Plans for flagship convenience store stalled again

The rezoning measures that would allow a RaceTrac convenience store to be built on Spring Road in Smryna have been tabled pending further action from RaceTrac Petroleum Inc.

RaceTrac is Georgia’s third-largest private company and the Smyrna-based company is looking to be put its top-of-the-line signature store at the corner of Spring Road and Bell Drive.

Ed Hamrick, owner of the strip mall behind the proposed RaceTrac site has withdrawn his support of the project, which has led RaceTrac to reevaluate its plans said Melleny Pritchett, city council member for Ward 1.

Pritchett briefly explained the circumstances at Monday’s city council meeting.

“This RaceTrac has been tabled because Mr. Hamrick had entered an agreement and now Mr. Hamrick is no longer involved in this rezoning,” she said. “Therefore, they had to do more drawings. Start all over with the paperwork.”

Meredith McElveen, RaceTrac real estate representative, explained what the company’s next steps are.

“We had to propose new drawings,” she said. “We are proposing to rezone the property. It’s already general commercial. We’re rezoning it to general commercial conditional. Instead of going through the variance process, we decided to do a site plan-specific zoning, which would allow us to work more closely with city staff and Councilwoman Pritchett to have just site plan-specific zoning. That means that this zoning is only affecting this site. So we’ll be filing this application for plans with the city for the July planning and zoning hearing and then after that the city council hearing.”

The next Smyrna Planning & Zoning Board meeting is set for July 11 and there will be a Smyrna City Council meeting the following week on July 18.

In the original plans for the convenience store, which would serve as RaceTrac Petroleum Inc.’s flagship store, Hamrick would allow RaceTrac access to his parking lot and his drainage system. In exchange, RaceTrac would repave and landscape Hamrick’s parking lot.

Hamrick explained why he withdrew his support.

“They needed 20 spaces of parking to meet the requirement for square footage and the store has to have a certain number of parking spaces allotted to it,” he said. “That’s what they were interested in as well as using the drainage. My two concerns were that I didn’t think my drainage system could handle that much excess water. That’s why I was definitely against it.”

Hamrick couldn’t offer any insight into RaceTrac’s revised plans explaining that he had not spoken with the company’s representatives in more than a month.

“I don’t know what they’re planning to do, but they’re going to be doing it without my participation,” Hamrick said. “They’re going to be doing it without my parking lot or my drainage system.”