49th & Pennsylvania Street
On Monday, June 17, 2019 Circle K hosted two public open houses to present their plans for their property located on the southeast corner of 49th & Pennsylvania Street, currently home to a gas station, convenience store and Ty’s Penn Shell three-bay mechanic shop.
Advocating within its purview and legal rights, MKNA has pressured Circle K for a number of concessions and enhancements to the site for the past 1.5 years, first and foremost the retention of Ty Tarr and his business, since receiving notice that Ty’s lease would expire without renewal in August 2019. Efforts made to-date can be found here and here.
Due to neighbor and community concern, MKNA requested and strongly encouraged Circle K to move their initially-planned public meetings from August to June to hear from neighbors. Circle K obliged and hosted two open houses in order to accommodate the various schedules of those in the neighborhood. MKNA passed along all information regarding these public opens houses via its various channels including phone, email, Facebook and this website.
A number of neighbors attended one or both of the meetings to view the final plans as well as to voice their opinions, concerns and questions regarding the future of the site and the future of Ty Tarr, owner of the Ty’s Penn Shell.
At this time, MKNA has received a letter directly from Circle K in response to last week’s public meetings:
Circle K has retained its decision not to renew Ty Tarr’s lease for the three-bay mechanic shop. Per the final statement from Circle K on the matter, written commitments have been made to the following:
- To follow the Meridian-Kessler Neighborhood Plan and use building materials consistent with surround architecture (i.e. red brick, black awnings, larger windows, etc.)
- To follow all Meridian Street Preservation Commission rules and regulations
- To stay within the existing structural footprint of the current building
- To improve the current ingress and egress of the site for increases pedestrian and motorist safety
- To relocate the restrooms to the interior of the structure rather than outside of the building
- To improve street and landscape the property
- To maintain current operating hours in line with standard neighborhood practices and proactively address safety concerns on the site
- To not install an overhead canopy on the site
- To actively engage with neighborhoods and the neighborhood association on ways to improve operations, product offerings, etc. throughout construction and upon the completion of the project
PLEASE NOTE: Due to neighborhood pressure, Circle K has decided to keep the current operating hours of the convenience store rather than its initial 11 PM close time.
