A developer’s site plan for a Nice N Easy convenience store planned in the town of LeRay at the southeast corner of Route 11 and Independence Way is closer to getting the Planning Board’s nod.

The Planning Board decided Thursday it will consider recommending the project after a Sept. 6 public hearing. If recommended, the project would then become an item on the Town Council’s agenda Sept. 13.

LeRay Development LLC, Liverpool, intends to sign a 25-year lease with Nice N Easy for the property before the month’s end to seal the deal for the project, said company member Thomas R. Kennedy, who serves as the vice president of The Edgewater Co., Syracuse.

The 5,000-square-foot store would be part of the LeRay Crossing commercial development planned on property north of the Fort Drum gate developed by Edgewater and Hueber-Breur Construction Co., Syracuse.

Plans are also being made to launch a restaurant and medical building on adjacent parcels at the site.

Under the plan, northbound traffic on Route 11 will be able to access the store using two entrances located at Independence Way and 700 yards north, creating a U-shaped loop around the property.

“We saw a need for a convenience store because there isn’t one there right now serving the community,” Mr. Kennedy said. “After canvassing the market, we thought the need for one there was quite apparent.”

The developer is also seeking to launch a large sit-down restaurant on an adjacent parcel to the north, as well as a medical or administrative office at a 19,000-square-foot building built last year at the site.

“We’re now talking with several restaurants that are interested in the area,” Mr. Kennedy said. “There isn’t a mid-line, sit-down restaurant in the immediate market.”

Local developer Edward J. Valentine has also pitched a plan for a Nice N Easy store off Route 11, located less than a mile south of the LeRay Crossing project across from Walmart.

Plans for that project were stalled when the state Department of Transportation rejected a plan for a direct entrance to the property.

Whether Nice N Easy will launch both stores or move forward with the best plan remains to be seen.

The developer could back out “if they’ve got two locations and one seems to be better than the other,” said Planning Board Chairman Jerry D. Hobbs.

Mr. Hobbs said the developer still hasn’t heard any news from Mr. Valentine regarding whether the DOT had approved its plan for changing the entrance.

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