Sheetz plans to rebuild 17th Street superstore
All variances granted for ‘innovative’ new facility at 17th Street superstore location
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Sheetz plans to rebuild its "superstore" -- its largest convenience facility -- at the intersection of 17th Street and the boulevards, according to a recent presentation to the city Zoning Hearing Board.
The board granted all nine variances that the company requested in connection with the proposed project.
The new store will be a prototype slightly larger than the existing store, and it will be "the most innovative store ever constructed" by Sheetz, said attorney Ben Yeager, who represented the company at the hearing.
Sheetz officials did not respond to requests for comment concerning a start date for the major project.
Most of the variances wouldn't have been necessary under an old zoning ordinance that was recently replaced, according to a written narrative that accompanied Yeager's presentation.
One variance will allow Sheetz to match the existing property's 85% impervious coverage, which didn't violate the old zoning ordinance. The new ordinance requirement is 65% or less. Among justifications for the variance is that the property contains impervious alleyways and roadways that nevertheless serve the public, and that the company maintains at its own expense a swath of previous green space on the PennDOT right-of-way for 17th Street, according to the narrative.
A second variance will allow parking within the property closer than permitted by the required 20-foot setback from the property line. Among justifications is the green space that separates the property line from the highway, thus providing plenty of insulating distance between the highway and the parking lot, according to the narrative. Without the variance, there would not be enough parking for the proposed new store, according to the narrative.
A third variance will allow a drive-thru to be closer to the building than the required five-foot setback. The code doesn't require such a setback at the point of contact between the customer and the drive-thru attendant, and it recommends taking advantage of that exception to the setback requirement via an extension of the building at the point of customer contact with an attendant who is permanently stationed within the store. But the proposed drive-thru for the new store will not have an attendant permanently stationed inside, but rather a combined window and man door that will allow for attendants to come out of the building to deliver orders to parked customers, according to the narrative.
In addition, the proposed new drive-thru will require that customers pre-order online, so there won't be an order point in line, according to the narrative. The proposed new system will "decrease stacking and wait times in the pickup lane and simultaneously provide alternative methods of expedited order delivery to customers," the narrative states.
A fourth variance will allow Sheetz not to comply with a requirement to plant a tree along the perimeter of the property approximately every
30 feet. There is green space around much of the property, but it is within the public-right-of-way, and so not available to be planted on by Sheetz, according to the narrative. Requiring the company to find space within the property line would not allow for construction of the new store as proposed -- and wouldn't have allowed for construction of the existing store. Insisting on compliance with the tree requirement would produce "undue harm," according to the narrative.
A fifth variance will allow Sheetz not to comply with a requirement to plant a low shrub for every 10 linear feet of building wall and a high shrub for every 20 linear feet of building wall. There will be shrubs, including at the building entrances and around the parking lot, much like for the current store, but to comply with the code would impinge on space needed for sidewalks and other safety features, according to the narrative. The green space on the perimeter would provide sufficient space for the shrubs needed to comply with the code, but that green space is in the public right-of-way and not available to the company, according to the narrative. The proposed plan for shrubs wouldn't have required a variance under the old code, according to the narrative.
A sixth variance will allow the company not to provide landscaping at the end of every parking row. Doing so would not allow for the space needed for gasoline delivery trucks, trash trucks and other large vehicles to operate within the site, according to the narrative. Such a variance wouldn't have been necessary under the old code, according to the narrative.
A seventh variance will allow the company not to install interior islands in the parking lot below the level of the surrounding ground, so that they can capture runoff water. Several proposed islands are located at high points, on sloping ground or above utility lines, such that storm water capture becomes impractical, according to the narrative. Despite the variance, the project will be designed to meet city and state stormwater requirements, using practices approved by those agencies, according to the narrative. Moreover, complying with the requirement would have provided no additional benefit, according to the narrative.
An eighth variance will allow the company not to comply with a requirement that the dumpster be located in the rear of the property. Given its location surrounded on three sides by 17th Street, Pleasant Valley Boulevard and Valley View Boulevard, the property doesn't really have a "rear," such that no truly definitive location for the dumpster is prescribed by the ordinance, according to the narrative.
The best location for the dumpster, which will be within a walled enclosure, is at the corner of 17th Street and Pleasant Valley Boulevard, according to the narrative. That is close to the gas pumps, making it practical to construct vacuum tubes underground between the trash receptacles at the pumps and the dumpster, so trash can be sucked from the receptacles into the dumpster, according to the narrative. Placing the dumpster at another location would make construction of the underground tube system impractical, according to the narrative.
A ninth variance will allow the company to install a sign on the roof, which conflicts with a prohibition on roof signs in the new code. The proposed sign will not be at the roof's highest point, according to the narrative. Further, by being highly visible to customers, it will eliminate the necessity of some other signage on the property that would otherwise be needed, according to the narrative.
The variances will not have a deleterious effect on the neighborhood and will enable the company to refresh an "already thriving location," according to the narrative.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.