Preston — A local businesswoman has submitted plans to create a fueling terminal with five tanks containing different types of fuel and two separate industrial storage buildings on a 6.7-acre property on Route 2 across from Preston Farms.

Jacqueline Andersen of Preston submitted the application to the town planning office for the development at 113 Route 2. The land is zoned for industrial development, and the project would not require a public hearing by the town Planning and Zoning Commission. The PZC is expected to review the plans at its 7:30 p.m. Dec. 27 meeting.

And while no wetlands would be disturbed with the development, the project will be referred to the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission for review, because a proposed water quality basin at the rear of the property includes a flood spillway that could affect land within the 100-foot buffer zone to the wetlands, Warzecha said. No wetlands application has been submitted yet. The wetlands commission next meets at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 21.

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection does not have jurisdiction over the proposed development, Warzecha said.

The plans call for building a fuel storage and fuel dispensing facility for both heating and motor fuel at the rear of the property. While project attorney Harry Heller wrote that the development would be “in conjunction with the operation of the fuel oil business” of Andersen Oil Co., Jacqueline Andersen said she is proposing the project independent of the Ledyard-based home heating oil company. She called the proposal a "first generation business."

Andersen has a contract to purchase the property, now owned by Thayer Family Enterprises LLC if the plans are approved. She said Friday the terminal and storage facilities would be open to any business renter and any fuel company. Andersen could be just one company renting space and using the facility, she said.

The plan includes one 153,000-gallon fuel oil storage and dispensing tank, one 20,000-gallon bio-fuel tank, one 20,000-gallon off-road diesel oil tank, one 20,000-gallon Kerosene storage tank and one 20,000-gallon ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel tank. The tanks would be enclosed in a square building, and trucks would park beneath a covered canopy at the building to load with fuel.

In front of the fueling station, two rectangular warehouse buildings, 12,000 square feet each, would be built that would include storage and office space. On a rendering, the buildings resemble self-storage facilities — in which individual cargo units are rented to customers. Warzecha said the plans do not specify whether the storage facility would be used for the oil business or rented to customers.

Andersen said it could be both. Businesses with trucks often have trouble finding space to park and store them, she said. The rental storage units could be used by businesses or individuals needing to store equipment or personal belongings. The fuel depot facility also could be rented out to another business, she said.

Details of the development would be worked out if the project receives town approvals, she said.

The land is zoned for industrial development, in an open field near the intersection of Brickyard Road. The property is abutted by farm fields to the left and rear. A large, thickly wooded wetland area would provide a natural buffer to Brickyard Road, where the PZC recently approved a four-lot residential subdivision, Warzecha said.

Warzecha said Andersen submitted revised plans this week addressing some of the initial questions and comments she sent to the applicant, including questions on whether the storage buildings would be used for the business or to rent to outside customers. Warzecha said the revised plans will show proposed landscaping, including an earthen berm in front of the property along Route 2 to shield the facility from view.

The Route 2 area was described as a key gateway to the town in the recent revision of the Plan of Conservation and Development. That plan called for changing the zone for the land along the Route 2 corridor from industrial to office/commercial development.

Warzecha said, however, that new zoning regulations have not been approved yet, and the proposed development will be reviewed under the current regulations as an industrial zone.

Andersen said she has looked at the property for the past year for this type of development. As a Preston resident, she said she is sensitive to the desire to keep the town rural, but also recognizes the need for industrial development to grow the tax base.

"I would like to help the town out, tax-wise," Andersen said. "We love the town of Preston. We live here. I love the farmland too."

c.bessette@theday.com