the application is revisited.

The planning board will revisit and likely vote on the 7-Eleven, unless another continuation is requested, on May 21.