The Clay Planning Board voted 6-1 on March 19, 2025 to forward a special permit for a Sonbyrne Sales gas station and convenience store at Buckley Road and Dolshire Drive to the Town Board — minutes after two of the board's own members said, one at a time, that they could not recommend approval until Onondaga County finished studying the intersection's traffic. The minutes do not explain why the recorded vote came out so different from what those members had just said out loud. Christian Brunelle, vice president of Sonbyrne Sales, described a 4,232-square-foot convenience store and fueling facility planned for a 2.47-acre parcel at the northeast corner of Buckley Road and Dolshire Drive, in an RC-1 zoning district surrounded by North Medical Center, a town park, commercial properties and single-family homes. The site plan shows two access points on Buckley Road and one driveway onto Dolshire Drive, with the dumpster enclosure placed at the far end of the property away from the residential side of Dolshire. Chairman Russ Mitchell said a family living near the site is concerned about the smell of gasoline. Brunelle said the canopy vents prevent that, that he has seen no such problems in eighteen years in the business, and that the fueling stations would sit about 250 feet from the residential area. During the public hearing, Jordan Popps, who lives at 146 Dolshire Drive next to the site, told the board that Dolshire has children who play and ride bikes, and that he was concerned about traffic and noise from the new ingress and egress, air quality from the tanks and dumpster, evening lighting, and the store's planned 24-hour operation. Approval also depends on Onondaga County, which had asked for a traffic study, a lighting plan, sidewalk plans and sewer connection details before the project moves forward. Deputy Chair Michelle Borton read the county's position into the record: "The Onondaga County Department of Transportation has determined that the applicant must contact the Department to discuss any required traffic data for the proposed project. The municipality must ensure any mitigation as may be determined by the Department is reflected on the project plans prior to, or as a condition of, municipal approval." Borton said the county's eventual ruling on the Buckley Road and Dolshire Drive access points would decide whether the site's truck turns are workable at all, and recommended settling that before the special permit is granted. Karen Guinup agreed, adding that any traffic study should also weigh Dolshire Drive improvements the town has already approved. When Mitchell polled the board member by member on the special permit, Al McMahon, Jim Palumbo and Hal Henty said yes; Henty cited Sonbyrne's history on past town projects. Paul Graves voted no. Guinup said the permit should not be granted "without traffic study being done and Onondaga County giving their firm approval/disapproval of full access to Buckley Road." Borton said she could not recommend approval "until Onondaga County transportation coordination is done and we are certain of the traffic impact." Mitchell voted yes last, saying the project would improve the corner and that most customers would be nearby residents using Dolshire Drive rather than the highway — but he added that the Town Board still needs an agreement between the county and the town on the traffic situation before final approval. Moments later, McMahon moved to recommend the special permit to the Town Board on standard referral form #60, Palumbo seconded, and the motion carried 6-1. The recommendation now goes to the Town Board. By the board's own account, the outstanding question is unchanged from the polling: Onondaga County's transportation department has not yet completed the traffic review of the Buckley Road and Dolshire Drive access points that multiple members called necessary before the project can be considered settled.