Lusby grocer's proposed gas station get concept approval

Weis Markets, with three locations in Calvert County, is seeking to give a few of its grocery chain competitors a run for their money in the retail gasoline business at its Lusby location.

During its Sept. 18 meeting, the Calvert County Planning Commission gave conceptual site plan approval to Weis Markets Inc. for the location of a “Gas-N-Go” at Lusby Center.

“The site plan application proposes to develop a portion of the subject property with an automotive filling station with three gas pump islands and a 204-square foot kiosk structure, as well as one-story 3,000 square feet of commercial retail building,” Christine Finamore of the planning and zoning department said in a memo to the planning commission.

In a memo to the county’s public works department, Joe Kadjeski of COA Barrett, the applicant’s agent, said the proposal “will consist of removal of 41 paved parking spaces” from Lusby Center’s existing parking lot.

Finamore said the shopping center “has more parking spaces than they need.”

Weis Market, which has been the anchor store for Lusby Center since 2016, is one of four current tenants at the shopping center, which has several vacant storefronts.

The shopping center is located on Village Center Drive, which is accessible by H.G. Trueman Road and Lusby Boulevard via Rousby Hall Road.

Planning commission member James McQueen said the shopping center “has stormwater issues.”

Alex Ororbia, a representative of Weis Markets, told the planning commission that the grocer is a tenant and is not responsible for the entire shopping center.

“Who takes care of it, who’s going to clean it, who’s going to fix it?” McQueen asked.

Tamara Blake-Wallace, planning commission administrator, said according to the site plan review, the shopping center is owned by Peter Hill-Byrne of Edgewater.

According the staff report on the proposed gas station project, the public works department stated it found “the concept stormwater management plan and study acceptable” and submitted a dozen comments “for consideration when preparing detailed site development plans and site development stormwater management.”

Blake-Wallace said any plan by the shopping center owner to expand the site’s retail space would require a resubmission of the site plan.

Kadjeski stated in his memo that “the approved site plan for the shopping center included a total of 76,863 gross square feet of retail of which 14,400 gross square feet has not been constructed.”

While the Sept. 18 discussion was the first time the proposed Gas-N-Go site plan has been considered by the planning commission, it is not the first time Weis’ request for consideration of being allowed to locate a gas filling station at the Lusby Center store has been discussed by the panel.

During a joint work session involving the planning commission and the county commissioners, a text amendment request to allow a gas filling station as a conditionally permitted use in Lusby’s village commercial subdistrict was on the table.

Then-citizen James McQueen offered public comment, stating the Lusby Town Center already had its fill of filling stations.

“I’m sort of confused. Why do we need another gas station?” McQueen said.

“We’re looking to bolster our performance,” Jack O’Hara, a Weis representative told the two boards during the late 2023 meeting. O’Hara said his company believes selling gas would help to sell more groceries.

“It’s a marketing tool,” O’Hara said.

He also noted that a nearby Giant food store had gas pumps.

“We have a much better chance of staying in the community,” O’Hara said.

McQueen’s objection to the additional gas station found allies in planning commission members John Toohey, Christopher Gadway and Gregory Kernan to not recommend a text amendment change.

However, on a split vote a motion to find the proposal inconsistent with the county’s comprehensive plan was defeated and was followed by a motion to adopt. A majority of county commissioners voted to accept the planning commission’s recommendation.

The project still has two more steps, approvals of a detailed site development plan and a final detailed site development plan, before it can move forward.