Lafayette looks to halt spread of gas stations with new zoning, design, distance standards

Proposal would stop construction within 1 mile of existing gas pumps. A Q&A about zoning, design standards, decommissioning requirements Lafayette has in mind to stop the proliferation of gas stations

• Support for this edition comes from Greater Lafayette Commerce, presenting its Business Expo on Sept. 17 at the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds. For more on the businesses participating and what you’ll find there, click the link below.

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LAFAYETTE LOOKS TO HALT SPREAD OF GAS STATIONS WITH NEW ZONING CODES

Companies looking to build gas stations in Lafayette would face stiffer architectural design elements, a mandatory plan to cover the costs of decommissioning and tighter limits on what types of areas they’d be allowed to go, based on proposed changes to zoning codes advanced last week by the Area Plan Commission’s Ordinance Committee.

The proposal also would require a 5,500-foot distance – a little more than a mile – between new standalone gas stations and any existing ones in the city.

That, alone, could make eight gas station projects in the works now – including two Wawa convenience stores – the last of their kind in the current Lafayette city limits, if the proposal passes in the coming weeks.

(Photo: Unsplash)

The gas station zoning code changes are scheduled for a Sept. 17 hearing before the Area Plan Commission. The Lafayette City Council could get the proposal as soon as its Oct. 6 meeting.

Designed for and pushed by Lafayette, the proposed changes would go to the West Lafayette City Council, Tippecanoe County commissioners and town boards in Dayton, Battle Ground and Clarks Hill for their consideration, too.

In March, the Lafayette City Council called for a study of what the city considered a recent proliferation of gas station and convenience store construction in the city. At the time, Mayor Tony Roswarski told city council members that as the city considers redevelopment opportunities in the land available in Lafayette, “I think it would be good to take a look at this issue.”

“I hear from enough folks and see enough that I think it’s definitely worth looking into,” Roswarski said in March.

Among the provisions in the draft sent to the APC: