Commissioners approve Circle K "fueling center" rezone after heated public comment in Romney

Tippecanoe County commissioners on April 7 approved an ordinance to rezone a parcel near the intersection of State Road 28 and U.S. 231 for a Circle K fueling center, voting 3-0 to include a set of commitments from the petitioner designed to limit impacts on nearby homes.

The rezone ordinance (Ordinance 2025-10) passed after several hours of staff presentations, a petitioner’s presentation and extended public comment from residents who said the proposed facility would put headlights, diesel fumes and noise into their yards and threaten private wells and nearby Weill Creek.

County planning staff told commissioners the new “fueling center” classification in the Unified Zoning Ordinance is meant to allow a hybrid use that is neither a conventional gas station nor a full truck stop; the definition limits such facilities to no more than four acres and no more than four semi-truck parking spaces. Planning staff recommended denial based on the site’s proximity to existing houses, saying the use “belongs more kind of on the edge of town.”

Kevin Reilly, attorney for the petitioner, told the board the company expects to capture existing traffic on the two…