ASHLAND — It’s official: Circle K is bringing another gas station to a property next to the former Osborn Elementary School property along Main Street; crews broke ground Monday.
Documents filed with the city’s engineering office show the project’s site development and zoning permits were approved in October 2024.
Ashland Source obtained copies of the project’s permit approvals via a public records request with the city’s engineering office.
Circle K’s development manager, from Cleveland, first approached the city in late 2023. At that point, nothing official was set, but the property had been purchased by Osborn Ashland LLC at a public auction for $210,000.
Just over an acre of the 2.7-acre property will be occupied by a 3,900 square-foot Circle K store, a canopy, parking spaces and nine fuel dispensers. (Three of the dispensers will be “basic hi-speed diesel” dispensers.)
The $875,000 gas station will have four fuel tanks buried beneath, one for each product, project documents show. Fuels available, according to tank types, include regular unleaded, premium unleaded, diesel and ezero — an ethanol free gasoline.
Records do not show plans for electric vehicle charging stations.
A video on Facebook caught footage of heavy machinery on the site Monday morning. Shane Kremser, the city’s engineer, said in an email last week that “they are supposed to start construction in the very near future (Spring).”
Documents indicate there will be a stormwater retention basin on the north side of the property.
The south end of the property, the side closest to Main Street, will host the store and gas station. Documents show all 10 of the existing trees on the property are scheduled to be removed.
It’s unclear how many employees in total will be hired, but a project document states there will be four workers present per shift.
The parking lot will include 15 regular spaces for vehicles and one handicap space. There will be 12 “fueling positions,” or spots designated for refueling.
Circle K presence in Ashland
When complete, the new Circle K will be the brand’s fourth site in Ashland.
Ashland City Councilwoman Angela Woodward said the new site will “replace the one by CVS.” The two Circle K facilities are located within 1,000 feet of each other.
The company’s presence in Ashland, however, is unclear.
“Circle K has not indicated as to what they were going to do with their existing business (on Main Street),” Kremser said in an email.
The property owner for the new Circle K was not immediately available to comment.
Ashland Mayor Matt Miller acknowledged during a March 4 city council meeting that “some are concerned” the property will host a Circle K.
“The reality is, it’s a private property,” Miller said. “The city did not recruit them for that location. We did not sell them that land, and it’s important that you remember that the school did not sell that land to Circle K.
“They sold it to a developer who bid the highest amount at a public auction.”
The mayor added the development “should be a good improvement.”