The Flowery Branch City Council unanimously denied a variance request at its meeting Thursday night that would have allowed for a planned gas station off McEver Road to place its gas pumps in front of its associated convenience store.
The vote came about a month after a public hearing on the matter which evoked strong opposition from the public. Much of the opposition came from residents of the nearby Four Seasons on Lanier subdivision.
The property at the corner of Gaines Ferry Road and McEver road is already zoned for highway business, meaning McEver Site, LLC. can legally build a gas station at the site. The applicant, however, was seeking a variance request to the Flowery Branch Zoning Ordinance, which requires gas pumps to be located behind the associated convenience store structure to hide the pumps from the street. They claimed the ordinance created a challenge for the layout of the planned site.
Flowery Branch resident Mary Willis spoke out against the request during public comment before the denial by the city council. Specifically, Willis said she was hoping the city council would ask for the completion of a traffic study in relation to the planned gas station.
"What we're watching today is to see if you're going to order that traffic study from a reputable firm, have it reviewed and analyzed properly, for the sake of ... the welfare of lots of people in that area," Willis said.
The city council did not order a traffic study and instead denied the request outright.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2022/2/1079317/flowery-branch-city-council-denies-variance-request-for-controversial-gas-station