Smith: Indy residents right to resist gas-station invasion

For Patrice Duckett, a woman who cares deeply about her Near-Westside neighborhood, it's a war for the ages. Not against the usual enemies, either. But gas stations.

Yes, gas stations.

For the past five years, these businesses have been moving into this urban core neighborhood and others at an alarming rate: 10 stations within a two-mile radius along the high-traffic corridors of West Washington, West Michigan and West 10th streets. Three more are trying to open.

The problem isn't so much with the gas that the stations sell, but with the crime they attract and the convenience stores that come with them. Full of cheap, unhealthy food and paraphernalia that people use for illegal drugs, the businesses are easy money makers in neighborhoods bereft of grocery stores and wracked by poverty.

"We do need new development in our area," said Duckett, a coordinator for the New West Collaborative, "but all development is not good development."

Her story is common.

In May, residents on the Near Eastside managed to stop a gas station from opening at the corner of Rural and New York streets — a site that when it was a Village Pantry, had about 900 police calls over 10 years. Meanwhile, residents in my own neighborhood of Herron Morton Place have been working to stop a gas station from moving in at Central Avenue and East 16th Street.

As a city, we should be concerned about the largely unfettered influx of gas stations into neighborhoods that are already on the edge.

We expect police to work overtime to stop the wave of gun violence, drug dealing and prostitution that is plaguing our city. Yet we're providing more places for people to congregate and cause drama. Anyone who has stopped to get gas in the city on a weekend night knows what I'm talking about.

"(It's) nuisance retail. They're not doing anything to uplift the neighborhood," said Megan Fetter, director of neighborhood engagement at the John H. Boner Community Center. "They're good places to go if you want to get in trouble. We're not into that."

It's a problem. But, sadly, it's a problem that won't away anytime soon.

The hangup is a mix of outdated zoning laws, neighborhoods that for years have been empty of vocal stakeholders, and the profitable business model of opening gas stations and convenience stores in poor urban areas.

The city's hands are tied, said Adam Thies, director of the Department of Metropolitan Development.

Most of the gas stations that have opened have done so under a zoning code that allows a multitude of commercial uses. The code, developed decades ago, doesn't fit the uses that residents want today. The code is in the process of being updated, but those changes won't go into effect until late this year or, more realistically, 2015.

In the meantime, the city must approve any proposal from a business that meets all of the zoning requirements. Objecting would present the city with a "legal dilemma," Thies said. (Cue the battle and pending lawsuit over a billboard in Geist.)

For residents, the only real hope comes when the developer of the gas station has to file for a zoning variance. That opens up the process so they can fight back, selling the story of their plans for their neighborhoods before the Metropolitan Development Commission or Board of Zoning Appeals.

Duckett has had some success with this approach. Her team managed to block eight gas stations from opening within the past two years. Residents on the Near Eastside have had victories, too, including the gas station at Rural and New York.

But to work, the argument has to be logical, forceful and well-coordinated. Not every neighborhood is this organized and so developers often roll in with little resistance.

"We trained ourselves to understand the difference between the emotional part and the economic development and quality-of-life part," Duckett said. "If you just go in with emotion, they're not going to listen to you."

Still, Duckett and others know their options are limited until the City-County Council approves a new set of zoning laws. In the meantime, they are joining forces. Next month, stakeholders from several urban core neighborhoods are meeting to draw up a broader, more coordinated strategy for fighting this war.

"We know what we want. We know what will work in our neighborhood," she said. "They should look at the fabric of the community before they approve something."

Contact Star columnist Erika D. Smith at (317) 444-6424, erika.smith@indystar.com, on Twitter at @erika_d_smith or at www.facebook.com/ErikaDSmith.Journalist.