A proposed Sheetz convenience store on the border with Oakmont received a recommendation for approval last month from the Plum planning commission.

The recommendation, which will be forwarded to Plum Council for final approval, was for a two-lot subdivision, a development site plan and a conditional use request.

The development is being proposed for the intersection of Coxcomb Hill (Route 909) and Hulton Road, across from S&T Bank and Oakmont Country Club.

The Sheetz plan calls for an approximately 5,000-square-foot convenience store with a carwash in the rear and seven gas pumps, as well as parking for 43 vehicles.

Under the borough's land development ordinance, the area is zoned for a gas station, but the borough may place conditions on it as part of the conditional use request.

According to borough Manager Michael Thomas, those conditions can involve screening and buffers but cannot be overly restrictive.

In regard to complaints from residents in East Oakmont and Oakmont, Mr. Thomas said the job of administrators is not to determine the right or wrong of a development request, but to interpret the law and make sure a request meets all land development requirements.

Details such as lighting, screening, buffering and storm water system are part of the borough's development requirements, he explained.

Monday's Plum Council meeting will include an agenda item recommending a public hearing on the proposal on Dec. 14.

Mr. Thomas said no one had addressed council at a public meeting regarding the planned development.

Oakmont Council Vice President Nancy Ride said that a few people came to council several months ago, asking for that body to join them in showing their displeasure about the planned development.

No one from council stepped forward, she said, and, as a group, council has not said anything about the development. "Council is not really a stakeholder," she added.

The matter is out of Oakmont's hands, Ms. Ride said, because the site is in Plum and decisions about the project will be made by Plum.

She encouraged Oakmont residents to make their concerns known.

A vote by Plum Council on accepting the planning commission's recommendation could come anytime after the public hearing.

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