The Gulf gas station on Route 17N in Mahwah may not be a Gulf station for much longer.

Mahwah’s Planning Board approved the ownership change of the station, from current owners, Cumberland, to ADPP Enterprises, one of the major gas station owners and operators in New Jersey.

ADPP owns several Valero and Lukoil stations on Route 17.

According to Attorney James Jaworski, who was representing the company at Monday night’s meeting, although this application approval was only to recognize a change in ownership, future applications may be filed for site renovation plans.

ADPP, Jaworski said, wants to keep the pumps and small shop in their current locations on the premises, but may want to move the underground tanks that store gasoline.

Cumberland, according to Jaworski, is going to remove the tanks it currently has, and the surrounding contaminated soil. According to township engineer Mike Kelly, this action would not likely require Planning Board approval, because it is considered a site clean-up.

However, Mayor DaPuzzo cautioned Jaworski and ADPP that moving the tanks may require approval.

“There was an ordinance change about a year and a half ago that says that service stations cannot be within 500 feet of certain places, like schools and churches,” DaPuzzo said.

Jaworski said he was unsure of the distance between the station and the specified landmarks.

DaPuzzo said that if the station is within the distance, and the location is not significantly changed, it could be grandfathered in, and would not be subject to the new ordinance. However, if the site is significantly altered, the company may need to file an application with the township.

“Understand that if the company starts installing new tanks in a different location without approval, it is doing so at its own risk,” he said.

The board also commented that in the past, Cumberland needed to amend its tank locations to planning board specifications due to emergency response interference.

Jaworski said ADPP will look to take the appropriate action to move forward with the new tanks once the old ones are removed by Cumberland.