With practically no discussion, the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday rejected a request by RaceTrac Inc. to build a 24/7 gas station and convenience store near Bells Ferry Elementary School.
Two weeks after the Cobb Planning Commission recommended approving rezoning to the Neighborhood Retail Commercial (NRC) category, but prohibiting fuel sales and other uses, Commissioner Erick Allen quickly made a motion to deny the application outright.
This is the second time RaceTrac has applied for rezoning—its initial request last year was withdrawn.
“We’ver heard this case several times,” Allen said after the RaceTrac presentation Tuesday, adding that that “not a lot has materially changed.”
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell—whose East Cobb District 3 formerly included the two-acre tract on Bells Ferry at Barrett Parkway—just quickly seconded the motion, and the vote was a unanimous 5-0.
Opponents have fought the proposal for months, citing the land’s proximity to the school and being adjacent to a day care center, and a gas station’s effect on traffic and the environment.
Kevin Moore, Race’Trac’s attorney, presented slides repeating his client’s claims that there wouldn’t be much additional traffic coming to the intersection to get gas. And he also reiterated claims from a third-party environmental engineer that RaceTrac’s vapor recovery systems would capture 98 percent of benzene emissions at the gas station.
He showed a map of a RaceTrac near Milford Elementary School and said that what his client was seeking now isn’t unusual.
But earlier this month, Planning Commission member Fred Beloin noted that “I don’t think there’s any serious question that people should not be breathing any great quantities of benzene on a regular basis.”
He cited various distance requirements in other jurisdictions, as well as those cited for increased cancer risks, and noted that Cobb has no such restrictions on how close fuel storage tanks can be located to such sensitive operations like child care centers and schools.
“We don’t have a strict rule, but we don’t have a strict rule that we’re supposed to stick our heads in the sand like an ostrich,” Beloin said, generating some applause in the audience.
“Where this community stands, there is no doubt. I just don’t see that this is an appropriate use of this property.”
Before Tuesday’s vote, Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid made a similar reference, suggesting “to take a look at this in code,” meaning a possible county ordinance change.
“There have been instances where looked at the impact of gas stations near residential property. So we need to make sure that we’re being consistent as a board in protecting the health and safety and welfare of all of our residents.
Related stories:
- NE Cobb RaceTrac zoning nixed again by Planning Commission
- East Cobb father’s bid for child’s emotional support pony denied
- Cobb shoots down drone kiosk for East Cobb Walmart store
- RaceTrac rezoning request held by Cobb Planning Commission
- New Johnson Ferry-Shallowford subdivision getting underway
- East Cobb Walmart files plans for drone delivery station
- RaceTrac refiles Bells Ferry/Barrett Parkway rezoning plans
- Cobb approves Mt. Bethel Christian Academy expansion plans
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