QuickTrip truck stop received one of the approvals needed to open in south Bibb

QuickTrip Corp. received approval Tuesday from Macon’s zoning commission to move forward with plans to build a truck stop at the Sardis Church Road interchange off Interstate 75.

The Oklahoma-based company plans to build a travel center on about 7 acres in the 4900 block of Sardis Church Road, across the street from the Amazon fulfillment center still under construction. The Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission approved a conditional-use permit to allow the development.

Plans call for a 7,719-square-foot convenience store and 20 cars could fuel at one time at the gasoline pumps and six trucks could fuel at the diesel pumps, said Michael Burk, real estate project manager with QuikTrip. The property is listed as being at 4954, 4948 and 4934 Sardis Church Road with a portion of 7234 S. Nowell Road. It is expected to have 10-15 truck parking spaces.

“Needless to say, Amazon has spurred some growth out there,” developer Tim Thornton with Thornton Realty Co., said during the meeting.

The only reason the fuel center is called a truck stop is because of the number of diesel pumps, Thornton said. It will not have truck washes or allow overnight truck parking.

No one attended the meeting to object to the project.

The zoning staff has requested from the Middle Georgia Regional Commission that a Development of Regional Impact study be done on the project. A regional impact study is requested by the regional commission when a project is so large it may affect other communities. This DRI process was recently started but has not been completed yet.

The commission approved QuickTrip’s application subject to the DRI report.

Commissioners Kamal Azar and Bryan Scott were absent from the meeting.

Other items on the agenda were:

452-00458 Second St.: Certificate of Appropriateness to allow design approval of exterior modifications, CBD-1 District. Kunj Patel, applicant. Deferred.

776/816 Holt St. and 805 Vine St.: Conditional Use to allow a church with ancillary use and offsite parking, R-3 District. Healing the Hurt Restoration Housing, Lila Harris, applicant. Deferred.

1229 Rocky Creek Road: Variance in setback requests to allow an addition to an existing church, R-2 District. Lutricia Thomas, Open Haven in the Vineyard Holiness Church, applicant. Approved.

6316 Peake Road: Conditional Use to allow platting of property prior to site plan approval, PDE District. Heritage Development Group, applicant. Approved.

2530 Riverside Drive: Conditional Use to allow a used vehicle sales lot with a temporary office trailer, C-4 District. Danny Tavakol, applicant. Approved.

4397 Jeffersonville Road: Rezoning from R-1A, Single-Family Residential District to C-1, Neighborhood Commercial District. The purpose of this rezoning is to allow for retail development (Dollar General). James Bates, Jack Nichols and Teramore Development, applicant. Deferred to Dec. 10 by staff to allow for additional research and analysis.

1090 Riverside Drive: Conditional use to allow barbed wire, C-2 District. Bobby Cramer, applicant. Allowed, except on Riverside Drive.

1090 Riverside Drive: Variance in setback requirements to allow a fence, C-2 District. Bobby Cramer, applicant. Approved.