Council approves conditional rezoning for Pool Drive convenience store expansion and four fuel pumps amid contamination cleanup plan

Garner — The Town Council voted 3–2 on Feb. 4 to approve a conditional rezoning for two adjoining parcels at 900 and 910 Pool Drive that will allow an expanded convenience store and up to four fuel pumps, along with a new 5,000-square-foot retail building and an outdoor plaza with public art.

The rezoning (case CZMP-23-06) will allow the owner to expand the existing convenience store and to reconfigure the site; the applicant has committed in writing to a number of conditions now incorporated into the zoning approval, including limits on certain retail uses, window-advertising limits for nicotine/CBD products, added landscaping and an outdoor plaza with covered seating and a public-art element.

Why it matters: The parcels sit inside a neighborhood activity center along Avisborough Road and Pool Drive, and the site’s proximity to residences, a nearby park and busy state-maintained roads made the proposal contentious at the public hearing. The council and planning staff said the project's new conditions — notably the plaza and stricter screening, as well as restrictions on standalone vape/CBD…