Should a convenience store in rural northern Harford County be able to keep a diesel pump in its current location or be required to move it elsewhere on the property?
That's the question up before the Harford County Council in its capacity as the county board of appeals.
The council is reviewing an appeal by the High's convenience store chain, which wants to void a zoning hearing examiner's ruling that a diesel fuel pump at the High's near Jarrettsville is improperly located in a required setback area along an adjoining road and should be moved.
Dino LaFiandra, attorney for High's, told the council at a final argument hearing Tuesday night that Zoning Hearing Examiner Robert Kahoe "missed the mark" in denying a variance for the pump. The council heard from LaFiandra and the county people's zoning counsel, but said it would rule at a later date.
LaFiandra said High's has operated the store at the intersection of Norrisville and Madonna roads since the early 1990s with three pump islands and six fuel dispensers and recently renovated the store and upgraded its fueling station.
When it did that, however, it also placed a diesel pump away from main fueling station, about five feet from the property line along Madonna Road, according to Kahoe's December opinion.
The county passed legislation in 2005, after the store was established, to prohibit new fuel dispensing facilities being installed next to properties not served by public water. The change took place after wells in the Upper Crossroads area of Fallston were contaminated by a gasoline additive from a nearby gasoline station, which has since been removed.
High's new fuel facility was inspected by the Department of Planning and Zoning in 2013 and found to be an expanded non-conforming use because of the 2005 law. The department also said the location of the new diesel pump intruded on the required 25-foot setback from Madonna Road.
High's filed for variances from both rulings. Kahoe agreed with the company that a variance for the new gas pumps was warranted, since they had been in existence on the 2.7-acre site prior to 2005. But, he denied the variance for the diesel pump, saying High's did not meet criteria for a hardship variance from the setback, nor did the configuration of the property pose a practical difficulty in placing the pump elsewhere.
LaFiandra said told the council that moving the diesel pump to its current location came down to the need for eliminating traffic congestion around the store.
He said various factors establish the uniqueness of the site and "we are talking about one pump, one dispenser on a small station."
Last summer, a High's representative told Kahoe during his hearing on the case that they could not place the pump elsewhere on the property without violating a state requirement that fuel dispensing facilities be at least 100-feet in all directions from the store's well.
People's Zoning Counsel Brian Young told the council the site is not unique, as there are plenty of businesses on corner lots in the county.
He also said High's is not incurring any major difficulty, there is no proof the law causes undue hardship and the only uniqueness is High's installed the pump without getting prior approval from the county.
LaFiandra disagreed, saying the environmental constraints squeeze the usable area of the pump to the northwest corner of the property in its current location.