This rendering shows the Meijer store and mExpress gas station and convenience store that is planned at State Road 135 and Smokey Row Road in Bargersville.
Provided by town of BargersvilleA Bargersville board cleared the way for a new small-format Meijer and mExpress gas station at a busy Bargersville intersection.
The Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously approved last week a special exception to allow a gas station to be built at Smokey Row Road and State Road 135, as well as five standards variances relating to the parking lot, gas station canopy and pharmacy drive-thru.
While the proposed 75,000-square-foot Meijer store is permitted by the 13.6-acre parcel’s current zoning, Meijer sought a special exception to build a mExpress gas station and convenience store on the site. The convenience store would be 3,453 square feet, with 23 customer parking spaces and six fuel pumps, town documents show.
The project first came before the BZA in August but was pushed back to the board’s October meeting pending the completion of a traffic study. The traffic study was already planned but a decision was delayed until the results were in because of questions the board and the public had about the gas station’s impact on the already congested intersection.
The BZA did not consider in their approval of the special exception or variances whether a Meijer should be built on the site, as the parcel’s zoning already permits grocery stores. The zoning permits a gas station only by special exception, so the board had to consider specifically the merits of having a gas station at the intersection.
About the project
The store will be smaller than a typical Meijer store, offering only groceries, a pharmacy, a pharmacy drive-thru and an online order pickup area, Brian Smallwood of Woolpert Engineers, a civil engineering firm working with Meijer, said in August. The store would be in addition to two Meijer supercenter locations already operating in Johnson County, at 150 S. Marlin Drive, Greenwood and 2389 N. Morton Street, Franklin.
This store concept is a new one for Meijer and it would be one of only a handful of small-format stores that the chain has opened so far. The first two are in the Detroit suburbs and another is planned to be built in Noblesville.
The mExpress convenience store is requested to potentially be open 24 hours per day, though Smallwood clarified in August that it would only be the fuel pumps that are open 24 hours.
The gas station would be in front of the Meijer store and abutting State Road 135. There would be access to both businesses from entrances on Smokey Row Road and State Road 135, with a traffic signal planned to be installed at the entrance that will line up with the entrance to the Kroger store across the highway, plans show.
The Smokey Row entrance would not be signalized, but will be right in, right out only, Smallwood said. A median would also likely be installed from the State Road 135 intersection to the area near the Smokey Row entrance to improve safety, he said.
The traffic study
Most of those who spoke in August and again in October came to share their concerns about traffic safety and congestion, while others were concerned about light, noise, smell and the environmental impact of a gas station.
Neighbors from the Tremont Estates and Somerset subdivisions were particularly concerned because of their proximity to the development. They noted traffic is already congested in the area and they struggle to leave their neighborhoods during most hours of the day.
The results of the traffic study indicate the gas station itself would not have much of an impact on traffic. There would be an estimated 46 trips to the gas station during peak morning traffic and an estimated 55 in peak evening traffic.
This is because a gas station is not a place that people go as a destination, but it is a place people go out of necessity when on their way to somewhere else. Customers for the gas station are expected to be drawn from people who live or work nearby, or are traveling through the area.
“This actually generates fewer trips than a restaurant or a similar use that is already allowed by code,” Smallwood said last week. “That seems somewhat counterintuitive … but convenience stores and fuel center uses are oftentimes not the primary destinations for a trip … It is something (you do) while you are already out.”
By allowing the gas station versus something like a fast food restaurant, there will be less added traffic, a comparison of estimated traffic count shows. With a fast food restaurant, that intersection would be expected to see about 134 additional trips in peak morning traffic and 89 more trips during peak evening traffic, the study says.
The traffic study determined there should be two entrances to the parking lot on State Road 135, with one entrance designated for delivery trucks and for future development on land south of Meijer.
Residents expressed concerns over creating so many new curb cuts in the corridor. Somerset resident Tina Falks said it looks to her like the area is fated to be as congested as the area north of Smith Valley Road further north.
“We are introducing Greenwood in Bargersville, which is really disappointing because you have the opportunity to make the town really wonderful instead of a traffic jam,” Falks said.
The BZA debated whether the southern entrance on State Road 135 should be allowed. Members came to the conclusion they should permit it now because it will be required to comply with the fire code when another business opens to the south of Meijer.
The signalized entrance on State Road 135 would be aligned with the entrance to Kroger, which is directly across the street, plans show.
There was also debate over the entrance on Smokey Row, as both the board and Tremont residents expressed concerns about traffic. A BZA member asked if Meijer could make any concessions on the entrance there.
Meijer’s Director of Real Estate Al Shelden said making that entrance right in, right out only is already a concession, as it was initially proposed to be an all-way turn. Both the results of the traffic study and the Indiana Department of Transportation advised Meijer to make that change, he said.
Eliminating the entrance would push traffic south and would create more traffic on State Road 135 instead, Sheldon said.
Other project changes
Engineers working with Meijer have made several changes to the project after speaking with nearby neighbors, Smallwood said last week.
After the meeting. engineers shifted the entire site plan to the east, about 20 feet further away from residents than before. The store is now 194 feet from the property line and 275 to 300 feet away from the closest residences, Smallwood said.
“We moved everything as far east as we could to get it away from the adjacent residents on the west,” he said.
Inside that space, more landscaping and trees were added above what the town requires. The landscaping buffer Meijer is providing is 44 feet away from the properties, compared to the 25 feet required by the town, Smallwood said.
The dirt mounding height will be above town standard and Meijer plans to plant twice as many trees as the town requires. A variety of trees including evergreen, deciduous and ornamental are planned, Smallwood said.
There has also been talk of building a fence between the housing in Somerset and Meijer, but details on that are to be worked out between Meijer and the neighborhood’s homeowner’s association.
Though nearby property owners appreciated the concessions, some wondered what the additional 20 feet really gets them. Residents expressed concerns about safety and property values.
“I think we are all happy to have another grocery store opportunity, but how does that look with keeping residential values, keeping safety up and keeping the community feel,” said Somerset resident Chris Hogue.
Multiple residents asked about safety; both traffic safety and safety from crime that a gas station could potentially bring. In response, the BZA asked Meijer to add FLOCK license plate reader cameras in addition to security cameras the store was already planning.
Sheldon agreed to add FLOCK cameras and that the store would plan to have a good working relationship with local police, including allowing them to view all security footage when the need arises.
