Mar 4, 2013 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – Greene County Planning Commission gave preliminary approval Monday to Sheetz Inc. to construct a new store at the site of its existing store and service station at the Paisley Intersection in Cumberland Township.

Sheetz plans to build a new store almost twice the size of the existing store that will feature an inside dining room, drive-through window, a full menu and an area for beer sales, said David P. Hazelet, the company’s director of real estate.

The existing store contains about 3,800 square feet; the new store will be more than 7,000 square feet in size, Hazelet said. The additional space will allow the store to offer a full menu, rather than the limited menu now offered at the existing store.

Hazelet also noted this will be the company’s second Pennsylvania store to sell beer. The first to have beer sales is in Altoona.

The company earlier purchased the property north of its existing site on Route 88 to accommodate the expansion.

Company officials said they did not have time schedule for when work will begin. They did say that during construction, the existing store will remain open; however, gasoline sales would be halted and the car wash closed.

Before the company receives final approval from the commission, it must submit an approved stormwater management plan and erosion and sedimentation control plan. The company also must receive road entry permits from the state Department of Transportation.

In other business, the commission granted preliminary approval to plans by Energy Corp. of America for a building housing two compressors at a compressor station off Laurel Run Road in Greene Township.

The building is already in place. The company also proposed Monday constructing a sound wall around the three other compressors now on site. Travis Wendel, a company representative, said the company has found sound walls more effective at controlling noise than a building.

The compressor site is 132.14 acres in size and is on property owned by Louis Vecchio and Charles Reid. The project was originally submitted to the commission in 2010. However, approval was withheld pending resolution of a lawsuit Vecchio filed against the company claiming his lease agreement allowed only one compressor on-site not five.

That lawsuit has been settled. ECA also provided the commission with information indicating it has leases for both Vecchio’s and Reid’s properties.

The commission also granted preliminary approval to PVR for construction of a building at its Greene County South Compressor Station. The station will be constructed on property off Jollytown Road in Gilmore Township.

The station’s two compressors will be housed in a building 70-by-72. It will be specially insulated to reduce compressor noise.