QuikTrip developers plan to proceed despite city’s move to reverse decision to replat parcel of land
Cheap gas, endless fountain soda varieties and ready-made gas station sandwiches aren’t a desire for many Ormewood Park residents — at least in their backyards, anyways.
QuikTrip was set to open a 14-pump, 5,700-square-foot gas station and convenience store at 731 Moreland Avenue — currently a rundown Jiffy Grocery Store — but encountered a few setbacks.
“No QT Here,” an association of several neighborhood groups, hired a “specialist attorney” to fight the proposed gas station.
They’ve managed to halt the project. At least for now.
The city’s planning office revoked its approval for replatting the lot slated for the QT because splitting one of the commercial lots would have violated frontage regulations.
The property owner, Gobind L. Madan, has 30 days to appeal the decision.
The building permit approval for the project has been put on hold as the city waits for QuikTrip to make their next move, according to a release from “No QT Here.”
East Atlanta Patch has been following the story closely and explains some legalities here.
What are your predictions? Will QuikTrip prevail or will “No QT Here” claim victory?– share your take in the comments.
21 Responses
Why fight this?
Who would prefer a run down, crack head grocery store to a clean modern reasonably priced gas/c-store?
This lot isn’t about to become the next VA. Highland or Buckhead.
The neighborhood association and the city should be bending over backwards to get QT on this site.
I am not usually pro-chain store but on this strip of Moreland any catalyst to improve the retail mix and chase out low rent ghetto stores would be a plus. This is the kind of improvement this block could use.
My wife worked for QT while she was in college and has nothing but great things to say about her experience. It’s a company that lives by the mantra of maintaining a clean, well-lit, and friendly story w/ competitive and reasonable gas prices. They don’t tolerate vagrants and will ensure that their customers and residents are safe. What is the problem with adding this to the neighborhood. Have you stopped at any of the gas stations on Moreland before. The smell of stale cigarette smoke compounded with your local addicts and troublemakers hanging around must be some sick form of nostalgia for the residents. I’m all about supporting local businesses but this is one that is worth having around.
Simple. QT just needs to advertise it’s gas as organic and sell $5 cupcakes and Lemon Verbena popsicles…then all of the yuppies will be quivering with excitement and stop their nagging.
wow – it doesn’t sound like Josh, Mad Russian or Clicker live anywhere near East Atlanta. EAV has more than its share of gas stations and we don’t need a huge chain littering the landscape in EAV with more. Plus it would put too much stress on Moreland and the residents in the immediate area. just drive another 1/2 mile and get your gas at Kroger.
They need to bring back the squeezable quart, or Squart. I miss it.
Sorry EAV resident, I’m a neighbor too.
I’m just not opposed to the neighborhood improving even if that improvement comes from a national chain.
Just because we have run down gas stations and crappy tire & rim stores doesn’t mean that a good well run C-store and gas station wouldn’t be an improvement.
A gas station doesn’t generate substantial additional traffic, it just moves gas station traffic from one local gas station to another. No one is driving miles or getting off I-20 and fighting through 4 traffic lights to go to a QT so I’m not worried about “stress” on Moreland or the neighborhood.
The “JIFFY” location they are taking over has been a blight on the EAV area for more than 20 years, even before EAV started being renovated.
This is just more yuppie knee jerk anti-chain sentiment. The fact is in the world of gas stations, the chains do a MUCH better job. No one is going to miss any of 4-5 dated run down “Ghetto Gas Wings and Chinese Food Stations” if QT drives them out of business.
EAV is a great location and those stations will quickly be leased by restaurants looking for EAV locations. The biggest problem for EAV is the CRAP on Moreland. With the exception of Delia’s Chicken Sausage Stand, and maybe the dance studio, ALL of the EAV area businesses on Moreland could be closed with no loss to the neighborhood.
first off – there are no addicts, yuppies or crack heads in ormewood park. it’s a solidly middle-class neighborhood. people here have worked hard to improve this neighborhood.
second – i’m not against a new gas station on moreland but i am against “the world of gas stations” being located within 15 feet of people’s homes. plain and simple, this project would negatively impact property values and resident safety in a neighborhood i’ve seen greatly improve in the 12 years i’ve lived here. we may not be va. highland or candler park now but we will NEVER be that kind of neighborhood if we engage in short-term thinking like this.
third – the design of the station WOULD drive all the traffic right into ormewood park residential streets. check out http://www.facebook.com/noqthere to get all the details.
today, we have a nationally-recognized ice cream shop – morelli’s – in a location that 10 years ago was nearly as bad as jiffy mart. had a 24 hour, 14 pump gas station gone in instead (“it’s better than what’s there now”), in hindsight, we can see it would have been a very bad thing. i’m here for the long-haul so i’m for the things that are best for our neighborhood in the long-haul. i’m not anti-chain (i’d love to have a cvs or walgreen’s there); i’m pro-smart development. i don’t want something that is bad for property values or children’s safety.
