New Haven Independent

Neighbors will weigh in on Narain’s controversial expansion plan this coming week at the City Plan Commission, and perhaps at a meeting of the Whalley-Edgewood-Beaver Hills (WEB) management team.

The issue came before the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) this past week, where Narain received a needed preliminary approval.

John Vuoso and Pat Minori (pictured below) were part of a small but spirited opposition to Narain’s plan at the BZA meeting. Vuoso said he and other nearby business owners were already working to close down several of the six convenience stores between Sherman and Winthrop.

“The last thing we need is to see this station reconfigure and reposition its pumps [to sell the cheap gas] in order to attract customers to a store. Did you see the drawings?” Vuoso asked in some dismay. “Two stories, and 2,500 square feet.”

In an interview last month, Narain said he aims to make improvements to what has become a neighborhood eyesore.

“All of this looks like trash,” he said, gesturing to the rundown lot one rainy afternoon. In the back of the lot, a group of young men were listening to music and eating ribs from a styrofoam container. The smell of marijuana billowed out from a car where they gathered.

Narain said his family runs a gas station at 161 Boston Post Rd. in West Haven that he intends to convert into a Best Gas station. Neighbors suspect he aims to convert the Whalley Avenue one into a Best Gas, too.

Reached by telephone Friday, Narain confirmed he indeed plans to convert the station to Best Gas, which usually sells less expensively.

Although he did not attend Tuesday’s BZA meeting himself, being represented instead by his agent Anthony Giordano, Narain had this to say regarding concerns about potential traffic congestion expressed at the meeting. “I’m not worried about that. You don’t want cheaper gas? Look, if the city is worried about these things, we can sell more expensive gas, and have less congestion!

“If more people come to the city, then it’s good. They’ll buy more things, more revenue for the city all around. The people who oppose me are simply worried about the competition.”

Narain told the Independent that he bought the Whalley lot two years ago and has been leasing it out. The lease is ending, and he’s taking the opportunity to fix the place up. He intends to spend $250,000 to $300,000 to do so. Since he doesn’t own the convenience store adjacent to the gas station, he explained, he aims to build one of his own.

Neighbors promised the community would come out in force to oppose his plans at Wednesday’s City Plan Commission meeting. For beneath the often arcane discussion of reconfigurations and property lines brewed larger issues bedeviling the corner, and the city: the crime-attracting problems of convenience stores and traffic congestion.

Narain was before the BZA last week not to debate the convenience store, but to get approval for the downsizing of his three pump islands to two — and to reconfigure the space so that a large convenience store can be built to the back of the lot, which is now the Mobil Station at Sherman and Whalley.

At issue were both the reconfiguration, which seemed to puzzle commissioners and staff, and also permission to build the large new convenience store within five feet of the back of the property line ,whereas 10 is permitted.

The other big issue, traffic congestion, apparently will be exacerbated because the new pumps will no longer be selling Mobil gas, but “Best” gas. So charged Vuoso after his public remarks of opposition. Referring to Narain, he said, “We know this because he has a Best Gas station in West Haven.”

Several speakers said that given the dramatic spike in gas prices, cars would be lining up and out onto the streets to save ten cents a gallon. “That’s what he’s out to do,” said Minori.

And then there was the convenience store. Narain displayed large architectural renderings of a convenience store that had two levels, not one, as most are, and 2,500 square feet. That’s a lot of chips, coffee, and candy.

Characteristically, the profit margin on gas is relatively small, but it draws people into the store.

BZA Chair Cathy Weber (seated at the center) ruled out of order the several opposition speakers who wanted to discuss the problems of the convenience store. “That is not what we are considering”, she said. But the topic and the congestion caused by the lure of cheap fuel percolated in the discussion of the pumps’ reconfiguration.

What was to be done? The City Plan Department’s recommendation, which the BZA commissioners had before them, pointed out that convenience stores are indeed permitted in the area, which is a BA, or general business district.

However, there was a complicating factor: the “WAOZ,” or Whalley Avenue Overlay Zone. This regulation imposes additional requirements for new construction in the spirit of helping to revitalize the avenue not only as a commercial corridor but as a transition to a more residential neighborhood.

WAOZ specifically says, per the report, “New buildings in the overlay district shall have a zero setback from the prevailing building line.”

However, since the report also says the building lines along the avenue are varied to chaotic, no standards really exist. Therefore, limiting itself to the issue at hand, the staff was sympathetic to the idea that the only location for the store was at the rear of the property. It would make it safer for trucks, presumably delivering not only the convenience store supplies but also the cheap gas trucks to maneuver more safely.

All this is complicated in that the new proposed structure is in conjunction with or an accessory to a gasoline station — and one that might draw bargain hunters in a long traffic queue leading from Woodbridge.

The BZAcommissioners were clearly conflicted by the need to address the narrower detail of the request but still acknowledge the more general community concerns of several opposition speakers besides Minori and Vuoso. These called attention to the danger to the many schoolchildren walking by and having to negotiate cars pulling in and out to get to cheap gas or convenience store goodies.

“I’m very concerned,” said Weber “with the traffic on Whalley. That it might spill out onto the avenue.”

“Sure,” said Regina Winters, a fellow commissioner. Then, in a moment perhaps of fatigue, late towards the ten o’clock hour, she added, “I want to see you lead the way by riding a bicycle. Sure!”

Confusion remained regarding the reconfiguration. And the commissioners knew that the convenience store’s permissibility under the Whalley Overlay Zone would be discussed at at the upcoming City Plan meeting. So the commissioners approved the request for reconfiguration.

Many more concerned Whalley Avenue business owners and residents, Vuoso and Minori said, will be out in force Wednesday. “They didn’t notify the community about this meeting,” Vuoso said. “Don’t worry. You can count on it. We’ll be there Wednesday.”

Melissa Bailey contributed reporting to this story.