The Allen County Board of Commissioners approved two rezoning petitions Oct. 2 that will make way for the construction of a gas station and potential office or retail space on the west side of Coldwater Road, south of Union Chapel Road, in Perry Township.

The development is being constructed by Domo Development Company, the same company that constructed the CityScape Flats apartments adjacent to Parkview Field in downtown Fort Wayne, as well as Bonterra in northwest Allen County.

The rezoning was for 17 total acres of agricultural land across Coldwater from the entrance to Pine Valley on Willowind Trail. The gas station will be on 2.4 acres at the northern corner of that property along Coldwater, which has been zoned for C3 commercial. The applicant signed a written commitment to limit use of that space to only the gas station in addition to a potential car wash or convenience store.

The remaining 14.6 acres of space were rezoned to C2 commercial, which would allow for indoor retail or general office space. There is currently no tenant for the buildings planned.

The back end of the property is separated from a planned single-family residential development by a creek that passes under Union Chapel to the north.

Two residents spoke in opposition of the project during a public hearing — a neighbor across the street who was concerned about traffic, and the owner of nearby Arbor Farms who had a security concern.

“That stretch right there, from a traffic perspective, is already bad,” Commissioner Nelson Peters said.

Senior Planner Michelle Wood said a corridor analysis of Coldwater Road is currently underway, and that will result in design improvements. Final improvements to Coldwater are estimated to be completed in 2024 or 2025, depending on funding. Design work will likely take place next year, Wood said.

Lane improvements and a traffic signal at Willowind will be included in the construction of the new gas station, Wood said. The completion date for that project is still unclear, she noted.

“We’re going to be adding more uses, more traffic, but a signal that I think the folks out there have desperately wanted,” she said. “They’ve wanted it further south at Badiac (Road), but traffic engineering has done studies and that just wasn’t ever a good spot for it.”