A public hearing has been continued until November on a conditional use permit request to allow the sale of gasoline and a car wash on a vacant lot west of Caroline Avenue between McFarland Road and Ash Street in Junction City,  and north of a kidney dialysis center under construction.

The Board of Zoning Appeals opened the public hearing Thursday evening.

Mark Powers, Owner of the Handy’s convenience stores in Junction City and Grandview Plaza, did address the commission. He explained that he’s not in favor of having a gas station at that corner.

“I guess my thought process is, is that I don’t see that increasing any tax revenues. You’re only going to sell so many gallons in a community the size of Junction City, so basically all you’re doing is cutting that pie. It’s awkward for me to talk about that because I’m in that business, I own convenience stores in this town,” said Powers.

The MPC did continue the public hearing until the November 13th meeting because the results of a traffic impact study had not been made available to them prior to Thursday’s meeting.

A grocery store is proposed for the same lot, but the name of the grocery store has not been identified by officials at this point.