Gas Station Planned for Wilkens Beltway Plaza

A proposal to raze the former Carrollton Bank building at Wilkens Beltway Plaza and replace it with an eight-car gas station could get the green light at a hearing Tuesday afternoon—without any notification to or comment from the public.

That has community members and at least one elected official upset with the process.

At a meeting on Tuesday of the Baltimore County Development Review Committee in Towson, county development officials are scheduled to consider a proposal by Kimco Realty—the Hyde Park, NY-based owner and manager of Wilkens Beltway Plaza—to demolish the small vacant bank building and its three drive-through teller lanes.

In its place, developers want to construct a 3,000 square-foot gas station with a 70 square-foot kiosk to house an attendant, according to plans filed with the development review committee on May 31.

The plans include the installation of at least two underground fuel storage tanks and an area for vending machines and a coin-operated air pump, according to the documents.

Attempts to contact Kimco Realty representatives on Monday were unsuccessful.

Several community members have expressed concern about the effect of a gas station in a busy shopping center parking lot and the impact on traffic on Wilkens Avenue and Maiden Choice Lane.

"Totally ridiculous," said Amy Stocksdale-Magbulos of Arbutus. "That parking lot and shopping center is so crowded already."

Originally developed in the late 1970s and expanded with three low-rise office buildings in subsequent decades, the Giant supermarket has long served as an anchor for the Wilkens Beltway Plaza.

Kimco Realty is a developer, owner and manager of shopping centers across the United States and abroad, according to the company's website.

The developer has asked for a "limited exemption" from the development review committee in order to raze the Carrollton Bank building, which has been vacant for at least two years.

According to a note on plans filed with the county, Kimco has the right to build a gas station for every 60,000 square feet of building space as a "planned shopping center."

The status as a planned shopping center was approved on April 4, according to the documents.

Councilman said that limited exemptions are generally for relatively minor changes to a building, such as constructing a garage or addition.

Unlike the planned unit development (PUD) process, in which the public is invited to comment on proposals and community benefits are typically factored into the approval process, no public notice or comment period is required for DRC approval, according to Colleen Kelly, development manager in the county Department of Permits and Development Management.

"The limited exemption is supposed to be for minor things," Quirk said. "It seems that a fuel service station should be subject to a public review process."

Quirk remarked upon the speed with which the proposal has gone through the regulatory process.

"I first heard about this proposal last month," he said. "I found out this morning that the meeting is [Tuesday] afternoon."

The DRC meeting—which is open to the public, but allows no public comment—is scheduled for 3 p.m. in Room 123 of the County Office Building at 111 W. Chesapeake in Towson.

Approval for the gas station could be granted at Tuesday's hearing, according to Kelly.

"The committee may grant them something a little different than what they're asking for," she added.

In any event, Quirk said that his hands are tied.

"It isn't something I have a lot of control over," he said.

Quirk added that he intends to have a legislative review to examine what developments qualify for the DRC process, and whether that includes the razing of a building and altering a property's use.

"It does open a legitimate question," he said.