Logan Weiss is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Copake residents packed a public hearing last week about the proposed 12-pump gas station at the intersection of Routes 7 and 23. The station would be operated by the Wholesale Gasoline and Oil Company Millerton and is slated to be constructed the 1.7-acre parcel, once the site of a supermarket. “It’s going to be deadly,” resident Matt Rogers said. “I nearly died at the intersection. Mark my words, I’ll go before a court and say this: it will be deadly.” Craryville resident Paul Parzuchowski said, “What the proposal is, it’s toxic and hazardous. We could use something there, but not 12-pump gas station. It’s an environmental hazard.” Parzuchowski is a member of Save Craryville, a group of residents who have organized in opposition to the project. Former planning board member Hilary Thomas said the state approved the environmental review of the project. She said the property at the corner of Routes 7 and 23 has been a vacant lot for 25 years and on the market for a decade. Save Craryville’s attorney, David K. Gordon, spoke to the planning board at length. “There are several violations with the current plan here,” Gordon said, citing issues with the gas station’s distance from the road, the number of parking spaces, a lack of planned sidewalks, stormwater treatment, the distance to a protected wetlands area, runoff and the hamlet’s zoning code. The meeting turned contentious at times, with some audience members shouting down planning board members when they attempted to limit Gordon's comments. Copake Planning Board Chairman Bob Haight declined to comment after the hearing. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.