Fort Collins City Council rejects Sam's Club gas station plan
Fort Collins City Council rejected Sam’s Club’s plans to add a gas station to its Boardwalk Drive location, upholding a Planning and Zoning Commission decision that the proposal didn’t adhere to city Land Use Code.
Council voted 6-1 Tuesday to deny Sam’s Club’s appeal of the May P&Z ruling. Council member Shirley Peel was in the minority.
Sam’s Club, owned and operated by Walmart, opened its members-only warehouse store at 4700 E. Boardwalk Drive in 1994. The company filed plans with the Fort Collins planning department in 2019 to add six double-sided fuel pumps, a pay kiosk and some landscaping elements to the north end of the parking lot, closer to Harmony Road.
Building the gas station requires city sign-off on an “Addition of a Permitted Use” for the location, because that area isn’t zoned to include gas stations. The Harmony Corridor Plan, adopted in 1995, categorizes the Harmony Market shopping center as a “regional shopping center.” Permitted uses include retail, professional offices, warehouse clubs cinemas and libraries, among other things, but gas stations aren’t on the list.
The P&Z commission can typically add a permitted use to a parcel as long as it meets six criteria, wouldn’t be detrimental to the public good, would comply with the city’s compatibility standards and isn’t listed as a prohibited use. But the majority of the commission said the gas station plans didn’t meet all six criteria. The criteria are listed in full at the end of this story, but they generally require the land use to be compatible with the surrounding area and have minimal negative impacts on surrounding properties.
Fort Collins development in 2022: Montava starts up, Kmart might be razed, mall changes ahead
Various P&Z members who voted against the permitted use said it didn’t meet land use criteria because it wouldn’t conform with the zone district, would create more noise, traffic and odor and would change the character of the surrounding area. Several members referenced the Harmony Corridor Plan’s vision for that area, which sought to balance development potential with wide setbacks and preservation of natural resources like the Poudre River floodplain and wetlands.
Council on Tuesday needed to determine whether the P&Z commission held a fair hearing and whether it properly applied land use code. Attorney Carolynne White, representing Sam’s Club, said the commission unfairly considered irrelevant or false evidence.
She added that commission members didn’t offer sufficient explanation of which land use criteria the Sam’s Club’s proposal failed to meet and why it failed to meet them. Staff had found that the proposal met the six criteria and recommended approval.
“That (hearing) transcript, I've read it dozens and dozens of times between May and now,” White said. “There's nothing in there. I would challenge anyone to read it and tell me, which criteria did the planning commission feel was not met? And extra credit if you can figure out why, because it is simply not able to be determined from the record.”
White also pointed out that the area near Sam’s Club already contains two gas stations: A 7-Eleven across the street on the northwest corner of Harmony and Boardwalk and a Circle K on the east side of the same shopping center that Sam’s Club sits in. The 7-Eleven is in a different zoning category, and the Circle K was built before the Harmony Corridor Plan took effect.
The opponents in the appeal were attorneys representing property owners in the area. Lew Harstead represented the owner of the 7-Eleven across the street; Brad March represented the owner of another parcel in the Harmony Market shopping center. Harstead argued that Sam’s Club got a fair hearing and was simply unhappy with the result, pointing to sections of the transcript where commission members listed land use criteria that the proposal failed to meet.
March’s concerns were mostly related to excess wear and tear from truck traffic on the pavement in the shopping center. He said Sam’s Club doesn’t pay for maintenance in those areas.
Housing growth: Developer takes next step toward mixed-use project that includes CSU workforce housing
The majority of council ultimately found that the P&Z commission gave Sam’s Club a fair hearing. The exception was Peel, who said the transcript didn’t clearly explain why the company failed to meet the criteria and wanted to send the proposal back to the commission for a rehearing.
“I don't think that just because you don't say why you're voting a certain way, it means you didn't have a fair hearing,” Mayor pro-tem Emily Francis said. “Just like when we're up here, we may not comment on a motion, but our vote says how we feel about it.”
Other council members agreed with the P&Z commission’s application of land use code. They specifically mentioned that gas stations aren’t currently allowed in that shopping center and said the Sam’s Club proposal wasn’t aligned with the surrounding area.
“Those plans were put in place by people before us,” Mayor Jeni Arndt said. “If we don’t like the plan, we should work on changing the plan, (rather than) constantly be making exceptions to plans.”
If Sam's Club wants to further appeal the city's decision, the company will have to file a challenge in court. The company didn't immediately respond to a Coloradoan request for comment on Wednesday.
Fort Collins' criteria for an additional permitted use
a) appropriate in the zone district to which it is added
b) conforms to the basic characteristics of the zone district and the other permitted uses in the zone district to which it is added
c) The location, size and design of such use is compatible with and has minimal negative impact on the use of nearby properties
d) does not create any more offensive noise, vibration, dust, heat, smoke, odor, glare or other objectionable influences or any more traffic hazards, traffic generation or attraction, adverse environmental impacts, adverse impacts on public or quasi-public facilities, utilities or services, adverse effect on public health, safety, morals or aesthetics, or other adverse impacts of development, than the amount normally resulting from the other permitted uses listed in the zone district to which it is added
e) will not change the predominant character of the surrounding area
f) is compatible with the other listed permitted uses in the zone district to which it is added
Note: The specific criteria can vary depending on what's being proposed.
Jacy Marmaduke covers government accountability for the Coloradoan. Follow her on Twitter @jacymarmaduke. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins City Council rejects Sam's Club gas station plan
