Docket Case: PZ-26-1 (Circle K – 6486 Roberts Road)
Hearing Date: Planning & Zoning Commission | October 8, 2026 | 6:00 PM
Parcels: 050-010785, 050-010787, 050-010788, 050-010789 (1.20 to 1.284 Acres)
Location: Northeast corner of Roberts Road and Alton Darby Creek Road
Applicant: Homewood Corporation (c/o Laura Comek Law LLC)
Overlay: Alton Place HCD (Hilliard Conservation District); Big Darby Accord Watershed Master Plan (AP-26-02)
The Big Picture
Homewood Corporation is seeking to integrate a 1.2-acre commercial parcel at the northeast corner of Roberts and Alton Darby Creek Roads into the Alton Place HCD as Subarea C7 to facilitate a 5,271 sq. ft. convenience store and gas station canopy. City Council remanded the docket back to the Planning & Zoning Commission on September 14, 2026, after the developer submitted unreviewed development text modifications. The application is now split: Phase 1 evaluates boundary and text modifications; Phase 2 (Site Plan) will follow separately.
Key Docket Dynamics: Split Staff Recommendation
City planning staff issued a split recommendation on the Phase 1 submittal:
Motion #1 (Boundary Modification): Positive Recommendation with Conditions
Staff supports expanding Subarea C7 to include the 1.2-acre parcel.
Conditions: (1) Eliminate unapproved single-family lots shown within Subarea SF1B, and (2) verify mathematical conformance to the mandatory 50% open space conservation requirement across the expanded master tract.
Motion #2 (Development Text Modifications): Recommendation to DENY
Staff determined that the applicant’s redline revisions depart from baseline HCD conservation standards and Hilliard Zoning Code:
Orientation & Pump Placement: The original text requires the principal building to front Roberts Road with no pavement between the building and the right-of-way, placing gas pumps behind the structure. The applicant seeks to orient pumps south toward the public right-of-way and push the store toward the north property line.
Canopy Dimensions: The developer proposes allowing the gas canopy width to exceed the convenience store building width by up to 25% (prohibited under original text).
Pavement & Right-of-Way Setbacks: The applicant requests collapsing pavement setbacks from the standard 20 feet down to match building setbacks (as close as 5.3 to 10 feet along Roberts Road). Staff recommends maintaining the 20-foot perimeter landscape setback.
Big Darby Accord Environmental Controls (AP-26-02)
The Big Darby Accord Advisory Panel approved the application on February 10, 2026 (5-0), subject to 10 environmental conditions:
Complete physical separation between underground fuel storage tanks and underground stormwater retention facilities.
Stormwater filtration systems engineered to capture hydrocarbon runoff prior to infiltration into the aquifer.
Canopy lighting restricted to recessed, full-cutoff fixtures with flat lenses mounted flush to the canopy underside.
What to Watch
Watch whether the Commission upholds staff’s denial on Motion #2. Upholding the denial signals that national convenience and fuel brands will not receive setback waivers or design exemptions in the Big Darby conservation transition zone.