Aurora committee hears QuikTrip plan for gas station with diesel lanes; item held for further review

City of Aurora zoning staff and a QuikTrip representative presented a preliminary site plan April 1 for a 5,000-square-foot QuikTrip convenience store and gas canopy with diesel fueling lanes at the southeast corner of Viola Road and Deal Road, and the Committee of the Whole left the related zoning items unfinished for further review.

Ed Seben, zoning and planning director, told the committee the proposal covers a convenience store with 16 fueling positions for smaller vehicles and four diesel fueling positions — two of which would be able to accommodate semi‑tractor trucks. “It is not near residential. It's along two arterial highways. ... Staff believes the additional diesel lanes are appropriate in this location,” Seben said.

The petitioner described the site as currently vacant and said the project includes 48 parking spaces, an eight‑foot multi‑use path along Eola and Deal roads, and two future electric vehicle charging spaces. The presenter identified himself as Ollie Buchres and said QuikTrip operates roughly 1,100 stores nationwide and has begun expanding into the Denver market. Buchres said the company expects roughly $200,000 in fuel taxes annually from the site but did not provide a firm total development cost. “Total cost for the development, I am not totally sure on the accurate number, but it'd be in the millions,” Buchres said.

Committee members and staff clarified how the city’s zoning code defines a “truck stop” for regulatory purposes. Seben said the project’s diesel lanes fall under the ordinance’s truck‑stop definition, but emphasized the proposed facility “is not a truck stop as anyone would think of it along a major interstate highway. ... There's gonna be no showers, no overnight truck,” and the staff recommendation includes a condition prohibiting on‑site truck parking.

Alderman Bacon asked whether QuikTrip uses mystery shoppers for alcohol sales and other products; Buchres said the company uses mystery shoppers for alcohol and for cigarettes, vape products and store appearance, and that QuikTrip employs in‑house compliance and rapid response maintenance teams.

The committee reviewed two agenda items tied to the project — an ordinance to grant a conditional use permit for diesel lanes (25‑0209) and a resolution to revise the preliminary plan and plat (25‑0210). After presentation and questions, the chair reported both items as “Unfinished” and they were not advanced to consent or a final vote at this meeting.

Because the committee did not vote on the plan or the conditional‑use permit at this meeting, no formal action was recorded and additional review will be required before the items return to the council or a committee for final action.