The Pella City Council will hold a public hearing and consider an amendment to the city’s comprehensive plan future land use map to allow Casey’s General Store to build a new store near downtown at their meeting Tuesday.
The site at 505-513 Main and 705 Union Street has been a point of contention among neighborhood residents, a majority of them strongly opposing a new gas station at the site.
According to city staff, the zoning regulation and comprehensive plan have to conform to one another, and the council will review the future land use map. City staff has outlined reasons to approve or deny the resolution. Reasons to approve include: The property is zoned for the intended use, due to commercial uses identified in proximity to the lot, and that Main Street south of downtown is a commercial corridor. They cite the amount of work put into developing the comprehensive plan and the goal of adding more housing as reasons to deny the resolution.
If a new location is built, Casey’s would close three other stores, including two downtown and one on Oskaloosa Street.