Delaware’s City Planning Commission has unanimously approved a final development plan for a Speedway station at U.S. 23 and Hills Miller Road.
Some area residents who have had ongoing concerns about the development were on hand to ask questions of Speedway representatives and city staff. Neighbors have expressed concerns that the Speedway will become a truck stop, despite assurances from the city and the company that it will not.
Among the answers given at Wednesday’s planning commission meeting were that there could be a future access road to the property north of the station; semis would have enough room to make their turns; there is nothing to prevent Speedway from purchasing the adjacent former Obee’s property; and it was common for the city to ask a developer to build a sidewalk and bike path on their property, even if it doesn’t currently connect to anything.
“If you don’t build the first one, you won’t build the second one,” city planning director Dave Efland said of the sidewalks and bike paths.
The Speedway representatives said they had received a permit to clear trees on the property.
The request next goes before City Council. If approved, Speedway would begin construction in the summer, which is expected to take 5-6 months.
The 4,608-square-foot gas station and convenience store sits on the northwest corner of 23 and Hills Miller. It would be accessed by a right-in/right-out curb cut on 23, and a full-movement curb cut on Hills Miller. The gas station would have seven fueling islands for passenger vehicles and three separate diesel fueling bays for semi-trucks. There would be 34 parking spaces for passenger vehicles, none for semis.
The development would be on 4.8 acres of the 12.9-acre property, with eight acres undeveloped, and four of those acres being a permanent conservation easement.
The land was annexed into the city in 1968 and is zoned as a general business district, which permits a gas station. Enon, Ohio-based Speedway LLC purchased the property in May 2014, and City Council approved preliminary development plans last October.
Since then, Speedway has agreed to some enhancements, including the use of Delaware limestone as a building material.
“There is really no reason to not recommend approval of this case,” Efland told the commission.
However, one of the 22 conditions Speedway would have to abide by was changed when some commission members worried about the appearance of products outside the store, considering it was an entrance into the city. The condition was then changed to read that “outdoor merchandise (ice box, propane tanks, etc.) shall be located on the north side of the building” and be contained within 2- to 3-foot-high walls made of the same material as the rest of the building.
In addition, a “No Overnight Parking” sign along the exterior driveway will be changed to “No Parking.”
