ATLANTA — Some residents are vowing to fight plans to bring a new QuickTrip gas station to a southeast Atlanta neighborhood.
Some Neighbors Look To Fight Gas Station Project
The 5,700-square-foot store would be larger than most QTs, and opponents believe the developer found a loophole around city regulations.
The convenience store, which the QuikTrip Corporation calls a Generation 3 concept, would replace the Jiffy Package Store at Moreland and Ormewood avenues. The landowner hopes the city approves the plan, because he says a new QT would be a major asset to this neighborhood.
"It's just another business, and it would be nice to see a nice, clean QT," said one resident, Kurt Fogelgren.
But neighbors who would live next to the QT see major problems.
"I think that would be terrible. I don't like the fact that it's open 24 hours a day," resident Beth Taylor told Channel 2's George Howell.
City planning regulations require a 100-foot buffer between any commercial and residential properties. The landowner, Gobind Madan, said he split the property into two commercial properties. The QT would be built on 1.2 acres of the property. Madan would retain the remaining 0.1-acre lot.
Since the city does not require a minimum lot size, the QT would not border any residential property, and the 100-foot buffer wouldn't apply.
"I think it's a bad idea because this is a real family neighborhood. It would not be a good fit for this neighborhood. It should be more down the street where there's more established retail," Taylor said.
A QT representative said the property in question was already zoned commercial, and the current landowner retained a portion of the property to accommodate his possible future development for his current business. Taylor said it's a bad fit.
"I think we do need a gas station, a big gas station. I think we need it. But just not in this residential district," Taylor said.
Moreland Avenue is the main road through the area, but the current plan has traffic entering the QT site from Ormewood Avenue. Some are concerned that would bring more traffic through the neighborhood.
The South Atlantans for Neighborhood Development group that represents this neighborhood is planning to fight the project.
WSBTV
