Commission approves gas-station permit at Stella Ranch after residents warn of traffic and drainage risks

The Bryan Planning and Zoning Commission voted to approve conditional use permit CU26-036 on March 5, 2026, allowing a motor-fuel retail (gas station and convenience store) on an 8.29-acre commercial tract in Phase 14 of the Stella Ranch planned development.

Staff planner Mikaela Dickinson told commissioners the site lies in Planning Area 2 of the PD, which the PD designated for retail uses, and that motor-fuel retail is conditionally permitted in the applicable C2-type land-use portion of the development. Dickinson said the proposed site plan includes fuel canopies, landscaping buffers and a 50-foot no-development strip between the commercial tract and future residential lots to the north. She said the proposal meets the PD standards and applicable supplementary regulations and that staff recommended approval.

The permit drew extensive public comment from nearby and county residents who said the site could worsen existing traffic and drainage problems and increase light and noise. Lisa McDonald, who said she lives across from the water tower near the site, told the commission, “With a gas station, there'll be a lot of increase in crime ... trash blowing around, the noise, gas fumes, light pollution all night long.” Several residents urged pausing the permit to allow wider community input or to wait for TxDOT improvements to FM 1179.

Engineer Paul Jordan, representing the applicant, said the design anticipates mitigation: the project includes a detention pond placed to the south of the site to hold stormwater and reduce runoff, and the team can adjust landscaping to screen adjacent properties despite a public-utility easement along one frontage. Jordan said the building height will be capped and that lighting and site design would be refined through site-plan review. Brian Reese, managing partner of Stellar Ranch development, added that the development will be subject to the subdivision's Architectural Review Committee and city standards and that the team had provided additional detention and buffers in the design.

Commissioners pressed both sides on drainage and on the timing of TxDOT roadway improvements. Staff and the applicant said the site will not have direct driveways to FM 1179 and that access will be from Stellar Ranch Boulevard; they said TxDOT had not approved any new direct access to FM 1179 but that the applicant's engineering package includes on-site detention sized to meet city requirements.

After discussion about landscaping commitments, height limits and the site's compliance with the PD, a commissioner moved to approve CU26-036 and adopt the staff report as the commission's findings. The motion carried on a voice vote; commissioners recorded no dissent in the meeting minutes.

The conditional use permit approval means the applicant may move to site-plan and building-permit review; final permits will be subject to detailed engineering, city code compliance and any required TxDOT approvals for future access changes.