Madison graduation 2012
Warren County CC graduation
New Miami graduation 2012
Home > Blogs > Middletown News and Issues > Archives > 2010 > March > 12 > Entry
Planning Commission tentatively approves drive-through
A drive-through addition to a downtown gas station received preliminary approval from Planning Commission members, so long as the final design meets a handful of city requirements.
The owner of the property, Yash Pal of Dayton, was granted tentative approval to proceed with planning an approximately 1,075-square-foot addition to the current gas station and convenience store. Located at 435 N. Verity Parkway, the current station is a non-conforming use in the city’s urban core support zone, according to Planning Director Marty Kohler.
Dennis Beatty, the architect working on the development, said Pal purchased the store not knowing the zoning laws of Middletown. Beatty said the proposed expansion would cost Pal up to $50,000, but the investment would be worth it for the increased offerings.
“You make money on the convenience store part, not the gas,” Beatty said. “He thought he had to expand it and offer the convenience of a drive-through to make his business more competitive and successful.”
Pal owns as many as seven other gas stations and convenience stores in the greater Dayton area, according to Beatty, all of which he has purchased in a run-down state and remodeled them to the point of being valuable businesses.
Kohler urged the commission to ask the developer to bring the entire location up to the city’s current architectural standards, address engineering concerns related to traffic flow and eliminate excessive signs in front of the location, among other things.
The planning commission opted instead to grant the expansion preliminary approval on a 5-0 vote, so long as lingering concerns regarding the project are ironed out by the time it comes forward for final approval.
Commission member Chris Amburgey moved to approve the expansion, as he said it would permit the development to undergo architectural review today, March 11, and return to the commission at a future date.
“I don’t want to put people in a box,” Amburgey said. “I want to give them preliminary approval subject to meeting the requirements of the city of Middletown. He needs to just finish the process, then come back to us with a completed version.”
Kohler said the city values businesses expanding in the downtown area, but said it also has a specific viewpoint as to how that expansion should occur.
“We have a strategy for how we believe those businesses can develop into cohesive corridors and cohesive neighborhoods,” Kohler said. “I believe expansion can be done in a manner compatible with future land use.”
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Middletown
Comments
By Mike_Presta
March 13, 2010 1:46 AM | Link to this
It appears that Kohler’s strategy is to keep all business possible out of Middletown, except those personally favored by him and his pals. His “shared access” scheme leads to really stupid traffic patterns such as the one at the Gold Star on Towne Blvd. where one must completely encircle the entire strip center TWICE just to go through the drive-thru, for no good earthly reason. Kohler’s “plan” for the former downtown area has failed over and over, and will fail again in its latest regurgitation because it is fatally flawed in its basic concept. No matter how many more tens of MILLIONS of taxpayers dollars are wasted trying to make this area what Kohler wants, it will not happen. That is why no private investors will throw in their own money. Stop killing business in Middletown, Mr. Kohler! Execute your flawed “strategy” with your OWN money, not the public’s.