City OKs rezoning for Factory Road gas station
Commission: RaceTrac facility cannot be used as a truck stop.
The Beavercreek Planning Commission on Wednesday approved rezoning for part of a 16-acre property slated to become a RaceTrac gas station and convenience store at U.S. 35 and Factory Road.
But the approval made specific mention that the site could not be used as a “truck stop,” eliminating some features RaceTrac had proposed that had caused significant opposition. Beavercreek residents packed the Planning Commission meeting — the crowd stretched out the door, down the hall, to the top of the stairs.
RaceTrac applied to the city of Beavercreek to develop a 24/7 “extended diesel offering gas station,” according to the application, including a 6,000-squarefoot convenience store, eight car refueling stations, five diesel refueling stations and parking for both cars and trucks. The 16.7-acre property is part of a larger 61.5-acre lot at the southwest corner of U.S. 35 and Factory Road.
The commission approved the rezoning on the condition that it won’t “be utilized as a ‘truck stop’ (in part or in whole), as that term is defined in the Beavercreek Zoning Code,” documents show. Planning commission’s resolution also prohibits “the fueling or parking of truck tractors, tractor trailers, semi-trailers, or similar heavy commercial vehicles.”
It wasn’t immediately clear if RaceTrac would continue to move forward on the project given the limitations imposed.
The proposal has been in the zoning phase, and specific site plans would still have to be approved by the planning commission later, and then approved by city council in order to start construction.
Much of the debate Wednesday evening centered on whether or not the RaceTrac facility is a truck stop.
“The fact that we have dispensaries for truck fueling, the fact that trucks may occur and come onto our site for the restaurant purposes or dispensary purposes, is different than (Beavercreek’s) definition of a truck stop,” said attorney Richard Tranter, representing RaceTrac, in his presentation to planning commission.
The development would not include elements normally associated with truck stops, including showers, laundry facilities, diesel truck repair parts or diesel truck washing facilities, according to the application.
The proposal is in a rapidly developing area of town, with a 151-lot single-family-home subdivision being constructed off of Shakertown Road, just west of Factory Road and the proposed gas station. The city received 85 emails in opposition to the RaceTrac proposal, in addition to more than 25 people who spoke at the meeting opposing the facility.
“I served on city council when this came up ... we looked at every angle,” said former councilman John Broughton. “(The applicant) can call it whatever he wants. It’s a truck stop, attached to a gas station . ... I would recommend the planning commission keep it the way we studied it. Keep it a gas station.”
“It should not be that close to a neighborhood, it should not be that close to a soccer field, it should not be that close to a bike path,” said resident Paul Roderer, who lives near the proposed site. “It should not be inside a floodplain. It should not be on an already dysfunctional stretch of roadway.”