Lakewood Planning Commission denies Kwik Trip special-use permit for 675 Kipling Street

The Lakewood Planning Commission denied a special-use permit request from Kwik Trip for a fueling station and convenience store at 675 Kipling Street on April 2, 2025, rejecting a motion to approve by a 5–1 vote.

The permit application proposed a redeveloped 2.65-acre site at the northwest corner of Kipling Street and West Sixth Avenue Frontage Road with 16 gasoline pumps plus 17 electric vehicle (EV) chargers — 8 “superchargers” and 9 level-2 chargers — a convenience store with a full-service kitchen and a plaza area. The applicant and its counsel argued the station met the zoning code’s exception to the city’s 1,000-foot spacing rule because “the primary fuel source at the project is electricity, because there are 17 EV stations, charging stalls, and only 16 fuel pumps,” counsel David Foster told commissioners.

The disagreement over how to measure “primary fuel” was central to the hearing. City staff recommended approval, saying the applicant had proposed a configuration in which electric charging would be the primary fuel type under the zoning code and had otherwise met dimensional and design standards. Kara Mueller, senior planner for Lakewood’s development assistance division, told commissioners that staff found the proposal consistent with applicable articles of the zoning ordinance and with the city’s comp plan goals for activity-area redevelopment and multimodal transportation.

Commissioners and members of the public focused heavily on two legal-review points prescribed by the zoning code’s supplemental standards. One is whether the proposed station’s primary fuel is different from the gasoline-only Circle K about 1,000 feet away; the other is whether existing traffic conditions “prevent clear and simple access” between the two sites. Kwik Trip’s traffic consultant and the applicant argued that the newly installed raised median and the relative difficulty of legally crossing Kipling meant the stations were not in direct, “clear and simple” access to each other. Jeff Plank, the traffic engineer on the team, summarized the applicant’s traffic argument and crash analysis and told commissioners, “a double yellow striping does not prevent illegal maneuvers, but it does prevent clear and simple access.”

Several commissioners, however, said the record before them did not support finding either exception was met under current conditions. Commissioners questioned whether counting charging “connections” (17 chargers vs. 16 pumps) was a sufficient or reliable metric for determining which fuel would be “primary” on day one, pointing to charging speeds and how many vehicles each technology can serve per day. Commissioners asked Kwik Trip for operational or revenue-based analysis comparing likely daily vehicle throughput or energy-equivalent measures; the applicant said it had not provided a detailed revenue or throughput model and described EV use as a rapidly evolving market.

Public testimony also emphasized safety concerns at the intersection. Several nearby property owners and business representatives described frequent illegal left turns, U-turns and pedestrian crashes near the site and said the location would draw high school students on foot from Lakewood High School. One resident who said he had worked across Kipling for decades described repeated collisions and pedestrian strikes in the corridor.

Commissioner Karen Overall moved to adopt staff findings and approve the special-use permit; Commissioner Mary O’Neil seconded the motion. The roll-call vote was: Furman — no; Grama Lewinis — no; Kalkmeyer — no; O’Neil — no; Overall — yes; Williams — no. The motion failed 5–1 and the application was denied. The minutes show the commission amended the draft resolution to correct a commissioner name before the vote, but did not adopt the staff recommendation.

Speakers and participants noted the application’s history: a prior similar special-use request for the site was denied by the commission in an earlier hearing, and attendees referenced an ongoing legal dispute related to that prior denial during public comment. Staff told commissioners the project would still require a major site plan review if the special-use determination were to be approved. For now, the commission declined to find either the “different primary fuel” or the “prevent clear and simple access” supplemental standards satisfied by the evidence presented.

The commission’s denial leaves the applicant with options under municipal process (including potential resubmittal with additional evidence or legal/administrative appeal); speakers and public commenters said Kwik Trip has already pursued legal action related to a prior denial, a point raised by an opponent during public comment.