Dear Skilken Gold Real Estate Development, Sheetz Inc, and Continental Hills, LLC:

We, the residents and businesses that surround the proposed Worthington Hills Sheetz in the Olentangy Valley Shopping Center, are a part of the "STOP SHEETZ" movement that has overwhelmed our local community after secretive plans to develop this site were uncovered in late June. A Facebook page of over 1,000 residents in the neighboring Worthington Hills and Mount Air communities has become so vocal that it is fielding requests from nearby Columbus, Ohio network affiliates and weekly neighborhood print publications.

We are not opposed to development, but we are strongly opposed to Sheetz (or any gas station) being built in this location. A formal campaign is underway to stop the development. Efforts include yard signs in the communities that surround the proposed Sheetz parcel, petitions being sent to all regulatory and governmental agencies applicable to this development, and planned protests at the site of the parcel.

Our objections and concerns regarding why we believe this business is a poor choice for the location and community, and therefore, should not be allowed to build are outlined below.

Our family's safety is the most important consideration in the collective opposition to the development of a gas station at this location. The plaza in which it will be situated is a community hub for the surrounding neighborhoods. Families with strollers, kids on bikes grabbing an after-school snack, and nightly activities geared towards families on nearby patios are just a few of the reasons this plaza is unsafe for gas station traffic. The Olentangy Trail is a popular family destination for walkers, joggers, and bicyclists, and its access point is at the southeast corner of your parking lot. The Goddard School, a popular daycare and school in our community, shares space on Mt. Airyshire BLVD and has four scheduled bus stops per day less than 100 yards from your parking lot.

Let it be known that any injury resulting from a careless driver hurriedly leaving your gas station at a location with such a predictable history of high volume pedestrian activity is a foreseen consequence of the proposed development, not one that will be considered unintended. The current gas stations, and their respective parking lots, do not have a direct access point to this plaza, and neither should Sheetz.

Continental Hills, LLC was "secretive" while negotiating the narrowing of a shared easement, according to Aqua America, the water treatment facility that distributes water to our families. Aqua America has since published a press release in opposition to Sheetz being developed at this location. Moreover, according to Aqua's own internal assessment, the "Worthington Hills water system has a high susceptibility to contamination because of the aquifer’s shallow depth, lack of protective layer of clay overlying the aquifer, and the presence of significant potential contaminant sources in the protection area."

One of the land's current owners (who is selling the parcel to Sheetz) has told at least one neighboring business owner that a gas station was specifically chosen for this location to put the other two locally owned gas stations out of business (it's important to note that the current gas stations are not adjacent to the water treatment facility). This animosity is the result of the existing gas stations refusing to sell their land to Continental Hills, LLC.

Sheetz will be a Spite Gas Station with a stated goal of putting local business owners, our neighbors, that live and have supported our community for many years, out of business. Is this the type of entrance Sheetz wants to make into our community?

Please reconsider your proposed development of the Worthington Hills Sheetz located at 7870 Olentangy River Rd, Columbus, OH. Please understand that our community is not anti-Sheetz. We are, however, against building a gas station in this specific location to keep our community safe and our drinking water clean.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned, Surrounding Residents of 7870 Olentangy River Rd. Columbus, Ohio