Plans Still On For New Commack Hess Station

Hess says that its plan to build a gas station at the corner of Jericho Turnpike and Harned Road is moving ahead, despite the corporation's announcement Monday that it will exit its retail gasoline and convenience store operations.

"Nothing has changed," Andy Lautenbacher, Hess Corporation's northern permit manager, said.

Lautenbacher said that Hess is still scheduled to lease the property, a vacant site on the corner of Jericho Turnpike and Harned Road, formerly occupied by a Shell station.

The space was included on a list of potentially blighted properties to be addressed by the Town of Smithtown back in June 2011. Hess won approval for the lease that October and continued to earn planning board approvals on zone changes, despite residential opposition citing concerns of traffic congestion.

Twelve gas pumps will be installed—eight more than Shell's four pumps. In addition, the former Shell gas station building will be razed and replaced with a 1,230 square-foot convenience store. The building of the mini-mart was the reason behind the zone change.

Smithtown Town Planning Director Frank DuRubeis said that the Hess corporation just finished its board of appeals process and will soon be scheduling site plans.

Hess Corporation's move is expected to affect 1,350 gas stations - many owned by Hess itself - that operate in 18 states on the Eastern Seaboard. The gas stations serve as many as 1.3 million customers a day, according to a report in Supermarket News.

Hess did not say when it would begin either closing or selling off their gas stations, although a statement accompanying the news said that the gas station closures, along with other moves to improve the company's bottom line, would begin between now through 2014.