CUMBERLAND – The owners of the Mobil gas station at 3 Pine Swamp Road are proposing to build a new 7,200-square-foot, two-story commercial development there.
The applicant, according to a Planning Department memo, will be required to seek a zoning change from C-1 limited commercial to C-2 general commercial to bring the existing gas station into conformance with zoning ordinances.
A pre-application meeting on the project was set for April 30, but was postponed to the end of May. According to Alexandra Langille, principal planner for the Office of Planning and Community Development, that meeting will be held May 28 at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall. No vote is planned, as the pre-application process is meant to sort out issues ahead of the more official process.
The property near the Woonsocket city line currently has a gas station with a small convenience store. The project involves construction of a two‑story commercial building that will have six retail units, including three on the first floor, and three on the second floor. The building will be attached to the existing convenience store, but will not be internally connected.
The Cumberland Technical Review Committee previously met to provide guidance to the applicant and the Planning Board.
Comments, according to the town’s memo, included:
• Ensuring there are enough parking spaces in the plan under zoning ordinance to accommodate the most intense uses’
• And providing information on the on-site stormwater management plan for runoff caused by an increase in impervious surfaces.
This is an area of Cumberland that has typically had plenty of space between buildings, but is now seeing more development. Several homes are now being built up Pine Swamp Road in an area that’s traditionally been forested.
