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The Southampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals last week overturned another decision by the town’s chief building inspector, in this case ruling that a proposed convenience store for a Tuckahoe gas station is a customary accessory use.
Sunoco, which runs a gas station on County Road 39 at the intersection with Magee Street, won a small victory last Thursday, November 15, with the board’s decision, which further clears the path for the store. The company had requested an appeal of a July determination by Chief Building Inspector Michael Benincasa that claimed the proposed 922.7-square-foot convenience store was not a customary accessory use to the existing gasoline services at the site, which is in the town’s Highway Business District.
The board’s decision states that it has previously acknowledged that a convenience store in certain circumstances can be considered an accessory use to gasoline filling stations and are emerging as the predominant accessory use in the service station industry.
The board pointed to several factors in making its decision, including estimates that gross receipts for the store are less than those of the gas, the size of the store relative to the size of the primary use, and the percentage of income generated by the store relative to the gas station use and its size (922.7 square feet) as compared to the size of the parcel (approximately 35,229 square feet).
Sunoco wants to replace an existing two-bay garage with the proposed store.
The ZBA has also overturned other, higher-profile determinations by Mr. Benincasa.
Last year, for example, it overruled his finding that a Bridgehampton house was effectively “waterfront” because of wetlands behind it, which would have allowed a proposed swimming pool to be built without a variance. In June, the board overturned part of another of his determinations, one that said a sand and gravel mine near the Noyac-Bridgehampton border predated current zoning and should be allowed to keep operating.
Colleen Reynolds on Nov 20, 2012