The proposed development site at West Airport Road and State Road 45.
(Courtesy, Monroe County Plan Commission)
UPDATE: The commissioners will now hear the petition on Aug. 7 meeting.
The Monroe County Commissioners will soon hear a proposal for a new gas station, complete with office space and an arcade, west of Bloomington.
Rajesh Patel with Heri Inc., is requesting a rezone on a 4.1-acre property at the corner of West Airport Road and State Road 45. The county plan commission approved a positive recommendation for the petition at a June meeting. It now goes to the commissioners for final approval.
The petition appeared on the commissioners' Wednesday meeting agenda but was postponed to their following meeting on Aug. 7.
The property is currently split into two types of zoning: Limited Business (LB) and General Business (GB). Patel is requesting it be rezoned entirely to GB to repurpose existing buildings on the property to accommodate a mix of industrial and/or commercial uses. This would not be allowed under LB zoning.
Van Buren Township Trustee Rita Barrow, who represents this part of the county, wrote a letter to the plan commission opposing the petition and urging residents to do the same.
Barrow wrote she is concerned the development, if approved, will cause more traffic, and by extension, more crashes and environmental pollution.
“Gas stations can release harmful pollutants into the air, including benzene, which is a known carcinogen,” Barrow wrote. “This can pose significant health risks, especially to children, the elderly and individuals with pre-existing health conditions living in the area.”
Barrow added gas stations pose a risk of soil and water contamination due to potential fuel leaks, which can have long-term effects on people’s health and the environment. She also said she worries the development could decrease the value of nearby properties.
“Numerous studies have shown that properties located in this proximity to gas stations often suffer significant declines in value, with some declines being as steep as 30 to 50 percent,” she wrote. “This can severely impact the investment you've made in your home and diminish the overall attractiveness and desirability of our area.”
Residents who wrote to the commission opposing the petition had similar concerns.
Michael Carmin, a local attorney representing Patel, called Barrow’s letter “disconcerting,” adding, “An intentional ambush is never appreciated, and that’s what the trustee’s letter was.”
Carmin also pushed back on Barrow’s concerns regarding traffic and pollution. For one, he said gas stations built today are better at fuel containment than those in the past.
“Fueling stations today are not what they were 30 years ago; they’re not even what they were 20 years ago,” he said. “When is the last time you came across a fueling station in the last 20 years that had an underground leak? It doesn’t happen.”
He also argued the gas station would capture existing traffic and may only generate limited additional traffic.
“It actually satisfies a need,” he said. “Think to yourself: what is your shopping habit, stopping at a fueling station? It's a drive-by stop. You don't go out of your way and go a mile away to a fueling station, just for the sake of doing that. You stop on your way home on your way to someplace else, and you fuel up en route.”
The property does not have a sewer connection — and on Monday, the Bloomington Utilities Service Board denied Patel’s request for one based on pending litigation surrounding the city’s effort to annex parts of the county.
The City of Bloomington Utilities (CBU) Department’s policy is to not extend sewer service outside city limits unless a valid petition for voluntary annexation exists.
Carmin told the board Monday the property will be developed regardless of its decision to uphold this policy because a septic system can be installed instead.
“The county supports the rezoning, so that's going to happen,” he said. “The uses are all going to be permitted. So, if he (Patel) is forced to do it on septic, then it never is going to go on sewer; and it ought to be on sewer. Long range, reasonable development would put it on sewer.”
Carmin declined to comment directly on the CBU policy but asserted sewer service will eventually come to the property.
“Whether it’s next year, by this petitioner, or 10 years down the road, it’s going to happen,” he said. “Everything considered, it ought to be done on sewer now, not later.”
Commissioner Julie Thomas told WFIU-WTIU News told WFIU-WTIU News the commissioners did not hear Patel's petition Wednesday because the utilities board denied his request for a sewer connection.
WFIU-WTIU News reached out to Carmin but has not yet heard back.
