Next stop: Gas station. A highway-adjacent diner took a big step towards becoming a gas station, thanks to approvals granted by the City Plan Commission.During their latest monthly online meeting last Wednesday, the land-use commissioners voted unanimously in support of the site plan and coastal site plan proposals to develop a gas station and convenience store at 420 Middletown Ave.That site has long been home to the I‑91 diner. The property is currently owned by Karadimos Stavros. The gas station developer applicant, Mohsin Aldalali, is under contract to purchase the property, according to the site plan application.As local attorney Bernand Pellegrino explained to the commissioners Wednesday, this 33,000 square-foot property is located ​“right at the entrance to I‑91;” and, while the diner has been there ​“for as long as most of us can remember,” that site was home to a gas station before there was a diner.Pellegrino said that the developer plans to reduce the size of the existing 4,600 square-foot diner building to around 3,400 square feet, and then use that building as a convenience store.The site plan application states that the redeveloped property will include four double-sided fueling stations and two electric car charging stations.Wednesday’s approval comes after the Board of Zoning Appeals signed off earlier this fall on allowing for a gas station to be built at this site. The diner at 420 Middletown was previously slated to be turned into a cannabis dispensary, before City Plan Commissioners shot down the proposal last year.In response to a question from Commission Chair Leslie Radcliffe, Pellegrino said that there are no existing tanks in the ground; that whatever tanks there were from this site’s previous life as a gas station were removed. He said there are also ​“no recorded notices of violations or environmental issues recorded in the land records” for this property. ​“Our client is very comfortable with the redevelopment of the site.”Given its close proximity to the highway and a heavily trafficked local road, Westville Alder and City Plan Commissioner Adam Marchand said, ​“it’s a logical place to have an establishment like this.”And with that, the commissioners voted unanimously in support of the gas station conversion plans.