A court ruling cleared the path for a major renovation of the Sheetz in New Stanton after a dispute between the company and the borough over how long trucks should be allowed to park there.

The company plans build a larger facility on its Center Avenue site with the capacity to accommodate tractor-trailers in addition to passenger vehicles, according to company spokesman Nick Ruffner.

“New Stanton has been a successful store location for Sheetz and we are appreciative of the community’s support,” Ruffner said.

The work will entail knocking down the existing store and the Garden Inn Hotel next door, said Jeff McLaughlin, borough manager. “It’s going to be a really huge Sheetz.”

Borough council approved the company’s plans last year, but imposed a few conditions that Sheetz didn’t like.

The major sticking point was a time limit on tractor-trailer parking. Council imposed a one-hour limit because borough leaders don’t want to see the gas station turning into a full-fledged truck stop, McLaughlin said.

Sheetz appealed. Westmoreland County Judge Harry Smail Jr. ruled in favor of Sheetz in an opinion issued last week.

Pennsylvania law does not allow municipalities to use zoning ordinances to dictate how companies operate their business, Smail wrote.

“The condition requiring the limitation on tractor-trailer parking is not explained by the borough … as connected in any way to the health, safety, morals and general welfare of the public,” Smail wrote.

Ruffner declined to comment on the outcome of the lawsuit.

A timeline for the renovation has not been set. Planning is still in its early stages, according to Ruffner.

Truck parking isn’t the only aspect of the upcoming renovation that has some people concerned. The borough has granted permission for Sheetz to sell alcohol, a move one local bar owner says will be a major blow to his business.

“It puts us out of business because they are a franchise, and the big beer companies cater to them,” said Ray Davis, owner of Pagano’s Restaurant on East Byers Avenue.

When a new GetGo station on Bair Boulevard started selling beer last year, Davis saw his revenue drop about 30%, he said. The coronavirus pandemic did further damage to his bottom line and he fears another large franchise selling six-packs could be the final nail in the coffin.

“We’ve been here 65 years and, with the coronavirus and this, it … could be the end of the era of Pagano’s,” he said.

He has put the restaurant up for sale.

If he doesn’t get any buyers, he’ll keep it going as long as he can, he said.

New Stanton has been undergoing a wave of development following PennDOT’s redesign of its I-70 interchange, which was completed in late 2017.

A Hampton Inn on Bair Boulevard opened last year, becoming the first new hotel in the borough in 20 years. The new GetGo opened in 2017. The Eat’n Park on Byers Avenue reopened late last year after a six-week remodel.

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