- Florence City Council unanimously voted 6-0 to deny the proposed QuikTrip at 6808 Burlington Pike.
- Officials cited conflicts with the Boone County Comprehensive Plan and an incomplete traffic impact study.
- Concerns focused on traffic congestion, safety, and the site’s proximity to high-traffic areas and pedestrian activity.
The City of Florence unanimously voted to kill a project that would’ve led to the development of a QuikTrip convenience store and gas station off Burlington Pike.
Initially proposed in early January, QuikTrip, the seventh-largest convenience store chain in the United States, aimed to develop a two-acre plot of land at 6808 Burlington Pike at the intersection of Burlington Pike and Turfway Road in Florence at the site of the now-vacant Frisch’s Big Boy.
QuikTrip’s proposal called for the development of a 6,445-square-foot convenience store, a fuel canopy with seven dispensing islands and 14 fueling stations, an air pump station and a dumpster enclosure.
Following the Boone County Planning Commission’s 11-2 recommendation on Feb. 4, the ball was in Florence’s court, as the parcel of land was within its jurisdiction. Ultimately, all six members of the Florence City Council voted to axe the proposal during a meeting on April 14.
Florence Director of Community Development Todd Morgan stated that, when reading the council’s findings of fact into the public record, QuikTrip’s proposal conflicted with the Boone County Comprehensive Plan, in addition to having unresolved traffic issues.
One of the key issues raised during the meeting was an incomplete traffic study for the project, specifically regarding new requirements from the state of Kentucky about restricted access points, which left unanswered questions about roadway capacity, safety and traffic diversion to nearby streets.
The council also questioned whether QuikTrip’s site was appropriate for such a high-traffic exit directly off Interstate-75. This exit is near several heavily trafficked buildings, including Seven Hills Church and a Remke Supermarket. Moreover, a neighboring parcel of land is slated to become the home of a new 7 Brew, a drive-thru-only coffee franchise known to generate large volumes of traffic.
“There were just a lot of questions that we had about the impact that this would have on traffic, and again, waiting for something more from the state of Kentucky, we pretty much are at a standstill as far as trying to figure out how to accommodate (QuikTrip),” Councilwoman Patricia Wingo said.
Following Wingo, Councilwoman Angie Cable raised concerns about how increased local traffic could negatively affect pedestrians in the area.
“I was just going to mention this is a walking community as well on that side of town, so we do have a lot of community members who do walk back and forth, and the concern of just traffic in that area,” Cable said.
Similar issues were raised by a nearby resident during the proposal’s public hearing before the planning commission on Jan. 7.
Due to the looming May 5 deadline set by the planning commission for a decision, the council decided it would be in their best interest not to approve the project.
