If at first you don’t succeed, try again. But do it smaller this time.
That was the lesson learned by Gurjant Narain, the Whalley Avenue gas station operator who got the okay from the City Plan Commission on Wednesday night to build a new, small convenience store at his filling station near the corner of Whalley and Sherman.
Six months ago, Narain (pictured) attempted to build a large, two-story, 2,500-square-foot convenience store at the same location. That idea came under heavy fire from local community groups and was finally shot down by the City Plan Commission last June.
Narain’s new proposal is for a single-story convenience store of only 600 square feet. The store will be built at the back of the lot.
The only opposition on Wednesday night came from Wendell Harp (pictured), the owner of the neighboring building, who said he was concerned that the new convenience store would prevent fire truck access to his building.
Despite an extensive critique of the proposal’s vehicle turning radii and the deployment of a construction-paper truck-turning simulation, Harp and his lawyer, Tim Yolen, failed to convince the board to stop the proposal.
Two groups that had opposed Narain’s initial proposal, including the Whalley Avenue Special Services District, came forward in support of Narain’s scaled-down plan.
The board voted to approve the plan with one abstention and with the condition that the Fire Marshall signs off on it.
After the meeting, Narain said that he was very happy and looking forward to selling chips and soda at his new convenience store. He plans to begin building as soon as he gets the final okay from the Board of Zoning Appeals.