quicktrip ~ what now, atlanta?

“No QuickTrip Here” — a Southeast Atlanta neighborhood group — challenges planned Ormewood Park QuikTrip

Monday, QuickTrip filed two building permits for an Ormewood Park location — one for the construction of a new structure and parking lot and the other for a marquee — which are “routed for review.”

The construction site at 731 Moreland Avenue has been leveled, readying the new structure.

Adam Brackman and other “No QuickTrip Here” group members don’t want the gas station to open there.

“We believe that QuikTrip and other corporations should help build our neighborhoods, not break them,” Backman said in an email to What Now Atlanta.

Here’s why Backman and other neighbors are “up in arms:”

  1. High numbers of car and truck trips on neighborhood side streets to and from this location will increase the risk of accidents for adults and children who are bicycling, walking or pushing baby strollers.
  2. A 24-hour gas station at this location is not in keeping with the plan for a pedestrian friendly, walkable, and traffic-safe Moreland Avenue. This plan was developed by the neighborhoods along the corridor and was adopted by the City of Atlanta and the Atlanta Regional Commission just three years ago.
  3. More suitable locations for the proposed gas station can be found in the Moreland Avenue corridor. Using one of these alternative locations would help build the community and would not deteriorate the current quality of life in a residential neighborhood.
  4. A City of Atlanta zoning regulation loophole has allowed this proposed redevelopment to bypass a required 100 foot separation distance from the nearest residential property. The separation distance is meant to protect against increased health risks to adults and children. This loophole, unless closed, will allow this tactic to be used in neighborhoods all across Atlanta.

East Atlanta Patch wrote a thoughtful piece about the laws involved with this dispute before QuickTrip filed any permits — check it out here.

Live in the area or have an option about this dispute? Fuel the fire with a comment.

CORRECTION: The proposed construction site, 731 Moreland Avenue, has not been leveled. When construction does begin, we will update this report.

QuickTrip
731 Moreland Avenue SE
Atlanta GA, 30316