The building elevations for the proposed Wawa store in Franklin. Submitted photos
Two gas station and convenience store proposals came before the Franklin Plan Commission Tuesday, but only one received a favorable recommendation.
The commission forwarded a proposal to build a Wawa at the northeast corner of Earlywood Drive and Morton Street to the city council with a favorable recommendation. However, a RaceTrac proposed at the southeast corner of State Road 44 and Bartram Parkway was forwarded with an unfavorable recommendation. The city council will have the final say on both proposals at a future meeting.
Wawa is proposing a convenience store that would be open 24/7 with breakfast, lunch and dinner food options and a gas station with 16 pumps. The RaceTrac development would bring a convenience store with food options, 10 diesel gas pumps and 16 regular gas pumps.
The proposal for Wawa was well-received. However, plan commission members and Mayor Steve Barnett thought RaceTrac may bring more truck traffic into the city, leading to the unfavorable recommendation.
Wawa
Wawa is requesting to rezone approximately 10.4 acres from industrial general to mixed-use regional center zoning, while keeping gateway overlay zoning. The store is proposed on 3.65 acres immediately north of Earlywood Drive with opportunities for other tenants to develop other parts of the property, according to city documents.
If approved, the Wawa will be the second in Johnson County. A Wawa is also being built in Greenwood at U.S. 31 and Worthsville Road in a development project by Endress + Hauser.
The proposed Franklin Wawa would feature a 6,300-square-foot store that would be open 24/7. It would have a pick-up window and mobile ordering. Food options for customers include hoagies, breakfast sandwiches, coffees, drinks and made-to-order food. The store would also offer typical convenience store fare such as snacks, tobacco and candy, according to documents provided to the city.
The gas station will offer 16 gas pumps to start. In the future, the company may also add a Tesla charging station.
Wawa stores typically employ between 35 and 50 employees and the company has stores up and down the East Coast and in Florida, with the Midwest as its next expansion area, said Patrick Moon, a Wawa representative. The chain started out as a dairy store and the store’s “claim to fame” is its kiosk where customers can order their food, he said.
No one from the public spoke for or against the development. The plan commission gave a unanimous favorable recommendation to the city council.
The proposed Wawa is surrounded by planned development including the under-construction Kingsbridge subdivision with 240 homes and The Post Apartments with 312 apartment units.
RaceTrac
After multiple attempts to get a RaceTrac approved at the Main Street Interstate 65 interchange in Greenwood, the company brought a proposal to Franklin.
The company is asking to annex approximately 5.3 acres at the southeast corner of State Road 44 and Bartram Parkway and rezone the area from general commercial to regional center and gateway overlay zoning.
The location would be approximately 6,800 square feet and would employ approximately 25, according to Russell Brown, an attorney representing RaceTrac. In addition to fuel, the stores offer a variety of food and convenience options like coffee, frozen yogurt and prepared and packaged food. There would also be a small amount of outdoor seating and store Wi-Fi, he said.
The stores do not offer truck stop items, like showers, sit-down dining or on-site repair options but there would be both dedicated diesel and gas pumps, Brown said. Based on concerns raised by staff and the administration before filing, Brown said there would be no truck scale or truck parking at the location.
The city’s planning staff recommended an unfavorable recommendation for the development, citing several potential issues. Staff finds that the rezoning request is not consistent with the interchange plan since the mixed-use regional center zoning district wouldn’t allow for future industrial development at the location east of I-65.
During the development process of recent industrial facilities on the east side of I-65, the staff report states that each developer and end-user has emphasized the importance of separating passenger vehicle traffic from truck traffic for safety and security reasons. Staff believes it is reasonable to apply that to the overall development by separating passenger vehicle traffic from truck traffic by continuing commercial developments on the west side of the interchange and industrial developments on the east side of the interchange.
The property is also immediately adjacent to other industrial properties and the most desired use would be industrial, not mixed-use regional center zoning, the staff report says.
RaceTrac’s typical customer is not a national or regional fleet driver, according to Brown. Instead, he claims customers are more typically local or regional drivers “who are supportive of or engaged in or with the neighboring industrial uses.”
He also said many users would find development on the parcel’s size challenging and Racetrac overcomes those challenges with its site plan.
Stefan Arsich, senior associate at Cushman & Wakefield, who has represented owners of the property with the transaction to RaceTrac, spoke favorably about the proposed development.
“This is actually a great use for the property and a big amenity for the east side of I-65 which would, of course, support a lot of those businesses and employees that are there, as well as people that live far east,” he said.
Arsich also said he doesn’t think the property would sell to an industrial user based on the seller’s expectations and the size of the site.
Commission members asked Mayor Steve Barnett to speak on the development and he said there is interest in big box or flex space for the site. However, because it is not annexed yet, people have walked away from the property. He believes there is still an opportunity for industrial uses on the site. Additionally, he is not in favor of the gas station because it would likely bring more trucks into the area.
Norm Gabehart, plan commission president, said there tends to be a lot of trucks that park on ramps when there is a deficiency in rest areas, like I-65, and it brings traffic hazards and “a climate that’s undesirable.”
“I understand we need trucks, we need commerce, we need that perspective. But you have Whiteland who has three, you have Greenwood who has two … Taylorsville has one or two. Maybe it’s selfish but I think we need to protect corridor,” he said.
The commission voted unanimously on an unfavorable recommendation to the council.
