Sheetz aims for Kettering store on Dorothy Lane site owned by Kettering Health

Kettering city staff is recommending denial of the plan, which will be discussed at a planning commission meeting Monday night

Credit: Marshall Gorby

Credit: Marshall Gorby

Land owned by Kettering’s largest employer is the focus of a proposal by Sheetz to build a new store in Montgomery County’s most populated suburb.

County records show property at 1490 W. Dorothy Lane is owned by Kettering Medical Center, now known as Kettering Health.

A land use change is being sought for the vacant site where Sheetz wants to expand its business in the Dayton area, city records state.

Sheetz last month opened its first Dayton-area gas station / convenience store in Huber Heights. The Altoona, Pa.-based business announced last year it planned to open 20 new stores in this area. It also has submitted plans in Centerville and Fairborn, and is opening a store in Springfield this weekend.

Kettering Health declined to comment Friday.

“At Sheetz we often select the location of our stores due to several factors which impact our ability to deliver on our mission of being the ultimate one-stop-shop such as lot size, traffic patterns, accessibility and the ability to increase our offerings,” company spokeswoman Jenner Ridgley Donahoe said in an email.

“This particular location is attractive because it is along a major intersection, allowing Sheetz to serve a large part of the community,” she added.

The land is at the southeast corner of Dorothy and South Dixie Drive. It sits across Dorothy from the shuttered Golden Nugget Pancake House and across Dixie from a small BP gas station.

The Golden Nugget site is where the gas station/convenience store chain GetGo has expressed interest in building a store. If proposals by Sheetz and GetGo were ultimately approved, three corners of the intersection would be occupied by gas stations.

A proposal set to be heard by the Kettering Planning Commission Monday night indicates a change in land use is being sought to convert it from an economic overlay district to a business district. City staff is recommending denial of the plan, Kettering records show.

The proposal does not meet the criteria in a section of Kettering’s code, according to the city.

“While … Kettering’s desire is to phase out EDO districts, this request is not consistent with the

city’s comprehensive plan, which calls for the southeast corner of the intersection … to be comprised of business park and professional office uses,” the recommendation states.

Sheetz wants to build a 6,139 square-foot store on slightly more than an acre, according to Kettering and county records. It would have a drive-through, five double-sided fuel pumps and six electric vehicle charging stations included in 44 parking spaces, Kettering documents show.

Sheetz now operates 680-plus store locations across Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and Maryland, with all locations open 24/7, 365 days a year. The company touts its specialty drinks and “made-to-order” sandwiches and salads, ordered through touch-screen order point terminals.

Aside from Sheetz and GetGo, the convenience store / gas station chain Wawa is also looking to expand into the Dayton-area market.

About the Author