Wylie planning commissioners recommend rezoning FM 544 site with limits on cannabis sales

The Wylie Planning and Zoning Commission on Aug. 19 moved to recommend that City Council rezone roughly 1.601 acres at the southeast corner of Sandon Boulevard and West FM 544 (listed in staff materials as 211 West FM 544 and elsewhere as 2111 FM 544) from Light Industrial (LI) to Commercial Corridor with a Special Use Permit (CCSUP) to allow a convenience store, a 16-pump fueling station and tenant retail uses. The commission’s motion included conditions to confine cannabis-related products and any dedicated smoke‑shop sales to space inside the convenience store and to set a maximum floor‑area for that use; staff will work with the applicant to define the exact square footage before the item goes to council.

Planning staff member Mr. Molina presented the staff report, saying the applicant’s submittal includes a site plan, floor plan and elevations, and that mailed notice went to seven property owners with no responses in favor or opposition. “The purpose of the request is to rezone the current property from light industrial to commercial corridor with a special use permit to allow for … a fueling station that has 16 fuel pump stations,” Molina said. He told commissioners the submission shows 38 parking spaces, a 5‑foot sidewalk along the front and 33% landscaping, and that the proposed site plan meets the city’s development requirements.

Kevin Patel, the engineer of record for Triangle Engineering, described the proposal as a combined convenience‑store/fueling station model and said the franchise operator, Nick and Moe’s, typically operates an in‑store restaurant offering alongside fuel and c‑store retail. “I’m the engineer of record for this project,” Patel said. Franchisee Benson Oseo said the operator is considering three quick‑service food concepts inside the store and that the project would create what he described as “about 15 to 20 permanent jobs.” Oseo said the developer initially considered adding a liquor offering but removed it after learning Wylie’s charter would not allow straight liquor sales at that location.

Commissioners focused most of their discussion on the proposed smoke shop and cannabis‑infused products. Multiple commissioners said they were unwilling to endorse a standalone smoke or cannabis retail use in the shell space shown on the plan. One commissioner summarized: the commission would prefer any smoking‑ or cannabis‑related products to be limited to inventory inside the convenience store (behind the counter) rather than allowing a separate, stand‑alone smoke shop. The group asked staff to work with the applicant to determine a maximum square footage for tobacco/THC/cannabis products; staff gave an example figure of 300 square feet as a possible starting point for the recommendation but said the exact number would be refined before City Council review. “We can say it needs to be limited to inside the convenience store behind the counter only, and staff will work with them to figure out a square footage maximum,” a staff member told the commission.

Benson Oseo told the commission the shell space on the east side of the building is flexible: if a smoke shop is not feasible, the developer could lease that space to a donut shop, Pizza Hut Express, Quiznos or another retail tenant allowed within the CC district. Commissioners also asked about drive‑through service; Oseo said there is no plan for drive‑through lanes at the site. The staff report indicates the special use permit would, if approved, serve as the site plan for the project.

The commission opened for public comment but received no substantive public opposition. During deliberations a commissioner moved that the commission recommend approval to City Council with the conditions discussed — limiting cannabis sales and smoke‑shop square footage to inside the convenience store and otherwise allowing the shell space to be leased to uses permitted in the CC zoning category — and the motion was seconded. The final vote tally on that motion was not recorded in the meeting transcript; staff and commissioners said the item will be forwarded to City Council for final action in approximately three weeks.

The staff packet lists the property with an internal case identifier (DC‑2025‑08); the submittal materials note the retail tenant space identified in the packet as approximately 1,100 square feet and show the convenience‑store building footprint at about 4,000 square feet. The site plan in the packet shows a fire lane across the building front, an existing drive on the east, and the landscaping and sidewalk described in the staff report. Notices were mailed to seven property owners; no written comments in favor or opposition were filed with staff.