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Garden City council approves Sheetz gas station and app‑based pickup at Ford and Hubbard
Summary
The council unanimously approved a special land use for a 2.62‑acre Sheetz gas station with an app‑based pickup window at the northeast corner of Ford Road and Hubbard Avenue, after the planning commission recommended approval with minor site changes and staff described required screening and drainage adjustments.
The Garden City City Council unanimously approved a special land use Monday to allow a Sheetz auto‑fueling station with an app‑based pickup window at the northeast corner of Ford Road and Hubbard Avenue.
Planning staff told the council the 2.62‑acre site is in a C‑3 district and had been reviewed by the planning commission, which recommended approval contingent on minor revisions including additional screening adjacent to a sanitary sewer easement and adjustments to stormwater detention. Council member King moved to concur with the planning commission’s recommendation; the motion passed 7–0.
Alex Sawicki, an engineer speaking for Sheetz, said if approved the company would begin an engineering review process — including city, county and state reviews — that typically takes about six months, followed by approximately six months of construction. “Approved this evening, we will start, what we call the engineering process,” Sawicki said.
Council members and members of the public raised concerns about traffic, late‑night activity for a 24‑hour outlet and competition for smaller gas stations. Several council members, including Council member Dole, said competition alone is not a legal basis to deny an otherwise conforming development. Planning staff confirmed the site will not include truck fueling or truck parking and that the applicant adjusted the pickup window function to be primarily an app‑based pickup rather than an on‑site ordering kiosk to limit queuing impacts.
Planning staff noted efforts to preserve an on‑site tree while shifting a dumpster enclosure and to provide landscaping to screen the sewer easement. The council’s approval endorses the planning commission’s conditional site plan with those minor revisions required by staff and the commission.
The planning record identifies the applicant as Sheetz and gives a Farmington Hills corporate address; the agenda item lists the site as 32300 Ford Road. The planning commission and city staff will follow up on final site revisions and permit review before construction begins.