I’m taking the Corporation’s side on this one also. I don’t see why this would be a bad thing for the neighborhood. There is always a police presence at these 24-hour QTs and it can’t be any more of an eyesore than the Jiffy Grocery shack. (Also, the gas stations near I-20 are horrible if you’re trying to get in or out.)
This is a non-story. Nothing I’m the “story” supports the headline that QT is going forward. The facts are the neighbors don’t want this so they hired an attorney to make sure the city follows the law. The city reversed itself and QT has “no comment.” the residents are working with QT to find a better spot. End of story. Must be a slow news day. Move along.
@ EAV Resident
I live right by EAV and adding a QT will put a heck of a lot of pressure on those poorly run, transient infested stations and most likely run them out of business. I’m a regular visitor to EAV and love the neighborhood but the thing I can’t stand is the tolerance for poorly run businesses that only serve to run this fantastic section of the city down. By the way, Kroger gas is the worst of the worst for your car.
EAV is at least half a mile away from the proposed qt site. i wonder if people would be so into this development if it was right next to their homes… i doubt it.
Lot of talk about the QT being “within 15 feet from residental homes.” It’s only two homes folks. What did these people expect living that close to Moreland?
If the QT falls through, I hope they put a new Supreme Fish Delight in that spot. mmmmm
As a resident of Ormewood Park, I would like to see Jiffy Grocery and the run down Liberty Tax building get replaced with something more attractive. In fact, when we purchased 6+ years ago, we (wrongly) assumed that the corner would eventually be developed with something similar to the corners across the street and diagonal — retail and/or live/work condominiums. Then, as we all know, the real estate market crashed and there sits Jiffy in its perpetual dilapidated state. By the way – shame on the property owner Gobind Madan for allowing his property to be in such a sorry, sorry state of blight.
I am not anti-QT, in fact I like to buy gas from QT and I don’t think that the presence of QT is a bad thing. However, QT wants to build a mega 14-pump station…the kind you expect to see in the suburbs, near a highway exit ramp or a shopping mall. A QT on the corner of Moreland and Ormewood would have too much negative impact the quality of life for the surrounding homes. Not only will a 24-hour mega station generate excessive light pollution at night…I really, really don’t want to hear 18-wheelers pull in and out at all hours of the night to refill the underground tanks and restock the convenience store shelves. Please QT, come to East Atlanta, but find a better-suited location on Moreland.
After this battle is won, perhaps we can explore ways to make Gobind Madan clean up his run-down buildings.
So What – Maybe there are “only two homes” that would directly border the property, but there are four homes on the affected section of Ormewood – six if you count the homes on the corners of Woodland and Ormewood. Additionally, there would be multiple affected homes on Hall Avenue.
Living close to Moreland, we absolutely expect commercial property near our home. We like being close to retail shops and restaurants and we wouldn’t be opposed to a convenience store or even a modest-size corner filling station. QT is proposing a 14-pump station like you’d expect to see near the highway or near a shopping mall. While it might be better than the dump that currently occupies the corner, it doesn’t make it a good fit. Heck, a strip club would probably be cleaner and better-maintained than Jiffy and Liberty, but bad for the neighborhood.
The residents of this “up-and-coming” fringe neighborhood remind me of the distinguished residents of Cobb and Gwinett County who violently opposed MARTA rail expansion to their counties, and we can certainly see where that has gotten them…outrageously high gasoline bills from the horrid (and getting worse)commute times…progress for the greater good requires sacrifice of one’s self-interest…
http://www.stopbuyingcrap.com/stop-buying-crap/brand-conscious-buying-3-gasoline/
“What did they expect living so close to Moreland?” I’ll tell you: Those people expected businesses and developers to abide by the zoning laws and not figure out cute ways to subvert them so that a 24/7/365 gas station is built right next to their homes. Those people expected the city to enforce a 100′ buffer requirement between gas stations and people’s houses. Is that so much to ask? And yes, I love QT, but not here. And no, I don’t live in those houses.
