Plans for first Ohio Buc-ee’s location to be presented to planning commission

Gas station will have 120 gas pumps and 700 parking spots, according to plans.
The new Buc-ee’s coming to Huber Heights will be one of the largest Buc-ee’s in the nation when it opens. CONTRIBUTED

The new Buc-ee’s coming to Huber Heights will be one of the largest Buc-ee’s in the nation when it opens. CONTRIBUTED

Plans for what is set to be Ohio’s first Buc-ee’s location will be officially presented to Huber Heights Planning Commission Tuesday.

The commission will hear preliminary development plans and a request for rezoning to facilitate the construction of a 74,000-square-foot Buc-ee’s on a site located at the northeast corner of the Interstate 70/Ohio 235 interchange.

Tuesday’s meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in City Hall Council Chambers, at 6131 Taylorsville Road.

Meeting agenda documents show city staff has recommended approval of the rezoning and basic development plans, with some conditions related to existing trees and street tree placement, signage, and permitted usage.

City planner Aaron Sorrell said if planning commission members feel there is adequate information within the application materials to make a recommendation to council, a vote could be held Tuesday on both the basic development plan and rezoning request.

If planning commission votes to recommend approval, the case would then go before city council.

Preliminary site drawings submitted to the city include plans for 120 gas pumps and more than 700 parking spaces on a nearly 53-acre site.

Buc-ee's plans to build a 74,000-square-foot store and fueling center on the land at the right side of this photo, the east side of Ohio 235 in Huber Heights. The ramp splitting off at bottom right is the ramp from Interstate 70 westbound. The road coming in from the left side of this aerial photo is Artz Road. JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Credit: JIM NOELKER

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Credit: JIM NOELKER

Planning commission previously zoned 35 acres of the site to planned commercial to facilitate the construction of a 6,700-square-foot convenience store, heavy truck repair facility with semi-truck parking.

The site currently has two buildings fronting Ohio 235, with the remainder consisting primarily of farmland, with a detention pond on the south end of the site. Documents submitted by Buc-ee’s show the company intends to demolish all existing structures currently located on the site.

A 15-inch sanitary sewer line bisects the site and runs east to the Clark County treatment plant, according to planning commission documents. Huber Heights is extending a new sanitary sewer line south to connect to the city of Fairborn’s treatment plant.

Once that connection is made, the 15-inch line bisecting the site can be abandoned, documents state.

Sorrell said city staff does not yet have a solid estimated timeline for the project.

“We have not had extensive conversations about timelines,” he said via email this week. “They need to get through the entitlement process with the city and coordination with (the Ohio Department of Transportation) first.”

Sorrell said previously that the company’s work with ODOT would include a traffic study to determine potential road improvements that may be necessary along Ohio 235 to accommodate the development.

According to Sorrell, the entire rezoning process will likely take around four months from start to finish. This would include at least three public hearings during which public feedback can be given.

From when a project is approved, construction of a new location typically takes about a year-and-a-half, a company spokesperson previously told this news outlet.

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