It seems that every time Parker’s Kitchen looks to expand in the CSRA, they pick the absolute worst location possible, according to nearby neighbors.
It was only two years ago that the famous convenience store brand fought to change the zoning on a parcel of land on Wheeler Road, in the already congested medical district.
Despite residents showing up to the commission meetings with a 400-person petition in hand, protesting the zone change at 3645 Wheeler Road, city leaders allowed the expansion to occur.
Now, Parker’s Kitchen wants to expand its footprint once again, this time in Columbia County, and they managed to find an even worse spot, traffic-wise, than the Wheeler Road location. The chain is looking to place a convenience store at the intersection of Washington Road and Bobby Jones.
As Columbia County rapidly grew in the 1980s and 1990s, that intersection became one of the most frustrating crossroads in the entire county as I-520 converges with Washington Road as well as Riverwatch Parkway further down, which shuttles even more traffic up Old Evans Road.
During rush hour on any given day, that intersection literally becomes a parking lot, and it is made even worst with the occasional train crossing the area.
For Parker’s Kitchen, this may appear to be a perfect spot for a gas station on paper, but a convenience store is no longer convenient if snarled traffic makes it time consuming, tricky and possibly dangerous to enter and exit.
The Columbia County Planning Commission has heard from concerned neighbors and have decided to table the matter for now.
While we welcome growth in Columbia County, we agree with the residents that Parker’s Kitchen should find a more suitable location. Residents have pointed out that the relatively low-traffic Walgreens that once occupied the spot caused headaches for neighbors, a Parker’s Kitchen is going to invite five times the traffic woes as the drug store once did.
There are no less than five gas stations within walking distance of that intersection, which remains busy during the week with commuters and church goers on Sundays.
We urge the Columbia County Planning Commission to put the parking brake on this expansion and invite Parker’s Kitchen to look elsewhere.
