Cumberland Farms Approved for Milford Eyesore

The Milford Planning and Zoning Board recently OK’d plans for Cumberland Farms to build a 10-pump gas station and a 4,500-square-foot convenience store at the old Gloria’s location on the Boston Post Road.


Members voted 8-1 to approve the proposal, which merges two lots, 258 and 266, currently vacant and overrun with weeds.

The combined triangular space is about 1.3 acres and is bordered by the Boston Post Road to the east, Plains Road to the north and West Clark Street to the south.

Board member Ward Willis cast the sole dissenting vote.

Willis echoed what speakers at an earlier public hearing said about the proposal: that a gas station would only make traffic problems worse at an already messy nearby intersection. He said there are better uses for the site.

Chairman Mark Bender also worried about the potential for traffic to back up before the light next to Dunkin' Donuts across the street, as motorists would wait to turn left into the proposed gas station.

Board member Joseph DellaMonica, Jr. suggested removing the Boston Post Road entrance. But City Planner David Sulkis said the state Department of Transportation approved the curb cut and because Route 1 is a state road, the city has no jurisdiction there.

In an earlier presentation to the board, the applicants said 35 percent of drivers are expected to turn left as opposed to right when entering Cumberland Farms from Milford’s main artery.

A left turn out of the lot onto Boston Post Road is prohibited under the proposal, which also includes curb cuts on West Clark Street and Plains Road.

As all board members agreed the current blighted state of the property is an eyesore, it was decided that the city could refer back to the state for possible design changes – including speed bumps back of the convenience store to deter motorists from cutting through to Bailey Lane – should serious traffic problems arise.