Brook Park council pauses Circle K conditional-use push after traffic, zoning and neighborhood safety questions

Brook Park councilors on Tuesday heard more than two hours of public testimony and technical presentations on a proposed Circle K convenience store and gas station at 20085 Sheldon Road before voting to return the conditional-use request to committee for further review.

The item under consideration was Resolution 16-2024, introduced by council as a whole, asking the council to grant a conditional-use permit to construct a Circle K on a property currently zoned U-6. The Planning Commission had forwarded the application to council with a condition requiring a remedy for problems raised by an earlier traffic impact study; consultants later submitted an addendum to address those concerns.

Why it matters: Residents who live immediately behind the Dante’s property told council they are worried about increased traffic, noise, nighttime lighting, potential environmental risk from underground fuel systems and a loss of neighborhood character if a 24-hour corporate convenience store replaces the long-running restaurant. Council members expressed concern that traffic changes proposed in the consultant addendum — striping, minor pavement widening and signage to channel traffic to Kolthoff Road — do not fully resolve safety issues at the intersection of Sheldon Road and State Route 237 and that a speed-limit change would require Ohio Department of Transportation approval.

Traffic engineer Judy Bennett of GPD Group described the addendum as a response to earlier questions about how the Sheldon/237…