Council approves Kent Road redevelopment plan with Sheetz, Chick‑fil‑A and two retail buildings

City of Stow officials voted 7-0 on Feb. 20 to approve lot-split and site-plan permissions for an 8.73-acre commercial redevelopment at 4285 Kent Road that will create separate parcels for a Sheetz convenience store and fuel canopy, a Chick‑fil‑A with double drive‑through lanes, and two rear retail buildings.

The Planning Committee presentation and a later council resolution (Resolution 25-071) authorized the subdivision, multiple conditional uses and variances needed for the project. The council vote followed a detailed staff presentation, questions from council members and answers from the developer and the Sheetz representative.

The approved plan divides the property into three lots: Lot A for Sheetz (a 6,100-square-foot store with a 12‑station fuel canopy and 42 parking spaces), Lot B for Chick‑fil‑A (a 5,000-square-foot store with two drive‑through lanes and 82 parking spaces) and Lot C for two retail buildings (13,100 and 15,000 square feet with a combined 166 parking spaces). The site includes a new access drive that connects back to adjacent apartment buildings and reuses an existing signalized intersection; the developer will pay for intersection improvements described in the traffic impact study.

Planning staff said several variances were needed because of the lot geometry — the site’s long access drive made Lot B and Lot C narrower and deeper than the code’s lot-width and depth-to-width‑ratio requirements. Additional variances approved include reductions in required landscape area for Lot A (staff reported 20.3% provided vs. a 25% requirement), reduced screening along the property lines adjacent to residential R3 zones (code normally requires a 6‑foot fence or wall), and exceptions to maximum allowed lighting levels at property lines.

Drew McIntyre, the city’s deputy planning director, reviewed the site plan and the variances requested, and said the proposed uses (retail and service) are consistent with the city’s commercial-retail designation for the area. He summarized building sizes, setbacks and parking counts and noted the rear stormwater basin will serve the entire development.

Diane Kalta, representing Sheetz, addressed council questions about canopy height and store design. “The lowest point of the canopy is 18 feet,” Kalta said, adding that the canopy is angled and rises to about 22.5 feet. She noted Sheetz aims for consistent canopy heights across its new stores. The project requests a variance from the code maximum canopy height of 17 feet and a variance to allow a backlit canopy design prohibited by current code.

Developer Lance Osborne said the two rear retail shells are designed to be flexible for multiple tenants, though single tenants are preferred, and that the parcels are actively marketed. “They are designed to have multiple tenants in them,” Osborne said. “It's being widely marketed. There's interest, but we're not at letter-of-intent stage with any individual tenant yet.”

Council members asked about traffic and lighting. Staff and the developer said the traffic impact study calls for intersection widening, left‑turn lanes and a new signal head at Kent Road and Fish Creek; the developer agreed to pay the cost of those improvements. On the matter of the lot’s “right‑in, right‑out” access, the city engineer confirmed the island will be a raised island with a 6‑inch curb and ADA curb ramps, rather than just painted marks.

Lighting was a prominent concern: staff noted the city standard limits lighting to 0.5 foot‑candle at property lines, but photometric plans for this site show higher values (about 5 to 6.5 foot‑candles) near access drives and intersections; variances to the property‑line photometric limit were approved. Council members pressed for context and said they would look at the code during ongoing zoning updates.

Staff paused for questions after each lot presentation; councilors repeatedly thanked the developer for meeting with residents and for the additional traffic modeling. There were no public comments recorded on the project during the committee or council meetings.

Votes at a glance - Resolution 25‑071: Approve lot split, site plans and associated variances for application PC‑24‑41 (4285 Kent Road) — Passed, roll call 7‑0.

Next steps - Building permits and detailed engineering plans must be submitted and approved under the conditions set by the city; the developer will implement the traffic improvements described in the traffic impact study and pay associated costs. No additional timetable for construction was announced during the meeting.

(Reporting note: All quotes are taken from the Feb. 20, 2025 Planning Committee and City Council meeting transcript.)