BUTLER TWP — The township commissioners Monday night agreed to zoning changes that pave the way for a new Sheetz convenience store at Center and Morton avenues.

The commissioners voted to separate a 3½-acre lot from 32 acres owned by Butler County and allow commercial buildings to be constructed on it. Previously, the zoning only allowed for uses such as farming and hospitals.

Sheetz, which wants to build a 6,500-square-foot convenience store with six multi-gas pump dispensers, a car wash and a drive-through food facility catty-cornered to the current, smaller store, now must come back to the township to go through the land development approval process.

Henry Fownes, real estate site selector for Sheetz, said he was unsure how quickly the plan would be back before the township planning commission for consideration.

“There’s a lot of engineering to be done,” Fownes said. “We wanted to get the zoning changes approved first.”