Ascutney
At 4,800 square feet, the new store would be more than double the size of the 2,200-square-foot Circle K, plans on file in the town office show. The expansion would require the purchase of an abutting 5-acre parcel to the northeast.
Champlain Oil states that it has a purchase and sale agreement pending on the property. Combining the lots would make a 6-acre parcel.
Matthew Wamsganz, planning, development and construction manager for Champlain Oil, said last week the company bought the property in 2016 and was planning to switch over to a Jiffy Mart before the fire.
Wamsganz said the former property owners leased the location to Irving Oil, which in turn leased it to Circle K.
“We were waiting for the leases to expire before making the switch,” Wamsganz said. “Then the fire happened.”
Wamsganz said the new station will have four gas pumps as before, with diesel added at one pump. Champlain Oil operates Jiffy Marts with Subways in Charlestown, Claremont and Newport.
The Zoning Board of Adjustment will review the proposal at a public hearing on April 26, beginning at 7:15 p.m., in Martin Memorial Hall. If approvals are granted on a timely basis, Wamsganz said, the tentative date to start construction is June with a completion date in October. Estimated construction cost is $1.5 million.
The Circle K sustained major damage on the morning of Feb. 1 when a person or persons cut the power, internet and cable lines to the store, broke in and set a fire. The business was closed at the time and has remained closed, with the broken front windows boarded up.
No one has been arrested in the case.
The location is just off Exit 8 of Interstate 91 on the westbound side of Route 131.
