Southampton officials urged to deny 7-Eleven proposal

Residents are asking the Southampton Town Planning Board to reject a bid to build a 7-Eleven gas station on a busy traffic circle in Riverside, warning the project could worsen traffic in an area already prone to backups.

The 7-Eleven would be among three gas stations and convenience stores on the traffic circle, which is part of a blighted and economically distressed area targeted by Southampton Town for revitalization.

At a planning board hearing Thursday evening, residents aired frustrations with frequent traffic jams at the circle, a key gateway between the towns of Southampton and Riverhead.

“I have personally seen accidents happen right there with cars darting in and out of these stations, and when there is an accident at that circle, traffic backs up for everyone,” said Nancy Doyle, of Riverside. "We all get rerouted."

“This prime traffic area affects so many people: local drivers, commuters, pedestrians and large commercial truck drivers,” Doyle said. “A third gas station is not going to improve quality of life for anyone.”

The project’s traffic engineer, Nicholas Tortorella of Stonefield Engineering and Design, said the intersection was studied extensively, including during peak traffic periods. The gas station would mostly serve drivers already traveling through the area, he said.

"Nothing about this project is instituting something new to the area that people would go out of their way to come to this traffic circle to access," Tortorella said.

Pedestrian safety would be improved with a new lighted crosswalk installed in coordination with Suffolk County’s Department of Public Works, he added.

Residents rejected the argument that a 7-Eleven would have little impact on traffic.

“I've lived there for 40 years, and I'm telling you the traffic is awful,” Flanders resident Kathleen Kruel said. “I don't care what kind of study you do. If you don't live there and you don't deal with it daily, you have no clue, and your studies don't mean anything.”

The applicant, 9-11 Flanders LLC, is seeking a special permit and site plan approval to build a 2,824-square-foot 7-Eleven convenience store and six gasoline pumps, with access from Flanders Road and Riverleigh Avenue. The property, on the east side of the traffic circle, was long the site of a blighted, defunct gas station.

A half dozen 7-Elevens operate nearby, residents noted. Those include locations a half-mile away on Main Street in Riverhead and 1.5 miles away in Flanders. Some residents said they would prefer to see a small business at the site over a franchise store or gas station.