Planning commission recommends denial of Circle K gas station at Riviera Drive

The Lake Havasu City Planning and Zoning Commission voted 7'to'0 on April 15 to recommend denial of an application by Circle K to rezone 51 Riviera Drive to permit a convenience store with fuel sales.

City staff presented application ID26-5174 for the 1.43-acre parcel in the city's commercial-commercial health district (C-CHD), noting that fuel sales are not a permitted use in that district. The general development plan submitted by the applicant shows a store with six fuel pumps, 27 parking spaces and shared ingress/egress; staff said the development triggered a traffic-signal warrant that the developer would be required to install if the project moves forward.

Brendan Ray, the applicant's representative, told the commission Circle K's prototype store would be a 5,200-square-foot corporate-owned facility with enhanced security and landscaping. Ray said the convenience store would rely mainly on pass-by traffic, and referenced a traffic study estimating roughly 3,000 "trips" in a 24-hour period but argued many of those are already movements within the area rather than new destination trips. He also described underground storage-tank protections, noting double-wall tanks, continuous monitoring and third-party inspections and reporting to state regulators.

Multiple residents and property owners opposed the application during public comment. John Perro, a commercial real-estate professional, said Mosquite Avenue is already congested and predicted the gas station would make traffic and crash risk worse. "If you built a building there and it was an insurance company, people would come to work at 8:00'and leave at 5:00. A doctor's office is an hour to an hour-and-a-half visit. A gas station visit is 15 minutes. The coming and going is going to be, I think, a mess," Perro said. Jerry Sack, who represents property owners across the street, told commissioners: "I cannot believe we could put a gas station in a medical district."

Commissioners framed their decision around two recurring concerns: traffic and the long-standing policy goal of concentrating medical-related uses near Havsu Regional Medical Center. Several commissioners noted the limited remaining vacant parcels in the district and the community's aging population, saying the site should be preserved for potential health-care uses. Commissioner Paul Lair made the motion to recommend denial, which Miss Zuro seconded; the motion passed unanimously. The commission amended the motion to clarify it was sending a recommendation to city council rather than taking final action.

The commission record shows staff will forward the application and the commission's recommendation to the Lake Havasu City Council; staff stated the council hearing is scheduled for May 26 for the separate council review. The commission's conditions-of-approval checklist remains on the record should the council decide to approve the project, including requirements that the project substantially match the development plan, satisfy design-review and building-permit requirements, and provide the traffic-signal design prior to development.

The planning commission's discussion and the public record reflect persistent local concerns about traffic, pedestrian safety and preserving the medical character of the corridor; the city council will now review the application and the commission's recommendation.