'Nothing but negatives': Boston Heights residents oppose plans for Sheetz at former hotel

Boston Heights residents fear a proposed Sheetz gas station near state Route 8 and the Ohio Turnpike could bring heightened pollution and potential crime to their community.

The gas station would be at 6625 Dean Memorial Parkway at East Hines Hill Road on the site of the former Norwood Inn, according to plans submitted by GPD Group in Akron to Boston Heights.

The station, which would sit on a parcel slightly more than eight acres, would include fueling stations for diesel and gas, a car wash, a convenience store and a dining area with seating for 30 people.

The site would include six fuel pumps and 42 parking spaces along the northern end of the property. The south end would include six fuel pumps and 38 truck parking spaces.

Mayor Bill Goncy said that the village's Planning Commission will review the plans and possibly vote on the proposal at its July 6 meeting, which starts at 7 p.m.

"The difference with this [station] is this one has a separate parking lot and a separate fueling station for trucks, so the cars and trucks are not intermingled," Goncy said.

If approved, construction would start in February.

Bruce Rinker of Mansour Gavin LPA, a Cleveland law firm, said in a May 11 letter to village officials that the development would mean more than $13 million in improvements and would generate more than three dozen full- and part-time jobs. Rinker said that "the expanded highway network involving the Ohio Turnpike and the Route 8 corridor" has "drastically transformed" the intersection at West Hines Hill Road and Route 8.

"While the current blighted condition of this site was in large measure a consequence of this change, Sheetz views its mixed-use redevelopment as not only a sound private investment, but as one that should complement existing uses and promote positive future development of all four quadrants," Rinker said in the letter.

However, Boston Heights resident Marc Miller said that "there are nothing but negatives for a truck stop for both our village and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park."

Miller, the husband of Village Councilwoman Janet Miller, said he and others on the No Sheetz Truck Stop Team have been circulating a letter to residents and gathering signatures on a petition.

"We haven't met a single resident yet who wants this," Miller said. He added that to date, 260 signatures have been collected.

The letter outlines several concerns, such as the potential strain to the village's safety forces, environmental concerns from increased traffic and vehicle exhaust, and the economic impact to business in the area.

In addition, the gas station "opens the door for other competitive truck stops to be developed," the opponents state in their letter

"Leaders want the Norwood Inn razed but there are better solutions to accomplish this," the letter states.

Miller said that the proposed gas station was "an incredibly pollutive entity 50 yards from a Children’s Hospital building and in a gateway community to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park."

Dr. Joe Blanda, a retired orthopedic surgeon who serves on the village's parks committee, said one of his worries was the potential for increased pollution.

"As a physician, to me that's a major concern," Blanda said. "The scientific medical literature, which I've reviewed at least 20 recent articles, is that benzene from gasoline pumps and diesel fuel admissions, particularly from trucks, are very dangerous. They are associated with lung disease, such as asthma, and cancer. Children are more susceptible than adults, but studies have shown that both are affected."

Benzene has been linked to "many cancers, especially childhood cancers," Blanda said. He added that he lost his own son at 19 to brain cancer.

Miller agreed, saying that "Akron Children’s is in a 500 foot radius of this projected use."

"Federal EPA guidelines do not permit a school to be built within 1,500 feet of a gas station," Miller said. "Benzene from gasoline is very harmful to health in that radius.  Diesel fumes (DPM particles) an extreme carcinogenic and health risk as well."

Sheetz is a family owned convenience store chain based in Altoona, Pennsylvania. It operates more than 500 stores in six states, including Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and North Carolina.

Reporter April Helms can be reached at ahelms@thebeaconjournal.com

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Many Boston Heights residents unhappy with Sheetz gas station proposal