Changes are on the horizon for the busy US 42 corridor in Florence.
Florence may be getting a new Bank of America branch and a new Wawa market. The two developments being considered moved closer to approval during the Oct. 14 Florence City Council business meeting.
The Bank of America Change of Concept Development Plan involved tweaks to the design of a new branch to be constructed at the corner of US 42 and Farmview Drive. The new development also includes a Publix supermarket.
The Florence Planning and Zoning Committee recommended approving the design, with conditions. The main concern, Florence Director of Community Development Todd Morgan told LINK nky before the meeting, had to do with the roof pitch and masonry finish.
The council unanimously voted to pass the ordinance approving the design.
A Wawa proposed at the intersection of US 42 and Hopeful Church Road involves the construction of a 6.372-foot convenience store with gas pumps on a 3.8-acre site. Wawa is a Pennsylvania-based chain that is expanding into the Midwest. The proposed Florence store is one of several proposed in Northern Kentucky.
At the Sept. 23 business meeting, the city council heard from Wawa representatives and consultants who described the project’s design and potential impacts to traffic and the adjacent residential neighborhood.
“This is a gas station, replacing a gas station,” councilmember Patricia Wingo explained. “We had nine additional conditions with many sub-conditions in each of those conditions.”
The conditions included specifications for signage, lighting and fences. Wingo noted that the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet had jurisdiction over how the entrances and exits were designed. “We can’t control access in and out of that location,” Wingo said. “But we did ask for specific signage and the developer has been more than willing to work with us on these things.”
Before voting 4-2 to approve the first reading of the ordinance (with councilmembers Lesley Chambers and Angie Cable dissenting), council members explained that they were constrained by Kentucky state law and rules.
“If it was as easy as us sitting up here and saying we like or don’t like a project, that would be one thing,” councilmember Diane Whalen said. “But as city council people, we are not permitted to allow our personal opinions or feelings to come into play when we’re dealing with a project.”
Though she voted to approve the first reading, Whalen expressed some concerns about the project. “It is a regional draw, which in my opinion, maybe doesn’t belong in a residential area where they’ve chosen to put it,” Whalen said. “I believe that Wawa will be a good corporate neighbor and do everything in their power to make this as easy on our residents and our traffic flow as possible.”
After the vote to approve the first reading, Arrington Conner Davis made an emotional statement to the council. “I know we’re a small pea in this pod that we’re dealing with as far as the Wawa guys,” Davis told the council.
He and his wife own Lita’s Tacos. Their family business occupies a building that will be razed to make way for the new Wawa. He asked the council members to think about the impacts on his family and their business if the Wawa project is approved. “Where are my kids going to eat at?” Davis said.
Lita’s Tacos has been at its US 42 location for 6 years. Davis and his wife, Mari, started as a food truck before expanding into their brick-and-mortar restaurant.
Davis, 44, is a Florence native. “We’re going to be evicted,” Davis told LINK nky after the council meeting. “These people came in town and they’re the bigger fish.”
“This is a very hard vote,” Chambers, the council member who voted against the project, told LINK nky in an interview after the meeting. “Everyone on council worked really hard to make the best outcome for the residents possible.”
“Personal feelings aside, this is the state law that we’re required to follow, a process we’re required to follow, and the discussions that we’ve had and the vote that we need to take based on the evidence presented to us,” Whalen said before voting to approve the first reading.
Mayor Julie Metzger Aubuchon explained the constraints on Florence’s elected leaders. “This project was approved by the Planning Commission,” Aubuchon said ahead of the vote. “So when they bring forward a recommendation for approval, it would take four votes to overturn their recommendation for approval. Basically, four votes to deny it. If it is a tie vote, I do not vote; I never vote as mayor in planning and zoning matters.”
The concerns Davis expressed are beyond the council’s purview. Chambers told LINK nky that Florence Director of Business Development Justin Finke could work with Davis to keep his family business in the city. “I hope that he will work with Arrington to find a new location to keep Lita’s Tacos in our city because what they bring to our community is priceless,” Chambers said.