Atlantic's Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a commercial site plan for a proposed Kwik Star gas station, car wash and food-service facility at 1500 East 7th Street. The project calls for an 11,033-square-foot principal building surrounded by roughly 115,434 square feet of paved area, placing it squarely in the city's C-1 Highway Commercial District.
The commission's decision came during a meeting at Atlantic City Hall, according to Western Iowa Today. Travis Small, Kwik Star's real estate development manager, presented the project and gave commissioners an overview of the company. Small, who graduated from Atlantic High School in 2014, told the board that Kwik Star operates more than 900 stores across seven states while remaining family-owned, and that the company is vertically integrated, controlling stages of its business from acquiring raw materials to selling finished products on store shelves.
What the Site Plan Actually Allows
Atlantic's zoning ordinance permits retail and service businesses, including food preparation for off-premises sale, within the C-1 Highway Commercial District, which covers the East 7th Street parcel. A separate report on Kwik Star's initial submission, also from Western Iowa Today, said the site plan and building permit satisfied all 17 required elements under the city's code, covering everything from property information and building dimensions to parking, setbacks, landscaping, signage, utilities, paved surfaces, traffic circulation and drainage.
Under the city's ordinance, fueling spaces at the gas pumps count as parking spaces because fueling is considered a principal use of the property. The City of Atlantic Zoning Ordinance requires the commission to approve a site plan as submitted once it conforms to all local regulations, and the pre-meeting review had already found that standard met.
Traffic Access and a Stormwater Flag
The Iowa Department of Transportation approved Kwik Star to move forward with permit applications for three access points after a traffic study, and the state is not requiring traffic lights at the site. Those access points include an entrance near a private road by the car wash, a shared access point with the Casey's store located in the middle of the development, and an entrance on the far east side near Scooter's. The earlier site-plan report noted that DOT permits were expected to move forward once shared access with Casey's was settled.
That same pre-meeting review, covered in the initial Western Iowa Today report on the submission, flagged a drainage concern from Snyder and Associates: stormwater could potentially bypass intake CB#8 during heavy rainfall and flow onto neighboring properties. Snyder & Associates, the engineering firm that has worked with Kwik Trip on land development since 2014, notes on its own site that the chain's storm sewer collection systems are typically outfitted with oil skimmers to remove pollutants, and that each store's layout is customized to its location.
A Familiar Expansion for Iowa's Kwik Star
Kwik Trip expanded into Iowa in 1993, operating under the Kwik Star name in the state ever since, per Snyder & Associates. The East 7th Street proposal adds Atlantic to a growing list of Iowa communities where the chain has pursued new store development alongside its longtime engineering partner.
With the commission's unanimous approval now on record, the site plan clears a key local hurdle, though the evidence reviewed does not establish a construction start date or an expected opening for the Atlantic location.
