By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

AUBURN – Cumberland Farms will walk away from a proposed Minot Avenue-Fairview Avenue convenience store after a defeat Tuesday night.

A standing-room-only crowd at Auburn Hall of neighbors and Fairview School parents urged the Auburn Planning Board to reject the plan. Board members did, voting unanimously against the store.

“The board felt the store would negatively impact the surrounding neighborhood, with the school nearby and the traffic it would create,” said Planning Director David Galbraith. The board said the intersection is already one of the most hazardous in the city right now.

“The proposal would only create more traffic, making it more of a safety hazard and aggravate problems,” he said.

Cumberland Farms is done with the site, according to Site Development Manager Wendy Regan.

“I don’t want to say we’re done looking at Auburn,” Regan said. “We may be looking for another suitable location within the city, but this is clearly not a site we have any intention of proceeding with or appealing any further.”

Cumberland Farms hoped to build the store on the northwest corner of the intersection of Minot and Fairview avenues. It would have included a store, six gasoline pump stations with 12 hoses, a car wash and a vacuuming stand. The store would have had two exits, both onto Minot Avenue. Traffic engineers said the store would bring in about 2,500 customers a day and about 120 cars an hour during the afternoon peak.

Regan and other company officials presented the plan to neighbors at a July 28 meeting, with similar results. Neighbors denounced just about every aspect of the project, from its proximity to Fairview School to the traffic it would generate.

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