Planning commission approves wholesale club and fuel center at West Cumberland; residents raise traffic and access concerns

The Tyler Planning and Zoning Commission on an August hearing approved a site-plan amendment to allow a 104,000-square-foot wholesale club with an associated fuel center on an 11.19-acre parcel at West Cumberland Road and South Broadway and approved related planned‑mixed‑use zoning changes, city staff said.

The decision matters because the development will include multiple fuel pumps and a fuel kiosk and because residents and nearby homeowners said the development and a new Parkside Drive alignment could increase traffic and change neighborhood access patterns.

City planner Sheila (last name not specified) told commissioners the amendment is consistent with the development standards previously approved for the larger mixed‑use area and that the project keeps a 15-foot undisturbed buffer along West Cumberland Road as required by the 2019 PD amendment. "The site plan has been designed in compliance with the development standards established under the Unified Development Code and includes detailed layouts for building placement, vehicular circulation, parking, fuel operations, landscape areas, and utility infrastructure," Sheila said.

Mark Lavoie, site development manager for BJ's Wholesale Club, said the fuel center will serve members only and described noise and buffering features. "We are a membership club similar to Sam's and Costco, where you'll need a membership to purchase items at our club and to buy fuel at our fuel center. So the fuel center is not open to the general public," Lavoie said. He added that the building will be set 20 to 30 feet below Cumberland Road and that the approved PD required a landscape buffer along the road.

Developer representatives said the site plan follows an earlier 2019 planned‑development approval for retail, restaurant, lodging and residential uses. Trey Brewer, vice president of real estate for the Genicover Group, said the team has worked with the city on medians and access and is prepared to answer technical questions on traffic counts and medians.

Residents and homeowners in the area urged caution. Ryan Tut, who said he lives at 8501 Crooked Trail, spoke in opposition to the gas station across from his neighborhood, describing visibility and quality‑of‑life concerns: "I'm opposed to having the gas station right across the street from us," Tut said. Pete Andrews, 315 West Cumberland Road, and other neighbors echoed worries about existing congestion on Cumberland and possible additional queuing.

City staff and developer representatives discussed access geometry and traffic mitigation. Kyle (city staff) said medians and turn‑movement limitations were designed to reduce the need for a traffic signal at the new Parkside Drive alignment and that a traffic impact analysis had been performed and used to identify mitigation. Kyle said the medians are intended to limit certain left turns and direct traffic to other access points into the development.

Sheila said one notice of opposition was returned among mailed notices, for a protest calculation of 2.27 percent; staff recommended approval. The commission voted to approve the site-plan amendment and the special‑use permit for fuel sales; the special‑use permit was granted indefinitely.

Project details discussed at the hearing included eight dispensers (16 fueling positions) that Mark Lavoie said will allow three cars to stack per dispenser lane, and a total of about 453 parking spaces for the overall development, Todd Martin and Kimberly Horn said. The developer team also noted that the site is set lower than Cumberland Road and that a landscape buffer is part of the approved plan.

What the approvals mean next: final platting, permitting and any off‑site work such as the Parkside Drive alignment and medians remain subject to final engineering approvals and construction permitting. Residents requested additional landscaping and screening at the Parkside Drive entrance across from Crooked Trail; commissioners and staff said medians, access spacing and traffic studies will guide those design decisions.

The commission approved the related zone changes and site-plan amendment at the hearing; building permits and detailed engineering will determine final median placement, signal needs and construction sequencing.