TOLEDO, Ohio — The city of Toledo is considering building a new Sheetz in south Toledo, but not everyone in the area is on board with the idea.
The convenience store would be placed near the intersection of Airport Highway and Bernath Parkway. City council is set to vote on this plan in a week.
"It's a residential neighborhood. It's quiet, everybody who comes down this road we know, you recognize the cars, you have a general idea of where they are, people wave to each other," Theresa Jackson, a south Toledo resident said. "That's all going to change with the Sheetz coming in here."
Jackson said preventing a Sheetz from being put in this plaza would mean saving what she loves about her home across the street.
"Every room in my house will be lit up 24 hours a day, seven days a week from the gas station lights," Jackson said. "It will never be nighttime in my home. There'll be constant traffic."
She said one of her biggest worries is increased traffic as there is no outlet on the other end of her street.
"People will be coming down the road because they think they can get in and out in a different direction and they'll wind up turning around in my driveway and backing out, causing a lot of issues with people who park on the streets as well," Jackson said.
She is not the only one making an effort to voice her concerns. Jackson said she and a couple of other residents started a petition to raise awareness which more than 300 people have signed.
Among those is Richard Notter who's lived in the area for 27 years. He said another concern is the fact that it would be open 24/7.
"We're right next to a high school and certainly the young people will start hanging out there," Notter said. "The city has given them permission to be open 24 hours a day if they approve them having it here, and that's not gonna be a good situation."
Sheetz attorney Jerry Parker said the company has already made changes to accommodate some of the residents' previous concerns, such as dropping a drive-thru, moving the gas pumps toward Airport Highway and installing a median to reduce traffic.
"This proposal is going to require Sheetz to spend almost half a million dollars to put a median in on Airport Highway," Parker said. "So you can't make a left turn across the street left and you can't make a left turn into the site unless you use the light."
"They've made a couple of minor attempts to adjust things to satisfy us, but it's that we just don't want them in this location," Notter said. "It's not that we are against gas stations, but I think we have enough in the area to start with. This is just not a good place to put one."
Jackson said she and a few other residents are planning to go before city council next Tuesday to discuss with council members.