Public invited to hearing on proposed gas station at busy Hauppauge intersection

The Smithtown Board of Zoning Appeals plans to hold a public hearing tonight for a gas station and convenience store at state Routes 347 and 111.

Garden City-based Bolla Operating Corp. is seeking a special exception from the zoning board to permit a filling station with a convenience store in a neighborhood business zoning district, along with several variances.

Despite objections from the town’s chief planner, the Smithtown Town Board in a 4-1 June vote, approved changing the adjacent residential parcel of the property purchased by the company to a neighborhood business zone. Bolla sought that zone change so the company had sufficient land for the 16-pump filling station and 1,200-square-foot convenience store, officials said.

Smithtown Supervisor Patrick Vecchio was the dissenting vote, saying in an interview at the time that the site “will have problems with traffic circulation and generation.”

Frank DeRubeis, Smithtown planning director, said that he had opposed the rezoning “on one of the most congested intersections in town.”

The company’s site plan still faces review by the state Department of Transportation.

In an interview yesterday, DeRubeis said he asked the zoning board to adjourn tonight’s hearing “until we get the proper plans that reflect the state’s comments.”

Representatives for Bolla Operating Corp. were not available for comment.