Sheetz plans to hit 500 stores in six states by 2014.
On Monday, the corporation of 24-hour convenience stores and gas stations made progress toward building at one of those sites when the last mobile home was moved from the three-acre parcel on Vine Street in North Warren.
When construction is complete, plans indicate a 6,489-square-foot area with a drive-through, a fueling island with seven "multi-pump dispensers", two driveways on Vine Street, a "right-in, right-out" lane from the southbound lane of Market Street, and a driveway across from the Warren Commons entrance on Jackson Run Road.
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Photo by Ben Klein
What is left of one of the mobile homes that will have to be removed to make room for a new Sheetz is seen Tuesday.
"We have just about all our permits and approvals," Sheetz Media Representative Monica Jones said.
Demolition at the site is set for the end of the month, though that is contingent upon the permits, one of which includes a permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection, Jones said.
Before ground can be broken, and made-to-order sandwiches can fly out the door, the residents on the future site had to find a new place to live.
On May 2, Sheetz received approval from the Warren County Zoning Hearing Board, and a number of residents at the hearing raised issue with the noise and safety from traffic at the new store.
One resident, Kim Hopkins had approached Larry Dyke, former owner of the North Warren property, and Dr. Bruce Thaler of Warren Office Partners, who is leasing the land to Sheetz, to talk about assistance to the residents who would have to relocate.
"I don't want to be a problem," Hopkins said after the meeting. "I just want to be able to move."
Residents at Sunset Court received a letter from Dyke on May 15 informing them the late William H. Dyke had entered into an agreement to sell the property in 2010.
"We had not known the exact timing of this option taking place, but it is here," Dyke wrote in the letter. "Within days you will receive an official 30-day notice of termination of the mobile home park. As per our father's wishes The Dyke Family has contacted the Salvation Army to help assist in your relocation."
Sheetz typically is not involved in relocation, but the residents were assisted through the Salvation Army and Warren Office Partners, Jones said.
"There were 11 of us that needed help, and we all got the help we needed," Hopkins said. "It's been a wonderful thing, the Salvation Army. I can't wait until I'm settled and I can do more, because I want to do more for them."