A commercial developer and its business partners are planning to build a 24-hour Holiday Gas Station and Service Center extremely close to hundreds of residential owners of both single-family homes and townhomes, as well as a local daycare center and senior living community. Hundreds of these properties are within 500 feet, and some would be as close as 70 feet. A gas station and service center at this location would be extremely harmful to the health and wellbeing of thousands of Eden Prairie residents in the area. There are several significant issues at play: 

1. Traffic volume and congestion

• Pre-pandemic, traffic on Pioneer Trail and Hennepin Town Road was extremely congested, backing up by 30+ cars each way during peak commute times, and taking 15+ minutes to travel one mile. For anyone who lives in our neighborhood, you know that Hennepin Town Road is already used as a bypass for 169 traffic jams, which occurred daily. I know this because my own commute forced me to drive it thousands of times in the past six years. Any statements that this will not increase traffic volume, congestion or other risks are simply untrue and not supported by any research. The station will bring a high volume of non-resident commuters into our neighborhood and it will increase walking and other risks. 
• Based on standard measurement approaches such as the ITE Trip Generation manual, each gas station station pump generates up to 130 trips per day. In addition, each 1,000 square feet of a convenience store produces up to 1,200 trips per day.

• Based on those measures, this 5,200 square foot gas station with eight pumps would generate up to 7,000 trips per based on national averages. Yet the developer’s traffic study predicts a total of just 3,489 daily trips, or less than half of what is expected for similar developments. Revisiting the assumptions made in the developer’s traffic study is a reason to deny or postpone this development until more can be learned.

• Even with the developer’s numbers, their report still acknowledges this will amplify existing traffic issues. Their proposed solution is to create a second entrance on Breezy Way that will drive Hennepin congestion into the townhome’s access road. Today that road is used solely for those residents. Turning a dead-end residential street into a through-road will significantly increase traffic volumes, speeds, and the risks that come with it. I did not find the traffic assessment addressed any impacts on the Breezy Way entrance. This is another reason to deny or postpone this development until more is learned. 

• The city’s own planners also admit this development will create issues in the coming years, yet they’ll leave it to the owner to be responsible for “improvements” – including a ¾ turn and blinking yellow light. That isn’t enough and our local residents 100% agree. Again, we’re dealing with a potential owner who is already willing to put a 24-hour gas station in a high density residential community; relying on his sense of responsibility to the neighborhood and environment is a dubious venture at best.

• For a neighborhood with young f families and many active walkers and runners, Hennepin Town is already dangerous with no protected crosswalks before the intersection, including the Kinderberry Hill Daycare and Walgreens.

2. Decreased property values

• Many national studies underscore gas stations decrease property values. The Planning Commission only needs to do a Google search to find those studies.
• Ask any realtor -- most home buyers who spend between $400K - $750K for a property will not choose to buy within 500 feet of a gas station. According to Zillow, the vast majority of realtors surveyed said an increase in robberies, accidents, traffic, and environmental issues will decrease property value. And in real estate, perception is reality. If a property value study hasn’t been completed, that’s a reason to deny or postpone this development until more is learned. 

• The decreased value directly correlates to the distance from the station – those properties closest feel the most pain. And with this proposal, we’d have some very unfortunate neighbors and children forced to live not 500 feet away but 70 feet from a gas station. That's barely a stone's throw away. 

• It will bring people in and out of this intersection at all hours, have people hanging out at the property, including non-resident commuters. Let’s be clear – 24-hour stations are proven to increase crime in local neighborhoods. Yet, I'm not aware of a study done by the city on increased crime rates related to this development and other 24-hour gas stations in Eden Prairie. If not, that’s a reason to postpone this development to learn more.

• And if a leak happens? In an EPA-sponsored focus group, all participants felt leaks would render a property unsellable. Several referred to “stigma” that could take years to decades for affected properties to fully recover value. You could only imagine what a leak, on top of everything else that comes with a 24-hour gas station, would do to residential property values. 

3. Increased environmental risks (see my recent update for research)

• They're going to bury massive underground gas and oil tanks near sewage and drainage pipes. There will be a dozen idling vehicles at any given time, including large gasoline and diesel trucks. The service center will spill petroleum-based products. The car wash will rinse chemicals into drainage areas. While the city has guidelines, the fact remains that putting this type of 24-hour gas station into a highly residential area increases the risk of pollution, contamination and jeopardizes our health and safety in myriad ways. 
• Increased light and sound pollution, particularly for 100+ families within 500 feet, is undeniable. This is especially true for the townhome owners, some who paid upwards of $500K for their homes. They would live directly above a late hour gas station – with all the light, sound, and fumes that come with it. I can't even imagine being forced to live within 70 feet -- as some townhome owners would experience -- of this type of development. 
• Studies have shown drastically increased occurrences of acute childhood leukemia when living or going to school near a gas station. We have a daycare with hundreds of young children in close proximity. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recommended screening school sites for potential health risks when located within 1,000 feet of a gas station. This hasn’t happened to date. That is a reason to postpone this vote until more is learned.
• Gas stations release benzene and other cancer-causing vapors into the atmosphere from storage tank vents and while gas is being dispensed at the pump. Ground-level ozone emissions will spike due to gasoline fumes, which will be significantly higher in that 500 foot area than today. 
• In addition, residents are at risk of contamination from gas spilled at the pump, which numerous major studies underscore. It’s not just the subsurface pollution – it’s light, sounds, vapors, and everyday spills all of us make at the pump. Those spills don't just evaporate, they infiltrate the cement pavement and have been proven to end up in ground water, wetlands, and other pubic drainage systems. 

• At minimum, this project needs a full environmental assessment before anything moves forward. Not doing so is to lead with ignorance and a complete disregard for our local community. This hasn’t happened to date and is a reason to postpone this vote until more is learned.

4. It is completely unnecessary as there are multiple other gas station and service options within a 1.6 mile radius -- many with easier on/offs. A new gas station here adds no value to our local community.

Our community will gain nothing from this development. Even the developer/partners admit there are many existing competitors, and none of them are nested within a residential community. Nothing about this development enhances our quality of life. The partners are more concerned with the potential for profits than our wellbeing.

To date, the developer and business partners have not responded to any of the above concerns. Yet, they tell us this will "enhance" our community… but we've yet to hear exactly how. We don’t mind a commercial development that truly enhances our community but no one in the immediate area wants or needs a 24-hour gas station and service center. We have a convenience store in Walgreens in walking distance. We have two different gas stations and four service centers within a three-minute drive. We do not need or want this business in our neighborhood. 

The Eden Prairie Planning Commission and City Council need to be accountable to the thousands of residents and homeowners who will be negatively impacted by this development. Yet, a senior planning official informed me (on 5/21) that they will recommend the city move forward. And in doing so, they'll put one company’s profits above the best interests of its longstanding, tax paying residents.

Jay Stankiewicz
jaystank33@gmail.com