Martinsville Planning Commission members on June 24 approved final plat PC25013, a three‑lot replat for property addressed roughly 1530–1630 South Ohio Street that the applicants said will reserve the center lot for a Kroger fuel center. The vote followed public comment and discussion about traffic impacts and remediation of tanks at an existing nearby fuel site.

Michael McBride, representing Martinsville Outparcel Retail LLC, told the commission the proposal would divide the parcel into three lots and that "the ultimate goal on the middle lot would be [a] Kroger Fuel Center." McBride said the proposed Lot 2 would be the smallest at about 34,497 square feet. Mike Guggenheim, an owner affiliated with Artesian Square LLC and Martinsville Outparcel Retail, and Kroger representative Brianna Ramsey were present to answer questions.

Ramsey described the planned facility as a fuel station with a small walk‑up kiosk rather than a full convenience store: "There will not be a convenience store. Just that walk up kiosk. It'll get manned by a single attendant." She and the applicant said typical kiosk space is about 200 square feet.

Neighbors at the meeting said they were concerned about increased traffic at the nearby intersection of Ohio Street, Holden Street and the area around Circle K. Resident Glenda McMurray, who lives at 1639 Northwest Avenue, said traffic from the existing station already makes turning onto Ohio Street difficult and asked how the new access would be routed.

Developers and staff said the submitted plans stagger access to reduce straight‑through movements and that one driveway would divert traffic toward Artesian and toward the Ruth/stoplight corridor rather than directly across Ohio Street. McBride said the revised proposal "should substantially reduce" traffic that would otherwise cut straight through to Kroger.

Commissioners and staff also discussed environmental cleanup at the existing Turkey Hill/Circle K site. Kroger's representative said Kroger operates the existing location and "we do not own it" and that Kroger would comply with state requirements to decommission and remediate any tanks when required. The commission noted tank cleanup is governed by state law and would be addressed during development permitting.

The commission's action was limited to determining whether the plat as submitted complied with the city's subdivision and zoning ordinances; zoning for the property is already commercial. Planning Commissioner Ann Miller made the motion to approve PC25013; Steve Bodie seconded, and the motion carried.

The approved plat creates the three lots but does not itself authorize final site plan approval for the fuel center or other buildings; developers will return with any required development plans and environmental remediation details for staff review and permitting.