A final decision on whether Page’s Country Store and Deli will be able to sell gasoline may come out of an upcoming Zoning Board meeting.

Currently, there are no gas stations in Dunbarton. The closest is about 7 miles away at the Bow Junction of I93.

The Dunbarton Country Store, just down the road from Page’s, owned the only gas pumps in town and closed earlier this month.

The issue has been hotly contested in town for the past few years, the current revisions of the plans being before the Zoning Board in continued public hearings.

“There’s the home team and there’s the away team,” said Zoning Board Vice Chairman John Herlihy about the split at recent Zoning Board hearings in residents both for and against having a gas station in Dunbarton.

Page’s Country Store and Deli owner David Barkie is trying to get the board to grant him a special exception to the town’s zoning ordinance to install the pumps and an above-ground storage unit for the gas.

In order to get permission, according to the ordinance, Barkie must show the added pumps would not hurt abutters’ property values, would pose no health or safety threats, would not interrupt traffic flow, would not bleed municipal services, and would sustain the current surface and groundwater quality.

The original plan submitted called for three islands with gas pumps that would be supplied through underground storage tanks, which the town turned down twice in the past.

This time, Barkie submitted a plan with a 20,000 gallon double- walled above-ground storage tank to the state’s Department of Environmental Services in November 2006 which was approved, but it lapsed after one year.

In December, Barkie submitted another plan which DES turned down citing 18 revisions including a requirement that the 20,000-gallon storage tank intitially proposed be split into two smaller tanks to comply with updated fire codes.

The plans also include a bioretention pond for run-off, double- layered pipes underground, automatic shut-off valves, an alarm system, extra capacity to bar against spills, and a storm water interceptor.

He was also asked to allow a 125-foot buffer zone between the public water supply well on the property and the gasoline tanks Barkie said the well is private, but the amount of coffee purchased at the store qualifies the water supply as public.

Amy Manzelli of the Concord- based law firm Sulloway and Hollis said Barkie is not meeting some of the five criteria points outlined in the special exception rule.

Manzelli, who is representing some of the property’s abutters, said Barkie has not provided sufficient proof that a gas station would not hurt property values and could not guarantee the tank would not spill any gas in the future.

In a town such as Dunbarton where groundwater comprises the drinking supply, Manzelli said, there is virtually no way to prevent a spill or guarantee that one won’t occur that would affect the drinking water.

“The primary concern is the groundwater, which is their drinking water,” Manzelli said.

The abutters also worry about traffic issues, particularly where the location is heavily used by recreational vehicle enthusiasts, Manzelli said.

While Barkie currently has the state’s permission to build the pumps and storage tanks, he still has to go through the town to get an operating permit.

Barkie said he feels the Zoning Board has been fair in reviewing his plans and to the abutters’ concerns, adding he wishes for the issue to be resolved at the board’s next meeting on Monday, March 10.

He said he has spent a lot of time and money on professionals perfecting the design and attorney’s fees.

Pam Werner of 16 Old Fort Lane lives a couple of houses back from Page’s Country Store and Deli, and said she is against installing the gas pumps largely because of the potential commercial sprawl that could result.

Equipping the store with gas would open the door to larger gas-oriented corporations looking to buy property in the small town that is already capable of handling and storing gas. It could also entice those same corporations to plant stores nearby Page’s to compete for sales.

“It’s a scary thought to have a Cumby’s or a Citgo or a 7-11 right outside your back door,” Werner said.

Abutters are also concerned about preserving the historical charm of the area, accented by the more than 250-yearold Molly Stark house at the intersection of Routes 13 and 77, a New Hampshire historical marker.

“Who wants to buy a historical home next to a gas station?” asked Werner rhetorically.

Jay Gonyer has lived in town for his entire 32-year life, and says he is for the gas pump installation at Page’s because he believes Barkie is going about the process the safe and healthy way.

“He’s going above and beyond state requirements,” Gonyer said of Barkie’s plans, citing the bioretention pond for run-off water and the double-layered, aboveground storage tank.

Like Werner, he said he doesn’t want to see large gas companies taking over Dunbarton, but that Barkie’s pump station concept is in keeping with the town’s rural character and would prevent such companies from buying up the available land further down the road. Werner, on the other hand, said she fears a gas station at Barkie’s would spark more development in the area, particularly among competing gas companies.

Gonyer added a gas station in town was inevitable, be it local or corporate. “If they shut Dave down, so then Exxon- Mobil comes in,” he said.