The Warrensburg City Council on Monday night approved rezoning land on Maguire Street to make way for a new Casey's General Store.

The applicants, Philip Zou & Jing Sun, own the property at 309 E. Market Street, which is located approximately 160 feet east of the intersection of North Maguire Street and East Market Street.

The owners applied for a rezoning request to facilitate the redevelopment of this parcel and the adjacent parcels to the north and west with a Casey's convenience store with retail gasoline sales.

The final plat proposes consolidating eight lots into one lot, it was noted.

Warrensburg's Planning & Zoning Commission considered the request at their Aug. 5 meeting and recommended approval of the zoning request, according to Director of Community Development Barbara Carroll.

Casey's sent three reps to the meeting, including a civil engineer and an attorney.

Plans call for the existing gas station to be demolished, as well as two houses on the properties. There will be a fence on the east side all the way to Gay Street. Residents in the 300 block of East Gay requested that the trash area be moved to the northeast corner of the lot.

The properties directly to the north are vacant lots in a R-2 District and General Business (GB) districts, and they are part of the minor plat application. The property to the east is a single-family residence in a R-1 District. To the west is a single-family house and Rory Shelby’s convenience store and gas station in a GB district, and they are part of the minor plat application. The properties to the south are single-family residences in a R-1 District.

Most comments received were in favor of the new “super” Casey's, but one resident spoke in opposition. George Howe, 216 East Gay, was concerned about the increase in traffic a new Casey's will bring to the area. “A super Casey's with 14 pumps will increase congestion,” he said, adding that a bypass that was built a few years ago did nothing to fix the traffic problem on Highway 13.

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