Sheetz gas station chain plans 4 more stores in metro Detroit
JC ReindlConvenience store and gas station chain Sheetz announced plans Monday to open four more locations in metro Detroit.
The announcement said Sheetz also remains on track to open its first Michigan store late this summer at 33380 Wick Road in Romulus, followed by another Romulus store on Middlebelt Road and one in Chesterfield on 23 Mile Road.
Sheetz stores are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and operate in six states with more than 740 locations.
But councils and planning bodies in several metro Detroit cities have rejected plans for proposed Sheetz locations, including in Madison Heights, Rochester Hills and Waterford, following concerns by residents at public meetings about the stores generating too much traffic and commotion as well as posing competition for existing businesses.
The four newly announced Sheetz locations are:
- Taylor, at 8200 Telegraph
- Taylor, at 20623 Eureka Road
- Warren, at 31925 Van Dyke
- Macomb Township, at 45011 Garfield Road
A representative for Sheetz did not respond Monday to Free Press inquiries about the new locations, and the total number of planned Sheetz stores in Michigan was not immediately clear.
Sheetz is a family-owned company that is headquartered in Altoona, Pennsylvania. All of its current stores are in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and North Carolina.
Eastpointe's planning commission gave site approval earlier this month for a Sheetz on Nine Mile, according to the Macomb Daily, over concerns from some residents about traffic congestion and negative impact on nearby homeowners.
In Orion Township, a public hearing is scheduled for Aug. 21 on a proposed Sheetz at the southwest corner of Lapeer and Silverbell roads.
And in Van Buren Township, a plan for a Sheetz at the southwest corner of Ecorse and Haggerty roads remains under review following a public hearing last month where critics outnumbered Sheetz proponents. Several of the critics were owners of nearby gas stations or food businesses.
“You guys are trying to bring in a big company that has over 700 stores," Michael Berry, whose family owns a nearby BP gas station and a Tim Hortons, said at the July 10 meeting of the township's Planning Commission, according to a recording.
He was among those who called for an updated traffic study to be done.
"Most potholes are not because of people driving their pickups like me," Berry said, "they’re because of the big trucks — the 18-wheelers — and when you put a Sheetz there, you are inviting these trucks off the highway."
Just one township resident at the meeting spoke in favor of Sheetz, describing how he and his wife have had good experiences at Sheetz stores while traveling through Ohio.
“I’m just telling you from experience as a traveler, it’s a clean, safe hub to go to. I don’t think it’s anything hateful to be in a community," the resident, Daniel McCausland, said. "I can see there’s a lot of people who are against them; I don’t know why. Give them a chance."
The township's planning commission opted to postpone a vote on the Sheetz plan to await further analysis on the potential impact to traffic and wetlands, among other things.
Sheetz's announcement Monday also said that the company will donate $10,000 to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southeast Michigan and $10,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan.
Contact JC Reindl: 313-222-6631 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on X @jcreindl