7-Eleven coming to Flanders as clearing begins

Clearing started last week for a new 7-Eleven convenience store in Flanders on the southwest corner of Flanders Road and Cypress Avenue, and Southampton Town officials say the project is expected to have full approvals.

The site had previously received site plan approval from the Southampton Town Planning Board for a convenience store under the prior owner, a group headed by Bryan Whalen of Hampton Bays, who told the Flanders, Riverside and Northampton Community Association in 2009 that he was planning a small convenience store that he would operate himself.

The land, consisting of two parcels totaling 0.78 of an acre, was sold to Flanders Holding, LLC, headed by Dave Dombroski of Southlake, Texas, in early December for $740,000, according to Suffolk Research, a real estate tracking firm. Southlake is just west of Dallas, where 7-Eleven’s corporate headquarters is located.

Mr. Whalen had received both a site plan approval and a building permit for the convenience store, but those approvals later expired. The town planning department is expected to grant an administrative re-approval of the site plan, after which 7-Eleven can re-apply for the building permit, according to town principal planner Clare Vail. 

She said the site plan re-approval was expected to be issued this past Tuesday, but 7-Eleven wanted to make some additional minor changes to the plan.

Ms. Vail said the company has approval to begin clearing the site, and she expects the site plan and the building permit to be issued.

The entrance to the store will be from Flanders Road, but it will be on the westernmost portion of the property, as far away from Cypress Avenue as possible, Ms. Vail said. The site also has an entrance for deliveries on Cypress Avenue, she said.

Southampton Town Councilman Brad Bender was the president of FRNCA in 2009, when the group came out in opposition to Mr. Whalen’s proposed convenience store.

Although he still opposes having a convenience store at the location, he said there’s not much that can be done at this point.

“It’s something that’s in place, it meets the zoning and it already had permits, so it was inevitable that something would end up there,” said Mr. Bender, who took office in January. “I don’t think we need a convenience store in Flanders. We have much larger needs in that community.”

Mr. Bender said he is working on trying to lure a small grocery store to the neighboring Riverside area as part of town efforts to restore that community.

“We’ve got plenty of coffee and diapers all up and down the street,” Mr. Bender said of the Flanders 7-Eleven. “We’ve got two delis and four gas stations that all sell the same products. We’re’ not getting anything different than what we have.”

Margaret Chablis, a spokesperson for 7-Eleven, confirmed that the company is planning a store at the Flanders location but she was unable to say what the timetable was for completion of the job.