Cumby’s wants to relocate in Warren
Plan is to scrap current location, build new one on Market Street near Schoolhouse Road
The Cumberland Farms corporation has plans to close its convenience store at 66 Market St. and build a new location at the current site of the driving range, salon and photography studio opposite Schoolhouse Road.
Company officials will appear before the Warren Planning Board next Monday for the first discussions in what is expected to be a multiple-step process toward opening. The company is partnering with 326 Market St. owner Karen Fisher-Lamoia, who owns the land on which the new store would be built, in its application.
The land on which the new store would be built lies in the rural business zone, but Cumberland Farms is asking that its designation be changed to business. Officials are also asking that two conjoining lots owned by Ms. Fisher-Lamoia be merged.
In looking at the application, planning board members are set to consider the plan’s consistency with the Comprehensive Plan, and with the purposes of the Warren Zoning Ordinance. Members are expected to ultimately make a recommendation on the matter to the Warren Town Council, which has the final say in the zone change. The plan must also be reviewed by the Warren Zoning Board.
On Thursday, Planning Board Chairman Fred Massie said board members will have questions on the plan relative to its impact on the Palmer River, which lies a few hundred yards to the west.
“From our standpoint, one of the major concerns is the protection of the watershed of the Kickemuit River,” he said. “We want to give them an opportunity to see what they have in mind. My sense is they’re going to be sensitive to the issue of watershed protection.”
Other areas of interest to the planning board, he said, include whether the store will unduly affect traffic on Route 136.
“How people enter and exit is going to be an issue,” he said. “And it’s also matter of, how many curb cuts do you want?”
