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Commission recommends Kroger rezoning at Memorial/Billinook with conditions after drainage, traffic concerns
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Summary
The commission recommended rezoning ~13.4 acres for a new 99,000‑sq‑ft Kroger and fuel center, accepting applicant commitments on deliveries, screening and additional detention but raising resident concerns about runoff, grading and nighttime deliveries; final engineering review and permit conditions remain to be resolved before council.
The Planning Commission on March 11 recommended approval of a planned commercial development rezoning for roughly 13.4 acres at the southwest corner of Tillinook Lane and Memorial Boulevard to accommodate a new Kroger and fuel center.
Randy Perry of Goodwin Mills Caywood, the applicant’s designer, described a 99,000‑square‑foot Kroger prototype, a fuel center, a truck well with an in‑grade compactor and landscaped type‑E buffers along the residential property lines. Perry said Kroger has completed a traffic study that TDOT and the city reviewed conceptually and that required improvements would include a right‑turn lane and two access points on Tillinook. He added the design anticipates permeable pavers and underground detention modules to store runoff and that Kroger would “over detain” beyond code minimums where feasible.
Neighbors told commissioners they worried the proposed building and loading docks would sit too close to backyard property lines, that site grading could raise portions of the site by up to about 6 feet, and that existing drainage already sends stormwater toward nearby yards. “It seems like everything’s funneling to my house,” resident Mike Bacon said, urging the commission to consider moving the building or siting detention ponds between the development and the Palmer Heights neighborhood.
Carla Thomas, another nearby resident, raised traffic and quality‑of‑life concerns and said the area’s schools and roads are already congested.
Perry and city engineering staff responded that schematic plans include inlets, headwalls, pipe networks and multiple detention elements; Perry said the site is tight at 13.4 acres and cannot be substantially reconfigured without more land, but that the design team moved the building as far from the property line as practicable and committed to constraints on delivery hours.
After questioning about enforceability of delivery‑hour conditions, curb‑cut widths, and drainage routing, commissioners voted to forward the rezoning to city council with staff comments and the expectation that final engineering and permitting will resolve outstanding drainage and access details.
