The Welsh Farms store is to become a 7-Eleven, the owner says. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank could be getting a second 7-Eleven store, less than three miles away from the first.
The owner of the Welsh Farms convenience store at the corner of East Front and Spring streets has filed paperwork with the borough planning and zoning office seeking approvals for modifications to the the store as part of a planned conversion to the 7-Eleven brand.
There’s already a 7-Eleven at the corner of Maple Avenue and West Front Street, which Google Maps clocks at 2.8 miles away.
While the name change requires no town approvals, other changes do. Most notably, store owner Atul Patel of Dina Enterprises wants to add 356 square feet to the rear of the existing building for a walk-in cooler for milk and other beverages.
In conjunction with new signage, landscaping another other exterior changes, the conversion would add up to a “significant upgrading and improvement” to the site, says attorney Philip San Filippo.
The property has been home to Welsh Farms since 1975, and until 2005, a Citgo gas station.
No date for a hearing by the planning board has yet been set.