Hundreds sign petition supporting Barrington gas station

Threatened by proposed restaurant, repair station owners still optimistic

Posted 8/14/18

The signatures are from customers and friends and from some folks they have never met.

Wendy and Ken Wajda started the petition — it includes hundreds of signatures — opposing the …

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Hundreds sign petition supporting Barrington gas station

Threatened by proposed restaurant, repair station owners still optimistic

Posted

The signatures are from customers and friends and from some folks they have never met.

Wendy and Ken Wajda started the petition — it includes hundreds of signatures — opposing the redevelopment of the BP gas station property on County Road. The Wajdas run the gas station and repair shop on the property and they are fighting against a plan to turn the lot into a fast food restaurant.

The Wajdas attended last week's planning board meeting, petition in-hand, and waited for their turn to talk. Other residents, including some people who also signed the petition, sat near the Wajdas inside the town hall council chambers and mulled over what they would say to the board.

"Anyone that was there last night was ready to speak on our behalf and unfortunately did not get to," said Ms. Wajda. 

Planning board chairman Robert Humm said there would be no public comment period during that meeting because the issue was listed only as a "concept review." Mr. Humm said there would be time for public comments after the developer submitted a formal plan.

Ms. Wajda said she has a lot of things she wants to tell the planning board. She said she believes that the property's owner, Getty Realty, does not care who the tenant for the property is — they only care about money.

"… they don't care if I am a donut shop, a manicure place, a hairdresser, they just don't care as long as they get their check every month. They do not put a dime into any of their properties. It is always the person that leases from them, it is always their responsibility," she said.

Ms. Wajda said she is frustrated by the situation, partly because she had been talking to the leasing company about possibly renovating the gas station and repair shop.

Ms. Wajda said she will wait for the appropriate meeting to share all her information with the planning board. Until then, she will continue to collect signatures for her petition.

Asked what she thought about the developer's presentation last week, Ms. Wajda said "I know that the town has a lot of guidelines that it doesn't seem like these people are ready to conform to. And that's all I can hope. And my lawyer definitely had a little talk with them too and they pretty much said that their exact words were they kind of feel like this is going to be an uphill battle. So I guess it depends on how much they are willing to battle and how much time, money and energy they want to spend."

Barrington Town Manager Jim Cunha said Mr. and Mrs. Wajda provide an important service in town. He was also concerned about the potential impact of a fast food restaurant with a drive-through window.

"We want economic development, but it needs to fit the character of the town," said Mr. Cunha. "I think the biggest opposition, my biggest opposition, is the impact on the residential abutters."

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