QuikTrip, landowner sue Denver over new fuel station restrictions

QuikTrip has sued Denver over new restrictions on fuel stations that have been carried out remaining month.

The Tulsa-based comfort retailer chain, which has 4 deliberate places barred via the brand new regulations, filed the lawsuit on Monday.

It requested a pass judgement on to ban town from making use of the brand new zoning modification to building packages submitted prior to Feb. 18, the day the Town Council authorized the principles. That may permit the corporate to construct the 4 stations.

The brand new regulations, which the council authorized in a 12-1 vote, bar new fuel stations inside of 1 / 4 mile of current stations or rail platforms and inside of 300 toes of positive residential zone districts.

The 3 council contributors who proposed the principles typically mentioned Denver has sufficient fuel stations, fuel stations pose environmental and quality-of-life issues and proscribing new stations would keep land for conceivable housing building.

The measure exempts handiest initiatives for which building plans have been submitted to Denver via Would possibly 13. That’s the day remaining yr the measure was once first mentioned, despite the fact that it lacked particular main points then.

QuikTrip mentioned in its lawsuit that most of the people didn’t be informed of the specifics till Nov. 7, when draft textual content was once revealed at the town’s site forward of a Making plans Board assembly.

The 4 proposals that QuikTrip submitted after Would possibly 13 made the corporate the only maximum suffering from the brand new regulations. Forward of the council vote, the corporate and different events, together with the true property business staff NAIOP Colorado, argued that retroactivity was once unlawful.

QuikTrip’s submitting Monday known all 4 deliberate places impacted via the measure, 3 of which BusinessDen has reported prior to now:

• 1595 W. forty eighth Ave., via the Interstate 70-Pecos Boulevard interchange

• 2100 S. Colorado Blvd., the nook of Colorado and Evans Street

• 5500 E. Yale Ave., via the Interstate 25-Yale Street interchange

• 12225 E. thirty ninth Ave., via the Interstate 70-Peoria Boulevard interchange

The corporate mentioned it has contracts to shop for the primary 3 websites and rent the fourth.

In terms of the places on Yale and thirty ninth avenues, QuikTrip mentioned it in truth did publish plans for the ones websites prior to Would possibly 13. However Denver later labeled the ones plans as “expired,” so the corporate resubmitted after Would possibly 13, the lawsuit states.

An LLC that owns the forty eighth Street belongings could also be a plaintiff within the lawsuit. It’s owned via Evangeline Pappas, a 79-year-old retiree, the submitting states.

QuikTrip mentioned it has spent over $750,000 towards creating a fuel station at the 4 websites.