Don Black had to play a guessing game.

He could have pressed on with a request for a variance and run the risk of having the Hermitage Zoning Hearing Board reject it.

Instead, the engineer representing the developer of a proposed Eckerd Drug Store at 1680 N. Hermitage Road asked for a continuance to allow him time to try to make the request more palatable to the board.

Orion Development of Weirton, W.Va., owns the property at the southeast corner of North Hermitage and Lamor Roads. It is asking for a 15.05-foot variance from the 20-feet side yard setback requirement in the highway commercial zone.

A 16-foot-long canopy over the drive-through prescription pickup window is the problem.

Local engineer Ed Winslow claimed the hardship was brought on by the city, which has objected to previous Eckerd proposed property layouts because of traffic circulation access concerns.

Black said the current design is a compromise that takes into account the wishes of city officials and PennDOT.

Because the stock building design Eckerd wants to use has the pharmacy in the southeastern part of the building, the drive-through can be on the east side or the south side, and the southern option has better traffic flow, engineers said.

Board member David Stover asked if the store could be made smaller. Black said he didn't think Eckerd would go for that.

"As you reduce the square footage, they see it as a reduction in sales," he said.

Stover said he had a "real hard time" accepting that the canopy couldn't be moved to another part of the building to minimize or eliminate the need for a variance.

Winslow said the canopy could be moved to southwest corner of the building, reducing the variance request to about four feet, but Black said to do so would mean a redesign of the building, which Eckerd probably would not go along with. A new design means increased development costs, Black said.

Board solicitor Roger Shaffer said, in the past, the board has granted a variance by considering the width of an easement with a neighboring property owner as the starting point in measuring the setback.

The board would need to see a signed agreement in order to consider that option, he said.

While Orion and adjacent property owner Ron Philips have talked about an easement swap -- Phillips needs an easement on the east side of the Orion property for his future plans -- and Phillips said he is interested in granting it, it would take some time to complete negotiations of a legal document amenable to both sides, Winslow said.

Eckerd wants to move quickly, and had hoped to present a land development plan to the city in January, Black said.

Shaffer added the board does not have the authority to grant a variance contingent on something else occurring, such as the signing of an easement agreement.

Black asked for a general continuance to allow time for easement discussions. The subject will not come back before the board until Black sends a letter saying he is ready.