An Ocala resident made an impassioned plea to City Council members, imploring them to reconsider approval of additional gas stations in Ocala.
Connor Tuck, whose father owned and operated nearly 50 gas stations in Marion County over a 10-year span, expressed his opinion during the May 4 meeting of the Ocala City Council.
“A new gas station isn’t going to offer a new service, or a new product that isn’t offered across the street,” said Tuck, citing the over two dozen gas stations within a 2.5 mile radius of SE 25th Ave and Maricamp Road.
He suggested that the idea of adding a 25th station should be reconsidered in light of the potential negative impacts.
“Once a gas station goes into that ground, that property is worthless. Nothing else can go in there,” said Tuck, citing the potential civil liability of “EPA regulations on the property.”
“I’m constantly reminded, nothing says welcome to Ocala more than the dilapidated gas stations on West State Road 40 and 200 by the interstate,” added Tuck.
In addition to the financial implications, Tuck opened his remarks by suggesting gas stations pose a “huge drain on our communities services” provided by Ocala Fire Rescue and the Ocala Police Department.
To illustrate the point, Tuck looked up public records on two of the most recently constructed gas stations: RaceTrac at the intersection of S.R. 40 and Pine Avenue, and Wawa at SW 10th Street and U.S. 441.
“As of January 1, 2020, 16 months, one of those gas stations had 1,702 calls for service for law enforcement,” said Tuck, referring to the RaceTrac.
“The second gas station had 1,572 calls for service,” added Tuck in reference to the Wawa.
“With more and more gas stations coming into the city, I think that the city council should be aware of the drain that it potentially causes on our public service” explained Tuck.
Tuck closed his remarks by indicating that the current supply of gas stations in Ocala far exceeded the demand.
“If citizens were banging down the doors saying ‘I can’t get gas,’ then yes, I think we could use a couple more gas stations. We are littered with gas stations at just about every major corner.”
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