Cumberland Farms wants to build a 24-hour convenience store with several gas pumps on Ayer Road at the Route 2 interchange. But a Harvard bylaw limiting the size of fuel tanks to 5,000 gallons could derail the proposal. Realtor David King of Re/Max Patriot Realty presented the plan to the Planning Board and an audience of around a dozen residents at the board’s Dec. 17 meeting.
King represents property owner Tom Kurian and has partnered with Cumberland Farms to pursue this project, which would be built on lots 185 and 187, on the west side of Ayer Road. King said that the current plan would place the station at the location of a residence on the property, but that specific designs were in extremely early stages.
King said that Harvard would benefit from the station, as the business would generate tax revenue from both local and Route 2 traffic without forcing Route 2 customers to travel far on Harvard Roads, where they would add to already heavy traffic. He contended that Harvard residents would find the station useful, as there are no 24-hour convenience stores within an 8-mile radius of the Route 2 interchange. King further argued that there are no fuel stations directly off Route 2 westbound until Leominster or eastbound until Acton. Land Use Administrator Liz Allard challenged him on this point, noting that his statement is true only if interpreted literally, and that there is already a gas station just a mile down Ayer Road over the Ayer town line.
Planning Board members noted immediately that Harvard’s protective bylaw for medium-scale commercial uses limits the size of gas tanks to 5,000 gallons. When asked whether the station would be viable with this restriction, King stated that the project would be “dead on arrival” unless the limit could be changed. Planning Board members were universally confidant that Harvard voters would be unlikely to change the bylaw. At the Dec. 18 Select Board meeting, Select Board member and recent Planning Board member Rich Maiore said, “It’s not going anywhere” when asked to report on the status of the gas station.
At the Planning Board meeting, several residents spoke out against the gas station, with Nat Beale of Old Shirley Road commenting that Harvard residents would be unlikely to use such a facility, as they have adapted to planning around the lack of 24-hour food stores. At the prompting of Julie Sniffin of Old Shirley Road, Planning Board members confirmed that the ExxonMobil station at the Harvard/Ayer town line will soon expand to include similar services to the Cumberland Farms proposal, potentially including 24-hour service.
At the suggestion of Director of Community and Economic Development Christopher Ryan, King agreed that before exploring the project further, he would gather data about the expected traffic impact of the proposed station based on Cumberland Farms facilities in analogous locations. According to King, the traffic study has already been submitted, and he plans to return to another Planning Board meeting in January with an updated proposal.
