February 18, 2009 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 5 Mahwah Engineer, architect describe Pilot renovation plans by Frank J. McMahon A professional engineer and a professional architect recently testified before the Mahwah Zoning Board of Adjustment about the Pilot Corporation’s plans to renovate its truck stop on Route 17 South. Using plan drawings, photographs, artist’s renderings, and samples of the building materials to be used on the convenience store building proposed for the site, engineer Andrew Cangiano and architect Roy Parsons described the proposed renovations. Cangiano described the existing condition of the 4.5acre site, which he said has 90 percent impervious coverage. That is, the majority of the site is asphalt paved, and includes two buildings, a truck scale, and a five pump diesel fuel station canopy. There are 95 parking spaces with 85 of them for trucks and nine for automobiles, an existing underground double walled monitored fuel storage tank, and the drainage from the site flows to Route 17. Cangiano told the board that an acre of the pavement would be removed, and 90 percent of the truck spaces would be eliminated on the renovated site where a 4,282 square foot convenience store building would be constructed. Plans call for a 12 station car fueling area with canopy on the north side of the property and a six station truck diesel fuel area with canopy on the south side of the property. There would be 36 parking spaces, eight of them for trucks, and there would be building mounted lights and free standing lights that would be 30 foot high, but lower on the north side of the property near the adjacent hotel property. He said the drainage plan is designed to meet county and municipal requirements and the catch basins would have oil/water separators to protect against the possibility of contaminated water entering the New Jersey Department of Transportation drainage system on Route 17. The flow of water off the site would be reduced because there would be less asphalt pavement on the site, the expert said. At the suggestion of Board Chairman George Cimis, Cangiano agreed to consider placing a water/oil separator in the area where the truck parking spaces would be located to help ensure that any leakage from the trucks would not migrate to the drainage system on Route 17 and on to the nearby Masonicus Brook and Winters Pond. Board member Peter DeKramer suggested the use of a porous pavement, which would allow fluids to percolate into the ground, but Township Engineer Michael Kelly advised that that type of pavement needs regular maintenance and is not good for high traffic roads. Cangiano described the signage on the site, explaining that there would be several three square foot entrance and exit directional signs that would be placed close to the highway right-of-way for greater visibility, and there would be an 83 foot high pylon sign with the Pilot logo, which would meet the township’s signage requirements, although a variance would be required because it will be located less than 15 feet from the parking lot’s driveway entrance. It would also be moved closer to the highway so it would be more visible to motorists traveling south on Route 17. According to Cangiano, the four underground fuel tanks planned for the site would be monitored 24 hours a day by an off-site contracted monitoring company which issues reports on the tanks every 15 minutes. William Mulligan, Pilot’s vice president of development, described the monitoring process for the board. Cangiano also described the landscaping planned for the site, which would include 377 plantings with 134 trees and 234 shrubs located on the property. The plantings would extend along the Ridge Road frontage where access to the site would be closed. Plans also call for a six foot high board on board vinyl fence along Ridge Road and the southern border of the property. Parsons told the zoning board the convenience store building would be 60 feet by 70 feet in size and 23.6 feet high at the top of its parapet, with a retail sales area, entrances on two sides, a check-out counter, a cooler for self-service beverages, restrooms, and a storage room. That building would be constructed of a metal frame and wood trusses with a two tone stucco exterior and standard storefront glass doors. The air conditioning units would be on the roof and hidden from view from all sides except the rear, where they may be visible to anyone at an elevated location on Ridge Road. Parsons agreed to review the need for building mounted lights on the hotel side of the building. CAN’T WAIT FOR SPRING? SPRING LANDSCAPE PROJECTS Pre Season Pricing in Effect Now is the right time to start plans on your Then Don’t! The Great Paterson Fire of 1902 will be the topic of the Mahwah Museum’s February History Program scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 19. The discussion will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Ramapo Reformed Church Education Building on West Ramapo and Island avenues, Mahwah. Glenn Corbett, Waldwick resident and professor of fire science at Corbett to discuss Great Paterson Fire John Jay College of Criminal Justice, will discuss the great fire of Paterson which swept away several full city blocks of the chief business district of Paterson in February of 1902, destroying city hall, newspaper offices, the high school, the public library, the best hotels, and a well-to-do residential area. Admission is free, and refreshments will be served. 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