Champlain Oil files application for new Chester Jiffy Mart with chain restaurants
Shawn Cunningham | Apr 15, 2015 | Comments 10
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Robert Record, B. Cairns Properties, LLC and Champlain Oil Co. filed applications with the Chester Zoning administrator for a conditional use permit and a flood hazard area review on Tuesday, April 14 for a new Jiffy Mart in Chester.
Submitted plans for the property at the corner of Main and Pleasant streets. Click to enlarge.
The application says that developers hope to build a 4,980-square-foot Jiffy Mart convenience store, a Subway and a Ramunto’s Pizza along with four gas pumps and one diesel pump under a 2,500 sq ft canopy at the corner of Main and Pleasant streets, across from the Sandri Sunoco station.
The project, which is located in the Residential-Commercial district, is the first automotive use application under the new Unified Development Bylaws approved by the Chester Select Board last October. Automotive uses had been banned from that area from the beginning of zoning in 1975, but the new regulations changed that.
The change was fought by a group of Chester residents but voters overwhelmingly approved keeping the new automotive uses in the district in part because, shortly before the vote, the house that sits on the site had been rented to the Springfield Justice Center as transitional housing for inmates from the Springfield prison. It is unclear from the application what will happen to the house or the existing Jiffy Mart. The Chester Development Review Board is scheduled to take up the application on Monday, May 11.
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Is this Jiffy Mart going to fit in with the aesthetics of Chester or is it going to be like another Family Dollar Store? Just saying.
Charlestown just did this If anyone wants to see what it would look like.
Sad to see another old house and piece of Chester history destroyed. Is this really progress? I don’t think so…
Chester in its heyday had more than two gas stations. This will replace the one at the terrible corner in town. I also believe that more choices does not hurt anyone. We all shop locally. It’s like saying we should have only one restaurant in town so that it will survive, when in fact more restaurants is good for everyone. No one should be entitled to a monopoly. I believe the opportunity for more jobs locally would be great.
How many gas stations does the village of Chester need?
Anyone who wants to see what multiple fuel stations with adjoining chain convenience stores can do for local aesthetics need only visit us here in Ludlow, where three gas stations within the span of 1/4 mile offer us that special, small-town Vermont feel.
Despite the glut of fuel stations here, Champlain Oil tried to put in another one (with a fast-food window) a few years ago. After a strong letter- and editorial-writing campaign, the plan went to a townwide vote and got shot down by a narrow margin. Be wary, Chester residents!
I can’t imagine that this wouldn’t do serious damage to Lisai’s sandwich business or the sale of pizzas at Pizza Stone.
There are also several wonderful restaurants in downtown Chester that may be adversely affected – Heritage Deli, MacLaomainn’s, Free Range, Fullerton Inn and Moon Dog Cafe to name a few.
I look at bringing chain stores into Chester as a regression rather than a progression. That being said, we do love our current Jiffy Mart, its friendly staff, great coffee and wonderful friends and neighbors that we meet and greet around the coffee pot.
Hopefully the DRB is fair (this is a Chester neighbor working with business partners to develop a business on his property), but also recognizes that the DRB has the responsibility and ability to mitigate the impacts it has on our community.
The house is not on the site plan (which is sad, but most would agree it could not serve as a convenience store), but neither are any plantings or landscaping that would soften the appearance of the cookie-cutter building.
I also encourage the DRB to use any leverage it can devise to ensure we are not left with an abandoned gas station/convenience store on the prominent lot Jiffy Mart now occupies.
Soon Chester will look just like Springfield. YAY!
I feel this change is needed for growth of Chester. Same people will work the new store, plus bring in a few new jobs.
I’m not thrilled to hear of a new Jiffy Mart. The people in the present one are like old friends. The store itself is a neighborhood meet and greet. It’s one of the delights for us coffee drinkers. The staff is always pleasant and I’m sure a “new” Jiffy Mart in Chester would be similar to the “new” McDonald’s in Springfield – not the best.