A 24-hour Denny's just north of Interstate 77 in Springfield Township could soon be swapped out for a Sheetz gas station, according to a permit application now working its way through local zoning review. Sheetz has applied to build a new station at 2943 South Arlington Road, right on the site of the existing diner, and the project would mark the convenience store chain's tenth location in Summit County.
The application, filed under permit number 102577 and case BZA 13-2026, was submitted by Permit Project Manager Ellen Selle on Sheetz's behalf, according to a public hearing notice from Springfield Township. The proposal requires Conditional Use approval from the township's Board of Zoning Appeals to operate a gas station and outdoor storage at the site, per the same township notice. A public hearing on the request was scheduled for August 12. As reported by the Akron Beacon Journal, a Sheetz spokesperson said the Arlington Road location is still in the early development process and that specific details are not yet available, though the company said it would provide more information as it becomes available.
Beyond the conditional use request, Sheetz is also seeking two zoning variances the project would need to move forward. One would allow parking between the gas pumps and the street, which is otherwise prohibited under the township's Section 5.04(V)(3); the other would permit more parking spaces than the local maximum allowed under Section 11.04, per the township's filing. If approved by the Board of Zoning Appeals, the project would still need to clear the Township Zoning Commission, according to the same notice, since Springfield Township regulations require conditional use and site modification requests to pass through review by both the Summit County Planning Commission and the Township Zoning Commission before the Board of Trustees can issue a final decision.
A Fast-Growing Footprint in Summit County
If the Arlington Road project wins approval, it would become Sheetz's tenth store in Summit County, per the Beacon Journal. The chain's first Summit County location opened back in 2001, and its most recent addition arrived in June, when Sheetz opened its ninth county store at 650 Graham Road in Cuyahoga Falls on land that had previously housed an Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles office, according to WKYC. That Cuyahoga Falls store was Sheetz's second location within that particular municipality.
Not every Summit County township has waved Sheetz through easily. In nearby Bath Township, the Board of Zoning Appeals approved conditional use and a driveway expansion near I-77 in June but rejected a variance for a 6,139-square-foot store that exceeded local building size limits, according to Scriptype. That decision shows the kind of pushback Sheetz can run into even when a project otherwise clears traffic and access hurdles.
Part of a Broader Midwest Expansion Push
The Springfield Township filing lands amid an aggressive regional growth run for the family-owned chain. Sheetz operates approximately 850 stores across seven states — Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland and Michigan — per the Beacon Journal, and the company is pursuing a corporate goal of reaching 1,000 total locations, according to FOX 2 Detroit.
Sheetz announced in April a $1 billion Midwest expansion plan calling for 100 new stores in Indiana over the next decade, building on recent rollouts across Ohio and Michigan, as reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. That followed a February announcement of a $500 million investment to open 14 new stores across Southeast Michigan this year, on top of Sheetz's existing base of more than 130 Ohio locations, according to CSP Daily News. To keep those stores stocked, Sheetz is also building a new food preparation and distribution center in Findlay, Ohio, slated to open later this year, per C-Store Dive.
For now, the fate of the Denny's on South Arlington Road remains tied to the outcome of the zoning process. Sheetz has not said what would happen to the diner's operations or staff if the project moves forward, and the company has indicated only that the Arlington Road proposal remains in its earliest planning stages.
