The opportunity to add a convenience store on the west side of Senatobia was turned down by the city’s planning commission last week. John Norton and his family own a four-acre tract of land at the southeast corner of Highway 4 West and Two Mile Branch Road. They appeared before the commission Monday, Aug. 17, after previously submitting an application requesting the entire property be rezoned to B-2, or general commercial, which would permit the sell of gasoline. Two separate sections of the property were zoned B-1 (local commercial) and A-R (agriculture with residence) by the city several years ago. According to Senatobia zoning regulations, fuel pumps cannot be installed on property designated as B-1. Mike Aquara, owner of Mike’s Food & Gas that opened last year at the corner of Highway 51 and Shands Bottom Road, is interested in purchasing the property from Norton with the intention of adding another convenience store, complete with fuel pumps, at that location in the near future. The site plan for the new convenience store includes access points from both Highway 4 West and Two Mile Branch Road. The request to rezone the property was denied by a 3-2 vote with some commission members voicing their concerns about traffic safety issues near the site. “In good faith, I cannot vote for this until a study or something is done to control the speed of vehicles that travel through that area,” said Jack Feigler, a member of the planning commission. Residents who live in close proximity to the four-acre tract of property said the intersection at Two Mile Branch and Stage Road is already dangerous because it is at the bottom point between two hills on Highway 4, which leads to sight visibility issues. They said extra traffic with vehicles traveling at 55-miles per hour would make that stretch of road more treacherous for motorists and people who reside in nearby neighborhoods. Les Young, who lives in Westwood Subdivision on the north side of Highway 4, said there is already a preexisting issue of vehicles speeding there. “My wife and I have lived in the same location for 42 years and the last thing we want to do is slow down growth and progress, but our biggest problem is the location of this new business,” Young told planning commission members. “We pull out of our subdivision on a hill and trucks and vehicles can get on you before you know it. Vehicles pulling out onto Highway 4 from a convenience store would be a tremendously dangerous situation.” Planning members, residents of the area and a pair of engineers at the meeting agreed the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) could provide some relief at that intersection by adding a turn lane or a flashing yellow light. Alan Holley, chairman of the Senatobia Planning Commission who only gets to cast a vote on zoning issues and other matters if there is a tie, said he believes the city is growing westward and this is a chance to help it take steps in that direction. “We have a gentleman here with a quality product on Highway 51 that we are all proud of,” Holly explained. “It’s successful, it’s clean and it has created no problems. What we need to remember is a convenience store can get approved at this new location first thing tomorrow morning at city hall, and we are talking about gas pumps. We have a guy that has proven that he is going to put a quality store there that will be clean and operated the right way. Are you going to promise me the next guy that could get approved tomorrow morning at 8:05 is going to run that type of quality store that contributes tax dollars?” Norton can appeal the planning commission’s decision to the Senatobia Board of Aldermen.
