After a long battle between the Stewart's Shop corporation and the residents of East and West Utica, the decision has been made by the company to build on both ends of the city, pending approval by the Utica Common Council.

At Wednesday's planning board meeting, the effort to re-zone their East Utica location on Culver Avenue was approved 4-0. Now it needs approval from the council.

Also, project manager Chuck Marshall announced Stewart's has purchased land on the city's west side and is planning a shop at the intersection of Court and State Streets.

Residents of East Utica have objected to the idea of re-zoning the Culver Ave property - which is currently approved for light commercial development. In order to proceed, the planning board needed to upgrade the properties zoning class. Simultaneously, residents in West Utica were calling for a convenience store to be built in their neighborhood, citing the loss of a Nice-N- Easy store which was demolished as part of the ongoing North South Arterial Project.

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