Okay. As a former QT employee, I can tell you that our gas is not the best quality out there. We buy cheap gas that does not have any additives to boost power and guarantee better performance and mileage. IF you are looking for no ca trouble, buy Shell, Texaco and Chevron. I would not buy our own.
As I recall when Ormewood Square was proposed residents got up in arms for having a residential shopping center so close to the “great neighborhood” that is Ormewood Park. They said it would create too much traffic, drive people into the neighborhood and that it wouldn’t “fit” in. Now look at you… now you are saying you want more of that.
Take a look at Ormewood Square : 3 coffee shops have come and gone, 4 restaurants come and gone, and it’s working on the 2nd gym there. Lil Azio’s is the only original tenant and they are as close to a chain as anything else. Even Morrelli’s is the 2nd ice cream shop there and.. hello.. they just opened a brand spanking new location 1.5 miles down the road in the sparkly, spiffy, Edgewood shopping center. How long before they close they Ormewood location?
The fact is that only a “corporation” can afford to come in and weather the long period it will take to redevelop the area.
Yeah I’d love a local business to go in that spot. Maybe a small coffee shop or deli or something, but a local business can’t afford the crappy property, insurance, and hope that customers will patronize them being next to the Jiffy store and the other run down things in the area.
Yea I live in Ormewood Park and I would gladly welcome QT. Have you seen the BP down the street at Confederate? It’s just as run-down and skummy as the Jiffy Mart and the Big-H.
The BP doesn’t force people into Ormewood because of traffic neither will the BP. Come on folks. 500 people and hour aren’t going to hit the QT — be real!
Yes I think the way QT cut corners to get the deal approved is kind of shady, but that’s big business and I’m pretty sure if some fancy little clothes boutique did the same thing no one would say a freaking word about it.
So yeah, fight it and let another Rim store go in, or another laundry mat – cuz those always attract a better crowd, right?
Drop your kids off at the Jiffy Mart and see how you feel. QT goes in and within a year or 2 Jiffy Mart, the Tax Service and the crap across the street will redevelop.
hey,
ormewood park IS a great neighborhood. certainly putting a large gas station right next to it won’t make it any better and that’s why the neighbors opposed this project.
a few more points:
1. it’s not about local vs. national; it’s about neighbors wanting a business that serves their neighborhood and not the traffic on moreland. i am all for any business that will build the neighborhood, regardless if it is a national chain or local. as another ormewood resident said, ” a strip club would probably be cleaner and better-maintained than Jiffy and Liberty, but bad for the neighborhood.”
2. a 24 hour, 14 pump, 5,500 sq ft gas station being located within 50 feet of people’s homes was against city ordinances. the neighbors pointed this out and the city stopped the replat.
3. i’m sure the neighborhood would also fight other businesses that wouldn’t serve the neighborhood.
4. QuikTrip is about volume sales so they wouldn’t want to put a gas station in a location where they wouldn’t get large volumes of cars. check out http://www.facebook.com/noqthere – the entrance and exit would have driven cars right into ormewood park; BP has entrance/exit on moreland (a state highway) and confederate (a busy street with stoplights).
5. no one i know in ormewood was against the ormewwood square development. much better than peula’s/ruins.
6. lil’ azio, morelli’s and spoon do great business at that location. the previous ice cream shop (that failed) was a national chain, btw, so it’s not so much about “chains are better” but about people who know what they are doing. the coffee shops that closed are a perfect example (especially the whole little cafe paris debacle).
7. i’m sure the rent is much lower in ormewood square than at edgewood. from what i can tell, the ormewood location is doing great business with the same long lines and crowds. the previous ice cream shop at the edgewood location (also a national chain) failed so edgewood isn’t a panacea.
no one needs to stay in ormewood park if they don’t like it – i’m sure there’s some cheap housing next to the briarcliff QT…
Hey QT – propose a smaller store with exits on and off Moreland only! Not off Ormewood Ave. It is too dangerous for the kids who ride bikes to school.
As a Ormewood Park resident, I’d love to see the development ~BUT~
I’d like to enjoy my ice-cream without ingesting exhaust fumes or having some beggar bugging me and my kid for money!
As for the idiot, So What, who says “It’s only two homes folks” I am guessing neither one of those is yours???
Can’t we all just work together?
Let’s support the hood!