Sheetz is looking to plant a 24-hour convenience store and gas station just off Interstate 90 in Westlake, at the southwest corner of Crocker Road and Hospice Way. The proposal calls for a 6,139-square-foot store, six fuel-pump islands, and a pickup window built exclusively for orders placed through the Sheetz mobile app, with no outdoor speaker or ordering station attached.
The plan, detailed by cleveland.com, would put the store at 1100 Crocker Road, roughly 200 feet from the I-90 interchange, according to project applicant Timothy Wright. The parcel currently belongs to Cleveland Airport Hospitality LLC and sits just east of the existing hotel on the property, per preliminary plans, with an automotive service station located farther south and a manufacturing business across the road. No residential properties directly adjoin the site. The address directly fronts Crocker Road, a stretch that carries approximately 31,899 vehicles per day near the interchange, according to commercial listing data from LoopNet.
The Wyndham Garden Westlake is listed as a 267-room property with 12,000 square feet of meeting space, according to Cvent. Sheetz representative Ellen Selle and applicant Timothy Wright are working on behalf of GPD Group, the applicant's organization behind the filing.
An Acreage Question Still Unresolved
The site is zoned interchange service, a designation intended to accommodate businesses serving motorists near freeway interchanges, and a gasoline service station is permitted there under Westlake's zoning code. Fuel canopy and convenience-food sales are considered accessory uses under that code, according to the report. But the mobile pickup window still triggers drive-through facility regulations, which is why a conditional-use application is needed in the first place.
That is where the fight gets complicated. Westlake regulations generally require at least 2.5 acres for a parcel containing a drive-through restaurant, but the proposed Sheetz parcel would measure only about 2.1 acres following a planned lot split. Wright argues, per the application, that the acreage requirement should consider the Sheetz site together with the neighboring property to the south — a combination that would exceed 2.5 acres, per the application. The city has not ruled on that interpretation yet, and it remains an open question heading into this month's review.
What Happens at Westlake City Hall
The Westlake Planning, Zoning and Legislative Committee is scheduled to discuss the conditional-use permit application on September 8 at Westlake City Hall. The committee agenda does not indicate that a final decision will be made at that meeting. The Planning Commission will provide a recommendation on the request, but it will ultimately be Westlake City Council that acts on the conditional-use application, and council must hold a public hearing before doing so.
If approved, the store would create about three dozen jobs, split roughly evenly between full-time and part-time positions — a figure that lines up with the roughly 30 workers a standard Sheetz location typically employs, according to CSP Daily News. Preliminary plans show 41 parking spaces on the site. Sheetz has not provided a specific project cost, though the development is described as a multimillion-dollar investment, and construction is expected to take six to eight months once underway. Directional signage will be submitted separately to the city.
A Format Sheetz Has Used Before
The app-only pickup window without a speaker board is not new territory for Sheetz in Ohio. The chain secured a similar conditional-use approval in Bath Township near the I-77 interchange in April, featuring the same speakerless setup, according to Scriptype. Customers will not place orders at the Westlake pickup window itself — it exists solely to hand off orders already placed through the app.
The design reflects a broader industry focus on foodservice. Super-regional chains like Sheetz, Wawa and QuikTrip are expanding their foodservice offerings, per C-Store Dive. Sheetz is backing that expansion with a $169 million distribution and food-preparation facility under construction in Findlay, according to Built In. As of August, Sheetz operates 814 stores across seven states, per ScrapeHero.
Not the First Cuyahoga County Zoning Fight
Westlake would not be the first Cuyahoga County suburb to weigh a Sheetz zoning request this year. Hoodline reported in April that Beachwood officials debated rezoning a Chagrin Boulevard property for a 16-pump Sheetz station, and the company is also pursuing its tenth Summit County store near I-77. The Crocker Road corridor itself is already busy: the Crocker Park lifestyle center just south of the proposed site spans 120 acres and draws nearly 20 million visitors a year, and a small-format IKEA is slated to open there in spring 2027.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data Center, Ohio lists an annual EV registration fee of $200 and a plug-in fee of $150.
If Westlake officials sign off on the conditional-use request and the acreage question is resolved in Sheetz's favor, the company anticipates opening in mid- to late 2027, provided approvals are secured by the end of this year. Until then, the acreage dispute — and whether Westlake accepts pairing the Sheetz parcel with its neighboring property — remains the central unresolved issue standing between the company and a Northeast Ohio location.
