Second Gahanna Sheetz proposal may be headed toward failure

GAHANNA, Ohio (WCMH) – A real estate group has applied to build a Sheetz in Gahanna for the second time, with the project once again possibly headed toward failure. 

Skilken Gold Real Estate Development proposed a Sheetz gas station and convenience store at 230 Granville St., previously home to the permanently closed restaurant Coaches. The company's application shows the Sheetz building would be located toward the back of the 4.63-acre lot, with no drive-thru onsite. The project also proposes installing a sidewalk from Granville Street to Shull Park. 

In a staff review, Gahanna’s planning commission recommended disapproval of all three design proposals submitted by the company. The commission states the proposals are not consistent with recommendations from the city’s land use plan, which emphasizes walkability and pedestrians being “a focal point of design.”

Former Gahanna mayor Jim McGregor said on social media that while he hopes Gahanna will have a Sheetz one day, the proposed location is not appropriate. 

“Shull Park bustles with children coming to and leaving athletic games,” McGregor said in a Facebook post. “Bicycles, foot traffic and cars hurry about the grounds. Present adjacent business activities are busy at lunch and after work, but generally quiescent at other times. A fuel station draws a constant turbulence of traffic. This is incompatible with the safety of the children.”

Last year, Skilken Gold attempted to bring a Sheetz to Gahanna on a plot between Johnstown Road and Morse Road. In March 2023, the city’s planning commission shot down three design proposals for the building.

Numerous residents spoke out against the project, citing FBI statistics about how convenience stores and gas stations are high on the list of likely locations for violent crime and concerns about traffic.

The resistance to the new Gahanna addition comes as Sheetz faces a federal discrimination lawsuit. The company opened its first central Ohio store in 2021, and has since expanded to 14 more central Ohio locations, according to its website. The planning commission will review the Granville Street Sheetz proposal at a meeting on Wednesday at 7 p.m., to approve or deny the plan.