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Residents Oppose New Gas Station

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By MICHELE SAGER

msager@tampatrib.com

Published: February 25, 2009

CITRUS PARK - Donning green shirts and signs to save Bellamy Road, about 50 residents recently attended a zoning hearing to protest a new gas station proposed near their neighborhoods.
RaceTrac wants to build a 5,000-square-foot station with 18 pumps on the corner of Ehrlich and Bellamy roads. But residents said the station will bring additional crime and traffic.

Residents also said the station's lighting and large structure will not fit into the rural feel of the area. But Mike Horner, speaking for the RaceTrac company, said the station would sit next to the Hills Dale Baptist Church, which is much larger and generates traffic of its own.

But the Rev. Travis Smith said most of the church's traffic is on Sunday and only about 100 cars visit the church's day care and school during the week. The RaceTrac is projected to generate about 4,200 trips per day, with about 250 trips to be during peak times. RaceTrac officials also noted that 90 percent of traffic visiting the gas station is traffic that usually travels those roads.

Because the gas station would feature a right-in, right-out access on Ehrlich and Bellamy, residents say more drivers will be making u-turns, adding the traffic at the surrounding traffic lights.

Resident Jim Anderson said he is also concerned because RaceTrac has said it would eventually apply for a permit to sell beer and wine.

"Basically, they want to build a package liquor store that sells gas," Anderson said.

Anderson said the RaceTrac will mean more drunken drivers and more crime. He read statistics for other nearby gas stations in which a Shell had 36 calls for service, a Marathon station had 38 calls and another Shell had 57 calls for service.

"And if someone commits a crime, where will they run?" Anderson asked "The church parking lot or maybe into our neighborhoods."

Representatives for RaceTrac noted that the gas station serves a need in the community, and the company pays Hillsborough County $8.5 million in gas taxes.
County planners and the planning commission said they did not support the plan because of its intense impact and lack of compatibility with the surrounding community. The hearing office will make a recommendation to county commissioner in the next three weeks.

Reporter Michele Sager can be reached at (813) 865-4843.

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