News
Proposal Submitted For Redeveloping Gas Station Site
By: Steve Robb - Athens Messenger staff reporter
Posted on:
A proposal has been submitted to the city of Athens for redeveloping the Court Street site now occupied by Dale’s BP.
Athens Code Director John Paszke confirmed that documents have been submitted to the city for a project that would involve constructing a building with ground-floor commercial space and two additional floors of apartments.
Paszke said the proposed project would include apartments with a total of 42 beds.
However, the number of beds could change as plans become more fine-tuned, said Kristi Goldsberry, who owns Dale’s BP with her husband, Kevin.
Dale’s BP has a convenience store, and Kristi Goldsberry said the proposal is for the commercial space in the new building to include the store. There would be additional retail space, but Goldsberry said the project has not gotten to the point where a tenant is being sought.
The gasoline pumps would be removed, and Goldsberry said she believes not having a gas station on Court Street would better fit the downtown area. Also, from a financial standpoint, apartments make more sense, she said.
“It does make financial sense for us to make this move,” she said, noting that it couldn’t be done earlier because they were tied to a 15-year agreement with BP.
To comply with the zoning code, there will need to be one parking space for each bedroom, and also parking for the ground-floor commercial space.
Parking at an off-site location is being explored, but Goldsberry said a variance would be needed because the parking would be farther way than required by the zoning code.
“We’re hoping the city will work with us on the parking requirement,” she said.
The property is in a B-3 business zone, which has stricter requirements for business parking than the adjacent B2-D zone that covers most of Court Street.
Paszke said project documents are still being reviewed by his office.