LEXINGTON — The Lexington planning commission has denied a zoning application for a gas station near the village square.
The planning commission voted Thursday night to deny a conditional use zoning application filed by Englefield Oil, despite having approved the same application in January.
The Heath-based company filed zoning applications to build a gas station and convenience store at 15 East Main Street, the former site of Lexington Plaza.
When the applications advanced to village council for a final vote in February, council members took no action. A few weeks later, they referred the applications back to the planning commission.
“The planning commission, at the direction of council, took another look at this and did a more detailed review,” said Mayor Brian White, who is also a member of the planning commission.
“We took another look at the traffic safety study done by Englefield Oil. We also had a consultant Burgess and Niple come in and assist us to dig deeper.”
The planning commission voted to deny Englefield’s application based on standards B, C and D of section 1143.02b(5) of the village’s zoning code. Those standards have to do with essential public facilities, including roads, as well as traffic interference.
“It’s primarily traffic issues that they did not satisfy and that’s why it was denied,” White said.
The planning commission did approve Englefield’s application for a certificate of appropriateness, which has to do with the overall look and feel of Lexington’s downtown, subject to the removal of a proposed food pick up window.
Nevertheless, Englefield needs both zoning applications approved by village council in order to proceed with the project.
White said council tends to vote according to the planning commission’s recommendations, with February’s lack of action being an exception to the rule.
He said he’s unsure whether the commission’s recommendation will be ready in time for council’s next meeting July 5.
“We have to write up determinations of finding, so there’s a lot of paperwork,” he said. “We don’t have it scheduled yet.”
Michael Whitehead, the attorney for Englefield Oil, declined to comment on the planning commission’s vote.
The owner of the property, Andrew Meade, said he was confused and disappointed.
“All the people on the commission voted unanimously for it the last time and nothing’s changed,” he said.
“It just seems like a pretty biased law director and a lot of opinionated people shut down my property value, so doesn’t feel very good.”
Meade told reporters he intends to sue the village.
“I really don’t know what you do from here,” he said. “Honestly, the village has destroyed my property value and I’m sure we’ll probably have to settle that in court.”
Meade also stated that he’d continue working if Englefield if the company wishes to resubmit its zoning application.
Village administrator Andy Smallstey said if Englefield still wants to pursue approval, it would be up to the planning commission to decide whether the company should file a new application or update its existing one to fulfill zoning requirements.
Mayor White said the village will work with any developer interested in the property, including Englefield Oil.
“We’ve enjoyed working with Englefield Oil. We have some differences. We’re trying to work those out and go through the zoning process and do our due diligence,” he said.
“Everybody knows that’s our Main Street. That’s a highly visible, highly trafficked area.”
The planning commission’s votes followed a second public hearing on Thursday. During that hearing, Lexington Law Director John Studenmund called multiple witnesses to speak to traffic conditions in the village.
Studenmund’s first witness was Supt. Jeremy Secrist of Lexington Local Schools. Secrist testified that the district will likely open a new, unified elementary school on Frederick Street within the next four to five years, depending on when state funding is released to the district. Once that building opens, the number of students who attend a building on Frederick Street will increase by about 845.
Secrist said the new elementary will likely only have one entrance and exit point, located on Frederick Street.
When asked by Studenmund to describe traffic conditions during drop-off and pick-up at Central Elementary and Lexington Junior High School, which are both located on Frederick Street, Secrist said it’s difficult to pass by the schools during that time.
Englefield’s attorney Michael Whitehead asked Secrist if he is a traffic engineer and if he has any opinion on the site in question.
“The only opinion that I have is that it’s difficult to turn left right there,” Secrist responded.
Studenmund also called Kendra Schenk, a traffic engineer hired by the village to examine Englefield’s traffic study.
Schenk said in her opinion, the traffic study should be redone with an updated hourly traffic count, since the first count was conducted on a day when Lexington Local Schools cancelled classes due to a staffing shortage.
She also recommended choosing a different metric for estimating the trip generation calculation.
According to Schenk, traffic engineers can choose to base their calculations on the number of pumps or the square footage of a proposed convenience store.
Englefield’s traffic engineer, TMS Engineers Inc, chose the latter, which generated a lower trip estimate.
Schenk also stated that two or three cars stopped at the traffic light going westbound on Main Street could cause safety issues for exiting vehicles.
“In this case, from what I can tell from the site plans, it’s roughly 60 to 80 feet from the stop line of the intersection (to the driveway),” she said.
“The vehicles that are stopped at the signal are going to block the sight distance for vehicles trying to turn left out of the convenience store driveway.”
Schenk recommended not allowing left turns in or out on Main Street. Representatives from Englefield Oil later said they had updated their plans to allow only right turns in from Main Street.
John Gordon, vice president of sales for Englefield Oil, said safety was a primary concern for the company.
“Safety – that was the first word out of my mouth when this started,” he told the commission.
“I came before the board and really have done everything you have asked me, including the traffic study. Our traffic study says that a left turn out onto Main Street is fine.”
Multiple other residents voiced opposition during a brief public comment period. Scott Sharrock spoke in favor of the gas station.
Sharrock claimed that he operated a State Farm office on Plymouth Street for twenty years and never saw a car accident result from someone arriving or departing.
“It’s easy for everyone to get around and to say no and suck their thumbs and say this isn’t going to work,” he said.
“We’ve waited long enough. We need to get something up there.”
In his closing statement, Whitehead argued that the commission had a responsibility to uphold Lexington’s zoning law, which permits the use of the property for a gas station.
“If people want to change the law, they can change the law. But until that happens, we have got to look to the law for resolution of the issues,” he said.
“We’ve met the conditions before nothing’s really changed, and we believe we met them this time again.”
