Planning commission recommends special-use permit for Wally’s travel center at Nolan Road interchange after prolonged debate

The Independence Planning Commission recommended approval of a special‑use permit for a Wally’s travel center proposed at 4023 S. Nolan Road at the I‑70 interchange after several hours of testimony from staff, the applicant and dozens of residents and business owners.

Staff presented the application (case 252007) and described a site of approximately 19 acres adjacent to the interstate. The submitted concept included about 54,000 square feet of building area for a travel center; roughly 350,000 square feet of paved area; an above‑ground detention/landscape area; about 84 fuel pumps (42 dispensers); 12 electric vehicle charging stations; and approximately 300 parking spaces. Staff also listed 14 conditions to approval, including confirmation of rights‑of‑way and construction easements, compliance with the city’s street‑network and stormwater requirements, a required plat, a six‑foot masonry screening wall along residential property lines, sidewalks on both sides of internal streets, and a development agreement tied to a city sanitary sewer capital improvement…