BOONE COUNTY, Ky. — A second Wawa convenience store and Longnecks Sports Bar could be coming to Boone County pending the approval of the Boone County Planning and Zoning Commission.
On Wednesday night, the commission heard a request during a public hearing for a special sign district and a concept development plan from Anchor Properties, a Covington-based developer who specializes in mixed-use developments.
The prospective development site is a 4.1-acre plot of land in Hebron located slightly north of the North Bend Road and Cougar Path intersection. According to Boone County property records, BRG Hebron Station LLC is the current owner of the property.
The request would allow for the construction of a 5,915-square-foot Wawa convenience store with eight gas pumps and a 6,626-square-foot Longnecks Sports Grill with an outside patio. The official name for the project is Hebron Station.
“The first part of the submitted request is to allow an approximate 5,900-square-foot convenience store with eight gasoline pumps and an approximate 6,600-square-foot eating and drinking establishment,” Boone County Zoning Administrator Michael Schwartz said. “The second part of the submitted request is for a special sign district.”
Anchor Properties has worked on several other developments in Boone County, including Florence Heights and Richwood Commons.
The property is currently zoned as Commercial-2/Planned Development. In October of 2022, the site was rezoned to make way for an apartment complex. The zoning map amendment sought by Anchor Properties is to add a special sign district to the current designation.
Under the Boone County Planning and Zoning code, a special sign district allows for modifying regulations and sign requirements within the district’s geographic outline. A special sign district often pertains to a specific business development, shopping district or tourist attraction.
Jonathan Wocher, a planner with McBride Dale Clairon in Cincinnati, represented Anchor Properties and BRG Hebron Station LLC at the meeting. He informed the commission of the developer’s plans for the site and fielded questions.
“Anchor Properties intends to buy the northern piece of the property — that’s where the Wawa site would be located, and then Longnecks would purchase the property to the south,” Wocher said. “We’ve been working with BRG. They have reviewed and approved our plans and obviously supported this.”
Regarding traffic Wocher mentioned that Anchor Properties completed a traffic impact study in preparation for the development presentation.
Wawa
Anchor Properties proposes building the Wawa on the north end of the 4.1-acre plot. This is the second proposed Wawa in Boone County.
Concept plans provided at the commission meeting outlined that the proposed Wawa would have 45 parking spaces – including two required handicap spaces.
Last year, the Pennsylvania-based convenience store franchise announced plans for Wawa to expand into Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. There are no Wawa’s in Boone County as of now.
Last August, a representative from Wawa presented plans to open a new store at the corner of Burlington Pike and Cardinal Drive during a Boone County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.
The plug was pulled on the plans after Boone County residents, the City of Florence and state of Kentucky all expressed concerns over how the new convenience store would impact traffic on Burlington Pike, also known as KY-18.
Undeterred, Wawa set its sights on a 2.6-acre piece of land at the intersection of Dixie Highway and Mt. Zion Road in unincorporated Boone County. Wawa sought approval from the Boone County Fiscal Court to amend the land’s zoning designation from industrial to commercial. On Nov. 28, the fiscal court voted in favor of the zoning amendment.
Longnecks
There is currently a Longnecks Sports Grill in Hebron at 2141 N Bend Road.
Concept plans provided at the commission meeting outlined that the proposed Longnecks Sports Grill would have 160 parking spaces — six of which are required handicap spaces.
One of the primary features of the new Longnecks Sports Grill is the 2,067 square-foot outdoor patio facing N. Bend Road.
The developers’ next steps are to attend a zone change hearing on April 3 at 5 p.m. and present their plans to the full planning and zoning commission on April 17 at 7 p.m.
This story originally appeared on linknky.com.
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