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Council rejects rezoning request for Delbello Road gas station after widespread resident opposition
Summary
After an extended public hearing in which scores of nearby residents spoke against a proposed rezoning to allow a gas station and convenience store at Corey and Delbello, the council voted 0–7 to deny the first‑reading motion to rezone the 12.6‑acre site to light commercial with an SUP.
The City of Manville council considered a rezoning and specific‑use permit request for a 12.6‑acre tract at the southwest corner of Corey Road and Delbello Road that would have allowed a convenience store and a gasoline station but voted unanimously to defeat the first‑reading motion.
Staff described the site, at the intersection of two future major thoroughfares, as vacant and located near residential parcels; the applicant proposed subdividing the property for multiple retail buildings, including a 1.21‑acre footprint for a gasoline station and convenience store. Staff said the site lacks city water and sewer and that the applicant proposed using a well and septic for the initial phase. The planning and zoning commission voted unanimously against recommending approval (0–7) after residents raised concerns about traffic, road safety, environmental risk, lighting, noise and impacts on property values.
At the council meeting, more than two dozen residents and property owners — including several who said their families have owned the surrounding land for generations — addressed the council in opposition. Speakers cited an abundance of existing service stations inside or near the city, risks of groundwater contamination for a community relying heavily on private wells, narrow and deteriorated road conditions on Delbello and County Road 58, a nearby school route and an absence of sidewalks or shoulders for pedestrians.
Several residents noted a city ordinance (cited in public comment as a distance standard) that they said prohibits a gasoline station within two miles of an existing station measured property‑line to property‑line; speakers argued the proposal contravened the ordinance or at least ran counter to local planning expectations. The planning commission had concluded the application lacked sufficient traffic and drainage analysis and that the site’s residential context weighed against the request.
Council took a motion to approve the rezoning on first reading; after a second, the motion failed 0–7. No additional amendments were offered on the council floor.
Ending: With the first‑reading motion defeated, the rezoning request will not advance; council members asked staff and the applicant to engage with residents and to return only if outstanding technical analyses (traffic, drainage, utilities) and community concerns are resolved.
