A contentious plan for a 7-Eleven store and 12 gas pumps at the busy intersection of San Marco Avenue and May Street, dormant since December as neighbors and commuters protested, has resurfaced with a city Development Review Committee meeting Friday, July 19, at 8:30 am in city hall.

The meeting is open to the public. The committee includes representatives of fire, police, and public works departments.

   City Planning and Building Director Mark Knight says the meeting, "will only be to provide feedback to them regarding the submittal and applicable codes. Final decision with regard to application of Design Standards for Entry Corridors will be made when a complete set of construction plans is submitted for the purpose of issuing a building permit."

   Neighbors had hoped the project was abandoned after citing concerns with traffic patterns to the Florida Department of Transportation and issues with the entry corridor guidelines that regulate architectural and landscape designs for major corridors into the city.

   Current plans show accesses and exits at both San Marco and May Street, with right turn only exit onto May, turning toward San Marco.

Traffic on May Street at San Marco

   Neighbors are concerned with traffic patterns that can send cars through the Nelmar Terrace neighborhood, commuters are concerned with already long queues along San Marco Avenue and May Street, and residents are concerned for kids at Davenport Park across San Marco and for students of the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind up San Marco.  

   "There are lots of reasons to oppose this 7-Eleven," Nelmar Terrace Neighborhood Association's Skip Hutton said earlier, "One is the public safety issue of a dangerously congested intersection becoming more congested and more dangerous, resulting in more accidents and more injuries.

   "I wish our City was concerned about people's safety and I wish 7-Eleven was too."

   Association Vice President Matthew Shaffer added, "7-Eleven stores are typically open 24 hours. The noise, lighting, and increased traffic will certainly have a negative impact on the surrounding neighborhood. 

San Marco access detail

May Street access detail

    "Even worse, there are no plans to improve this already busy intersection to accommodate the increased traffic.  What a terrible first impression this gas station would make to visitors coming to our historic city from Vilano Beach/Ponte Vedra."

   The corner site, zoned for commercial use back in the 1970s "Mom and Pop stores" era, was once anchored by the Manatee Café and several stores along San Marco. Developer Wally Devlin proposed similar development in the early 2000s. Then the economy soured.

   Current plans show right turn only onto May Street, but no restriction on San Marco Avenue. Residents have argued that motorists heading from May Street to downtown, rather than attempting to cross two lanes of traffic returning to May Street, will turn north on San Marco and cut through their neighborhood to access May Street further east.

   Florida Department of Transportation officials, responding to a letter of concern by the Neighborhood Council, wrote, "The Department has little control over the zoning and local development of private property - this is the responsibility of local government. We are responsible for ensuring that property owners adjacent to State roads are allowed reasonable and safe access."