Burger King gets approvals at Calverton gas station

The owners of the Bolla Market convenience store and gas station on Route 25 in Calverton are planning to replace the deli counter inside that store with a Burger King.

However, the Burger King would be “counter service only” and would not have seating for customers, according to the application.

The applicants went before the Riverhead Town Zoning Board of Appeals earlier this year and the ZBA ruled in favor of the Burger King on May 27.

The town had initially ruled that, under zoning, a fast food restaurant is not a permitted use in a gas station, but a “convenience store” is a permitted accessory use to the gas station. 

At an April 22 hearing, David Altman, the attorney for Bolla Market, said the  Burger King has “no tables, no chairs, no drive-thru proposed” and will “occupy the exact same floor space within the existing convenience store. In other words, it amounts to, basically, swapping one type of food use to another.”

The ZBA agreed in its decision, saying “the Burger King is merely a change in the food offering at the property from full-service deli to items sold by Burger King.” 

The ZBA also granted Bolla Market’s request for a variance allowing internally lit signs, which were not permitted in the property’s zoning.

However, the application for a wall sign is also scheduled to go before the town’s Architectural Review Board on Wednesday, June 24.