Update: New RaceTrac Flagship Store Gets Final Approval

SMYRNA, Ga. -- The city council unanimously voted last night to allow RaceTrac Petroleum to build a new flagship location here. The flagship store will measure 5,928 square feet, house six fueling islands and be located near the intersection of Spring Road and Bell Drive. Now that the project has cleared the final approval stage, the store is expected to open by Dec. 31.

As CSNews Online reported last week, Smyrna's planning and zoning board first needed to approve the plan on July 11. RaceTrac's flagship store plan received that approval by a 5-to-1 vote. However, several residents expressed opposition to the project, including Lori Pavlick, who lives across the street from the site. Pavlick told the planning and zoning board she opposes the plan due to noise disturbances, and called the future RaceTrac flagship store a "monstrosity."

Last night's city council meeting was different, the Smyrna-Vinings Patch reported, as more citizens came out to support the project than oppose it.

"One of my questions is what RaceTrac is doing to ensure that this station will look good throughout the next two decades, and my concerns have been addressed," Councilwoman Teri Anulewicz said, explaining why she voted in favor in the project.

"I understand that opposition to this rezoning request ranges from residents with valid concerns about traffic and construction, to people who own competing service stations on Spring Road. The concerns of the former are, I feel worthy of consideration, and I have taken them into account. As I believe in a free market, the concerns of the latter are far less compelling. At the end of the day, this is a permitted use. I expect RaceTrac to be a good neighbor and a good citizen. "