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Taunton ZBA approves proposed gas station with conditions after traffic review and neighbor negotiations
Summary
The Zoning Board approved a proposed gas station/convenience store with drive-through at 788 Boston Road (Parcel 138-67) after the petitioner presented a traffic study and agreed to multiple conditions including hours of operation (5 a.m.–10 p.m.), a drive-through cutoff (9 p.m.), flashing stop signs, and limits on speaker/volume; the traffic officer recommended monitoring but no immediate engineering changes.
The Taunton Zoning Board of Appeals voted to approve a proposed automobile filling station, 5,785-square-foot retail/convenience store and restaurant with a single-lane drive-through on Parcel 138-67 (proposed by 788 Boston Road LLC), subject to multiple conditions negotiated with abutters and department heads. Attorney Brianna Carrara, representing the petitioner, opened by disputing misinformation circulating about an unrelated parcel that houses the Star Drive In and stressed the proposed gas station is on a separate lot.
Carrara presented a traffic analysis conducted Aug. 12–19 showing an average speed of 35 mph in a 30 mph zone; the report counted roughly 60,000 vehicle trips in one week and found 15% of vehicles exceeded enforceable speed limits. The city's traffic safety officer did not recommend immediate engineering changes based on that weeklong analysis but said police would perform enforcement and monitoring.
Project details presented to the board included 34 parking spaces, 5 fuel dispensers (10 fueling stations), two underground storage tanks, and a 22-seat convenience/restaurant area (10 indoor, 12 outdoor). The project team described minor site-plan revisions after previous hearings: relocating air equipment, adding flashing stop signs on certain curb cuts, and showing fuel-truck circulation to use a shared access drive.
Abutters and neighbors raised operational questions, including fuel-delivery timing and parking allocations; the applicant agreed in principle to conditions negotiated with neighbors. The board included in its motion: hours of operation from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.; a condition that the drive-through order/speaker use end at 9 p.m.; inclusion of department stipulations (DPW, fire, Board of Health) and neighbors' written conditions; flashing stop signs and monitoring of speaker volume at the property line per Kevin Scanlon's recommendation.
"The location for this gas station proposal is not the same location as the Star Drive In," Attorney Brianna Carrara told the board, asking the public and board to limit comments to the parcel before them.
The motion to approve as presented carried with four votes in favor and one opposed. The board recorded the usual appeal period and advised the petitioner that site-plan review and planning-board review remain necessary before final construction permits.
