Today, there was an application submitted to the County staff that would allow for a 7Eleven Gas Station on the Northwest corner of Seminole Pratt Whitney Road and Orange Blvd. Orange Blvd. West of Seminole Pratt Whitney is an ITID road. Seminole Pratt Whitney Road is a County road. The parcel owned by the application is 1.8 acres, as well it seems they are including the adjacent lot for an additional 1.7. The total of 3.5 acres includes the roads and sidewalks that currently exist. If you were to take out the roads and sidewalks, this property is very small for a proposed gas station.
We are in the exurban tier in the County Comprehensive Plan. We are zoned agricultural residential. We are also a designated equestrian community. This kind of project does not belong on our residential roads, in the center of our community. Not only does it not belong but the property is not sufficient to properly accommodate a gas station where an acre away is someone’s well. Our community is primarily on wells. The cost of County water being run to most homes, even if available, is prohibitive for those who wish to have it. Historically, our community has opposed locating gas stations within our community due to the fact that we are on wells.
We currently already have many gas stations that serve our community; 1. Seminole Pratt Whitney Road and Orange (across the corner from this proposed location), 2. Seminole Pratt Whitney across from the high school now in the City of Westlake, 3. Southern just a mile east of Seminole Pratt Whitney, 4. go a little further East there is another new gas station at the Town of Loxahatchee Groves new Publix plaza 5. Town of Royal Palm Beach further east at Southern and Royal Palm Beach Blvd. 6. approved 16 pumps for the corner of Coconut and Northlake and 7. at IBIS.
The Acreage Neighborhood Plan originally prohibited gas stations within the ANP area, it was subsequently amended to allow the ones we currently have. How many gas stations and convenience stores do we need?
It is also my concern that a gas station in a residential neighborhood will have an impact on the values of neighboring properties thus furthering more commercial development. We are to be protected from commercial and industrial impacting our agricultural equestrian residential area by the Comprehensive Plan. A lot of thought went into developing it. It provides assurances to buyers when they are looking to buy their homes. If we allow the Comprehensive Plan to be changed piece by piece, we end up eroding the assurances homeowners relied in making their decisions of where to buy their homes. Make no mistake, by allowing this amendment, the County opens the door for it to happen throughout our community.
With respect to this being an ITID road. Our residents in that Unit paid for that road to be paved, they pay for the maintenance of all the roads in their unit. Even if a developer proposes to pay for road improvements needed at this time, the burden of maintenance rests on our residents in that unit long after the developer has made his money and left the scene.
Please write the County Commission urging them to oppose this application and send the message that we do NOT want the protections afforded our community in the Comprehensive Plan eroded in any way now or in the future. The email address for all commissioner is Commissioners Email bcc-allcommissioners@pbcgov.org.
