Rezoning request in Haysville sparks speculation, concern. Here’s what’s planned
Land that sparked concern from Haysville residents over possible rezoning is in the early stages of welcoming a gas station, according to the applicant.
About 70 Haysville properties were mailed a letter in June about a requested rezoning from light commercial to heavy commercial at the northwest corner of 79th and Broadway.
Light commercial is suitable for smaller shops like hair salons, smaller retail stores and restaurants. Heavy commercial allows for larger-scale businesses like auto shops and gas stations.
Before people knew what would be built there, the lot became a topic of discussion on a public Haysville Facebook page. Concerns on the Facebook page ranged from whether it was a data center, what residents received the letter and what the zoning change would mean.
“The biggest thing that’s going on in our economy right now . . . (is) people are building data centers left and right, and when we’re talking about rezoning (from) light commercial to heavy commercial, people didn’t know what that meant,” the applicant Nikhil Tiwari, who works for the real estate company HomeSmart based in Texas, told The Eagle.
Instead, the plan is to build a gas station on the 11-acre lot, he said.
“Gas stations are a conditional use of a light commercial district, but they are a permitted use in the heavy commercial district, which is more for bigger versions of what is allowed in the light commercial district,” Kailyn Hogan, Haysville’s planning and zoning administrator, told The Eagle.
Tiwari, who is based in Texas, said there are a lot of steps left to happen in order before details are known about the future gas station. He thinks it will also have a strip of spaces for small businesses to lease. Asked what the gas station would be branded, Tiwari said that hasn’t been decided yet.
“I can only see the plus points,” Tiwari said. “I’m the agent of the other side . . . I keep an open mind to see why people are against it, and stuff like data centers, I completely understand . . . but as far as a gas station plus like a convenience strip where people can function and open their . . . small businesses, I think this will help the economy of Haysville.”
He plans to seek a conditional use permit at the same time as the zoning change to save time. If the zoning change is not approved, the conditional use permit would be in place so the gas station could still operate.
“If we wanted to refile it, we had to wait until that hearing was over, and then maybe if it gets rejected, and then we would have to file another one, it would just take too much time,” Tiwari said. “So what we did was, we submitted another one, to keep it light commercial, but we just wanted a provision to have a gas station be built.”
That application will be reviewed at the same meeting as the zoning change, Hogan said.
If zoning is changed to a heavy commercial district, property owners can generally build anything allowed in that district, unless the planning commission or City Council decided to add a protective overlay.
Who gets notified ahead of rezoning cases?
If a lot is in city limits, everyone within 200 feet gets notified of a rezoning proposal.
However, this lot is not in city limits, meaning every property within 1,000 feet is notified. That led to 71 letters, Hogan said.
“Our code states that it has to be everyone within 1000 feet when the surrounding property is county property, so this parcel is an island annex. Nothing around it is in city limits,” Hogan said.
A public hearing on the zoning request had been scheduled for July 9 but has been moved to July 23.
Residents can make comments in person at the public hearing or can submit them to khogan@haysvilleks.gov or send them to the city of Haysville Planning Department office.
If approved by the planning commission, the City Council would vote on the proposal at its August meeting.
