Zone change clears first reading

A planned gas station near the Smith’s grocery store is on track to clearing its first hurdle after the Green River City Council voted to approve the first reading of an ordinance changing the zoning for the nearby property occupied by the United Pentecostal Church.

The ordinance shifts the zoning on the property from a B-2 downtown business zone to B-1 general business in order to build a fuel and concession kiosk and gas station.

The city’s planning and zoning commission recommended the Council’s approval during its Jan. 12 meeting.

The ordinance will need to be approved during two more readings at the next two Council meetings.

The proposal was met with some pushback by a nearby resident concerned about traffic and lighting from the gas station. Gordon Smith, a resident living across the street from the proposed site, voiced concerns that the city’s youth would hang out at the kiosk and make a mess and construction of the kiosk would increase degradation to Bridger Drive and generally increase traffic on the street.

According to Rick Magness, a representative of the engineering firm Anderson Wahlen & Associates working with Smith’s to plan and build the fuel center, a traffic study wasn’t completed for the ordinance change but will be done at a later point.

He said the Smith’s fuel centers don’t attract more traffic, but capture existing traffic already going to the grocery store.

He also said the kiosk isn’t a place youth tend to hang out at.

He also said the LED lighting used at the kiosk won’t spill away from the fuel center as LEDs can be controlled and directed.

 

Reader Comments(0)