Smithtown board to discuss convenience store with gas pump

A proposal to build a gas station and convenience store at the intersection of two busy state highways will be discussed Tuesday by the Smithtown Town board.

Garden City-based Bolla Operating Corp. is requesting a zoning change for the store and filling station, which would be located at the northwest corner of state routes 347 and 111. The site, which is vacant, had been occupied by a gas station until it closed at least three years ago, said town planning director Frank DeRubeis.

The town board will discuss Bolla’s application at 10 a.m. today at Town Hall, 99 W. Main St., Supervisor Patrick Vecchio said. He declined to comment on the proposal.

In addition to the former gas station site, Bolla purchased an adjacent property that is zoned for residential uses, DeRubeis said. The company is asking the town board to rezone the residential parcel for a neighborhood business so that it has sufficient land for the gas station.

DeRubeis said he opposes the rezoning because the gas station would be “on one of the most congested intersections in the town. As a planning policy, I don’t think it’s a good idea to do that.”

Bolla officials did not return a call for comment Monday.