Avon plan commission continues proposed c‑store/gas station at 1137 N. Avon Ave. to Oct. 27 after neighbors raise traffic, daycare concerns

The Town of Avon Advisory Plan Commission on a recorded voice vote continued DPR 25-04, a proposed convenience store and gas station at 1137 North Avon Avenue, to the Oct. 27 Plan Commission meeting after hearing from the petitioner and nearby residents. The petitioner requested a 90‑day continuance to complete additional right‑of‑way survey and civil engineering work required for zoning and to respond to staff comments.

Neighbors who signed in to comment told the commission they oppose the development because of existing traffic volumes on State Highway 267 and the project's proximity to a neighboring daycare. Jan Morgan, a nearby resident who provided an address for the record, said: “There are others too who disagree with the land gas station and convenience store. And we have so much traffic on 267, and there's only 1 building between the proposed building and another large speedway gas station in The Philippines. I don't think we're ready for another. Also, they would be right next door to a daycare, which does not seem very safe.” Sharon Ross, another resident, said traffic already makes it “impossible to get out sometimes during the evening and the morning.”

The petitioner’s representative, identified in the transcript as Mr. Rooney, said a traffic impact study submitted after the initial filing is the reason additional right‑of‑way work is necessary and that the team has begun seeking bids for the required engineering. Rooney told the commission: “We did after the initial filing, we had a traffic impact study, and that is the reason for the additional right of way work, which would help to alleviate traffic both existing and any new traffic that we would add.”

Commissioners questioned the pace of the petitioner’s communication with staff and whether sufficient progress would be made before a further continuance would be allowed. Staff told the commission that under the Plan Commission’s rules of procedure the body must not move a petition more than six months beyond its original scheduled hearing date; staff advised that continuing DPR 25-04 to Oct. 27 would keep the item within the commission’s six‑month limit but would require additional mailed notice to adjacent property owners.

On procedural points, commissioners clarified that a request for continuance is not a public hearing and that taking neighborhood comments on the continuance was discretionary; the commission chose to allow brief public comments so the petitioner could hear neighbors’ concerns.

The motion to continue DPR 25-04 carried on a unanimous vote of the commissioners present: Paul Guchenberger, Catherine Ransberg, Dave Kaufman, Bill Reed and Andrew Rochabran. The item was previously docketed for May and continued to July; staff confirmed this is the second continuance. The petitioner will return on Oct. 27 with the additional survey and engineering information and with the mailed notice required by the town for a continuance of this length.