LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- On E. Orell Road in southwest Louisville, neighbors like Sally Smith are worried.
"We've already had several homes try to sell on the street since this has come about," she said.
Smith is part of a group of neighbors who live on and around the residential road, which is just off Dixie Highway and just south of the Gene Snyder Freeway.
There, just steps from some of the homes on E. Orell, developers want to build a RaceTrac gas station. The station will include the additional space and diesel fuel for bigger trucks.
"What they're proposing would be — I would be able to open my front door and see a sprawling, 5-acre truck refueling center and store," Smith said.
The field of Dixie Highway where the planned RaceTrac would be built. (WDRB Photo)
Smith and other neighbors have concerns about additional noise, light pollution, big truck traffic and more that will be generated by the RaceTrac. Some of them have hired Steve Porter to fight the gas station.
"We think that there's plenty of gasoline and convenience stores for people in the neighborhood," Porter said Monday.
(Source: Planning Commission filings)
Recently, Porter sent a list of concessions to Racetrac Petroleum, including overnight closure of the gas station and store, stricter limits on how and where big trucks can access the pumps and a masonry buffer wall between the gas station and nearby homes. Porter said the developer denied those requests.
A representative for the development team, however, said RaceTrac has compromised plentifully.
"RaceTrac has changed its plan dramatically," representative Cliff Ashburner said during a Monday night hearing to discuss the plans. "What we believe we have before you tonight is the best looking fuel center in the county."
RaceTrac agreed to build an 8-foot screen fence as a buffer, according to Ashburner. It will also plant additional trees and keep existing ones in the area between the proposed development and E. Orell Rd.
(Source: Planning Commission filings)
Still, some neighbors said it's not enough, and dozens of them showed up Monday to a public hearing of the Planning Commission.
During the meeting, commissioners considered advancing the project by rezoning the land. They'll continue that consideration before making a recommendation in a follow-up meeting later in March. Then, in the ensuing weeks, Metro Council will vote on the rezoning.
Misty Pack, a neighbor, hopes those leaders will consider the voices like hers as they make their decisions.
"All of it is just a bad idea, and it's hard to think that, you know, we are more concerned about money in these days than we are about people's safety and their own wellbeing," she said.
Copyright 2021 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
