Henrico Planning Commission endorses controversial Staples Mill Sheetz plans

By a 4-1 vote Nov. 9, the Henrico Planning Commission endorsed a revised plan for a proposed Sheetz across Staples Mill Road from the Amtrak station. This is the same proposal that raised opposition from neighbors at last October’s commission meeting and has since been deferred three times and discussed at two community meetings. The revised proposal includes several changes:

It has expanded to more than 10 acres and includes the entire site instead of leaving about two acres vacant, though developer Rebkee Company has indicated it will allow future access to the currently vacant right-of-way along the northern edge of the property as needed;
It now includes as many as 14 townhomes as well as the gas station, convenience store, and a commercial building, such as a restaurant. Both the Sheetz and the commercial building would have a drive-through;
The townhomes would be in three buildings along the south side of the property accessed by a Dublin Street cul-de-sac which would extend east from the existing Cloverdale Street cul-de-sac;
Sidewalks at the entrances would link to the existing sidewalk along Staples Mill Road;
The commercial building has shrunk by about 500 square feet to just more than 2,500 square feet and has more parking with less for the Sheetz, and dumpsters must be located inside walled and gated areas;
Buffer spaces would no longer go around all four sides of the development, and a stormwater pond has been added on the southeastern corner;
There are also conditions linked to certain noisy outdoor activities, such as the type of outdoor vacuums allowed.

Construction hours would be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday to Friday, and 8a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. The finished site would be open 24 hours, except the carwash, which would only operate from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Commission staff recommended additional changes, such as making the townhomes more consistent with the surrounding area, adjusting the buffers on the south side to account for those townhomes facing the rear loading area of the neighboring shopping center, and road improvements such as making the site accessible from the neighboring CVS. So many local residents spoke with concerns that the commission doubled the usual time limit for comment. One speaker stated that the neighboring residents had asked for a wall to block visibility into their homes and for the gas station to close at midnight. She focused on the health issues, saying “We have provided countless scientific evidence of the risk of benzene to anyone living within 500 feet of a gas station. The applicant has pointed to regulation mitigating the harms but that doesn’t account for human error.” Another speaker argued that a larger chain gas station in the area had been shown in other areas to push local gas stations out of business, creating vacant sites. “There are already six gas stations nearby," he said, expressing frustration at a perceived lack of real change based on neighbors’ concerns. “I’ll give the developers an A-plus for the appearance of listening to our concerns, but an F for actually responding. We’ve been giving feedback for a year and what has Rebkee given us? A fence and some plants along one side.”Similar frustration was expressed by another resident: “We asked for a wall and we got a fence. The response was that it was too expensive. Sheetz made $11 billion in global revenue last year. The developer and Sheetz have shown they are unwilling to compromise or take our needs into account.”Another resident worried about the impact to her family’s home. “We bought this home eight years ago thinking it would stay residential. This will ruin our property value.” She also noted that the Chesterfield Planning Commission had turned down a similar gas station proposal with the same proximity to residences. “A gas station 50 feet from the nearest home is unheard of.” A resident immediately bordering the property in question told the commission: “This Sheetz would be in my back yard. Our community and ability to enjoy our property will be destroyed. With global climate change, it’s irresponsible to cut down trees to build a gas station. Please do not approve this application.”A Lakeside resident expressed concerns about emergency services being able to travel Staples Mill due to the additional traffic this gas station would cause. “I had to call Station 20 for emergency services and if it had been 5 p.m. and a Sheetz had been there, I might not have made it," she said. She also believed the traffic impacts would be significant. “Traffic flows okay now, but you know how many deaths there have been in that corridor. This development will make the whole corridor impassable at times.”Another comment was focused on the high-level environmental impact from a resident who is also involved with the Sierra Club. The speaker pointed to studies indicating that overall road fuel demand will peak in two to three years as cars transition to electric that gas vehicle sales have already peaked in 2019. “Sheetz will be destroying a wetlands and continuous woodlands and will likely be leaving in 10 years," she said, "leaving taxpayers to pay for cleanup of their rusting fuel tanks.”Andy Condlin, the developer’s representative, responded first by noting that the applicant had made multiple changes to the proposal to respond to feedback from neighbors, including devoting an area to a nature preservation area of between 100 to 320 feet along the west edge of the property, which will be rezoned to a conservation area. He stated that a fence would run along the outside of that. “The fence won’t cut down on the noise, but the vegetation is for that," he said. "We think we have resolved those concerns about noise and light. The nature preservation area is setting a new standard for these kinds of developments in the area.” He explained that all wetlands will be saved by the preservation area and that the speakers won’t be loud enough to be heard off the property. Condlin also noted that the three national gas stations in the area had not experienced any reports of crime in the last year. “We don’t think that crime is a big issue," he said. "This is a well-run company and they want to make sure their customers are safe.” He explained that the fuel holding tanks and gas station must meet at state standards, which have become more stringent since 2017. Fairfield Commissioner Chris Archer asked what happens if the Sheetz does close. Condlin responded that was unfamiliar with the specifics, but that these new state requirements also covered the decommissioning of underground fuel tanks and included financial requirements. In response to a question from Three Chopt Commissioner Melissa Thornton, Todd Casado, representing Sheetz, explained that there were 700 Sheetz stations in the region and 100 had carwashes. He noted that most new stores now that have drive-throughs and there were about 100-150 in the region. He responded to a related question from Varina Commissioner William Mackey by explaining that all Sheetz in the area, and almost all nationwide, operated 24 hours.After this back and forth, Brookland Commissioner Bob Witte said, “This has been very interesting over a very long period of time. We’ve heard a lot of information from both sides and staff has put an inordinate time on this. I don’t think the two sides will ever reach agreement and I think it’s time to put this behind us.” Thornton cast the only dissenting vote in the board 4-1 endorsement of the proposal.There were some boos from the audience after the vote, but Archer reminded residents that the ultimate fate of the case will rest in the hands of the Henrico Board of Supervisors.