Beavercreek gas station plan at Grange Hall and Dayton-Xenia stirs more debate

The property, just under two acres, would become a 4,874-square-foot gas station and convenience store. City documents label the project as “Sir Gas Station,” but city officials said the name of the station is not official yet. The four parcels that make up the site currently include the 4,800-square-foot Beavercreek Event Center on the corner, a vacant lot to the west and a 2,100-square-foot house to the north.

The Beavercreek Planning Commission approved the initial rezoning last Wednesday. The rezoning will go to city council, and then the developer will have to go through the same process for a specific site plan review.

A few residents spoke at the Beavercreek city planning commission meeting Wednesday, raising concerns about traffic, crime, and proximity to local neighborhoods.

Resident Alina Pabon said she is concerned with the amount and speed of traffic on Dayton-Xenia Road, particularly as she has small children.

“We’ve been living on this property for three years and we’ve seen an uptick in car thefts and other crime in the area, and it doesn’t seem to be under control,” she said. “I am just very fearful, because I have little ones ... that this is not being managed and I just don’t see how this helps.”

Other residents also raised concerns about the sheer number of new gas stations that have been cropping up in the city and the region.

“We are not in dire need of a gas station there. We’re not in dire need of a gas station anywhere near where we’re at,” said resident Matt Maslow.

There is a Marathon gas station less than a half-mile east on Dayton-Xenia, at the corner of Central Drive, and another, smaller Marathon about three-quarters of a mile south of the proposed site, at Grange Hall and Patterson.

City planner Randy Burkett noted that the city will pay “special concern” with this project so that the potential light and noise doesn’t affect residences to the north. As such, plans for the property include a large buffer area, fence and landscaping.

“It is a commercial corridor, and there are street lights out there, but that’s no reason for it to shine light into the neighborhoods,” he said.

In April, Beavercreek City Council rejected a proposal to build a large Racetrac gas station, 6,000-square-foot convenience store and restaurant at U.S. 35 and Factory Road. Beavercreek’s planning commission had originally approved rezoning the Racetrac property, on the condition that the site could not be used as a “truck stop.”