PARKVILLE, Mo. — With luck on its side, Parkville will be home to a new QuikTrip by this time next year.
The Parkville Board of Aldermen unanimously approved both a rezoning request and a preliminary plan for the construction of a “generation three” QuikTrip gas and convenience store at the intersection of Highways 45 and 9 during its regular meeting on Tuesday, May 5. This reaffirms and finalizes the unanimous approval of the Parkville Planning and Zoning Commission last week during its meeting.
White Goss attorney Patricia Jensen and Matt Brooks, QuikTrip real estate project manager, presented the outline for the planned development. The preliminary renderings propose a 5,858 square foot retail space, 18 gas pumps at nine islands under a canopy, two monument signs, 74 parking spaces, circulation around the building and three points of access.
The entries/exits are proposed from the existing drive at Bank Liberty on Highway 9, a new access to Highway 45 between the new QuikTrip and the existing Fellowship of Grace Church and access to Highway 45 at Julian Drive via a new frontage road connected to the existing frontage road to the east. The store will be nearly identical to the new Riverside location which recently opened, Jensen said, although with fewer pumps.
“This has been a long road for QuikTrip,” Jensen said. “They are looking forward to becoming one of your community partners.”
The started in 2013, when a proposal was submitted to Parkville involving both a QuikTrip and a McDonald’s restaurant on the site. The developer withdrew the application after a traffic impact study and due to other concerns with the site.
The current development plans have been modified to address concerns related to traffic, noise, lighting and separation from Pinecrest. Major changes included eliminating McDonald’s, lowering the site, modifying access, lowering parking lot lighting and providing additional landscape buffers between the site and the nearest residential properties.
Brooks acknowledged there will be much dirt work to do to remove the hill and lower the site, and Parkville city administrator Lauren Palmer said several parties had their eyes on that fill dirt. The city is just one of those parties. The dirt is attractive for use to build up ball field areas at Platte Landing park.
However, due to the Army Corps of Engineers current work on the wetland restoration, the timing to relocate the dirt may not work out.
A representative of the Riss Lake Homeowner’s Association told the board while he wasn’t there to speak in opposition to the development, there were still concerns. Specifically, area residents who believe a stoplight should be installed at the Julian Drive intersection. He said the homeowner’s association has scheduled its own meeting with Missouri Department of Transportation representatives to explore that option.
The application was approved with 18 conditions, including further exploration of traffic control options at Julian Drive.
Other stipulations include widening street entrances, lengthening turn lanes and redesigning the frontage road. The access and internal drives must accommodate South Platte Fire Protection District ladder and pumper trucks and the site plan may be adjusted if needed to ensure compliance.
In addition to those stipulations identified by MoDOT and the city’s planning staff, development director Sean Ackerson noted the Planning and Zoning Commission itself had asked for a few additional conditions. The two monument sign heights will be substantially reduced, particularly the sign on Highway 9, and the two signs must be landscaped at the base.
Two sign medallions on the north side of the building will also be omitted from the final plan. With the approval, site grading could begin in July or August. Construction will take approximately eight months with the store tentatively open for business next spring.