Havre de Grace board grants Sheetz conditional use for gas station at 1609 Pulaski Highway

The Havre de Grace Board of Appeals voted to grant a conditional-use permit for a Sheetz convenience store and fueling station at 1609 Pulaski Highway after a public hearing and testimony from city planning staff, the applicant’s witnesses and consultants.

City planning staff had recommended approval. Eric Lawrence, Department of Planning, told the board the application met the procedural and substantive requirements in the city code (citing Section 25‑16(e)) and that the staff report supported the conditional-use request.

The applicant, represented by David Karseski of Venable LLP, and witnesses from Sheetz Inc. and its consultants described the proposed redevelopment of a currently vacant bank site at the northwest corner of Pulaski Highway (U.S. 40) and Osborne Lane. John Iburger, entitlement manager for Sheetz, said the company would replace the vacant bank with a convenience store and a multi-pump fuel canopy and that the site met the company’s market criteria for a store. Christina Bauer, senior program manager with Boller Engineering, testified the plan meets or exceeds the C‑district development standards for setbacks, lot coverage and parking and described proposed sidewalk and landscaping work. Mike Nalepa, a traffic engineer with Street Traffic Studies, testified the location is appropriate for the land use and that truck and vehicle circulation can be accommodated on the proposed layout.

Bauer said Osborne Lane is currently an unimproved gravel right-of-way under the State Highway Administration (SHA) and that the project proposes to pave the roadway to SHA standards with a 35-foot paved width and 5-foot sidewalks along both frontages. She also said the landscape plan would replant trees removed during redevelopment and that the project would provide pedestrian improvements along U.S. 40 where no sidewalk now exists. Nalepa noted the site’s traffic largely consists of pass-by trips and that the proposed use aligns with existing traffic intensity on Pulaski Highway.

During testimony the applicant provided site plans and elevations showing a freestanding monument sign and canopy design consistent with Havre de Grace sign rules. Witnesses described on-site operations: fuel pumps under a canopy, a convenience store with made-to-order food service and a 30-seat dining area. The transcript records two different building-size figures given by the applicant’s witnesses (one exchange referred to a 1,632-square-foot store; a later witness described the building as about 6,132 square feet). That discrepancy is recorded in the proceedings and is noted here as inconsistent in the record.

After the hearing the board took a recess to deliberate. A motion to accept the staff report and grant the conditional use was made from the dais; the board then voted, with the chair saying, “All in favor. Aye. Aye.” The board approved the conditional-use request. The motion cited compliance with the standards in Section 25‑16(e) of the city code. No roll-call vote tally by individual members was recorded in the transcript of the motion and vote.

Next steps identified in testimony and the staff report include planning‑commission site-plan review, environmental and APF (adequate public facilities) review during the site-plan process, and coordination with the State Highway Administration on Osborne Lane improvements. The board’s approval was limited to the conditional-use decision; the transcript shows follow-on engineering, landscape and final permitting reviews will occur in subsequent reviews and approvals.

The record shows the property has been vacant for several years; witnesses said the redevelopment would fill a long-vacant commercial parcel at a signalized entrance to the city’s U.S. 40 commercial corridor. No written objections from nearby property owners were reported to the board in advance of the hearing.