CU 2360 (Royal Farms in Angola)
On This page:
Cape Gazette Ad (page 21) on 3/22/2024 - By Rt 24 Alliance
Why Predecessors of this application were DENIED
CZ 1855 - Change of Zone from AR-1 to C3 Heavy Commercial was denied in 2018.
The only Councilperson who voted on CZ 1855, and is still on the Council, is Vincent. He voted no.
Listen to the vote on CZ 1855
CU 2176 - Conditional Use of AR-1 for a 7-Eleven gas/diesel station with a convenience store
P&Z voted to recommend approval to the Council on 9/13/2018, but the Council denied it in Jan. 2020. The win of this case was very unlikely at the time and gave momentum for the county residents of a wide area to come together to fight for a better land use process - Sussex2030 was formed.
Listen to the vote on CU2176
The 3 Councilpersons who voted to deny CU 2176 are still on the Council in 2024 - Vincent, Hudson and Rieley..
Now CU 2360 - Royal Farms on Conditional Use
It is at the same site with more acreage. All the same issues are still there.
The main issues are:
Protection of Inland Bays water quality
The danger of Angola Rd's hazardous traffic situations
Protection of the drinking water source for 23 communities in the area
Potential Traffic Flow with CU 2360
Gas stations make more money from convenience items than from selling gas.
In much the same way that movie theaters make higher profits from concessions than they do from tickets, gas stations make more money from convenience items than they do from selling gas. The profit margins on gasoline are extremely (and surprisingly) low, so much so that filling stations barely make any money just from selling fuel. That’s even true when gas prices are higher, because competition for customers is so fierce that retailers are often loath to be the first one to raise their prices. On average, the net profit margin on gasoline is just 1.4%, whereas the average across all industries is 7.7%. That profit margin is lower than the average one at car dealerships (3.2%) and grocery stores (2.5%), both of which are known for relatively low margins. The reason gas makes so little profit has to do with the supply chain — actually getting the fuel to your local 76 is a tremendously involved process.
That all changes once you step inside a gas station’s convenience store (about 80% of them have one). Despite only bringing in some 30% of most gas stations’ revenue, items like lottery tickets, potato chips, and drinks are responsible for 70% of the profit. So while they might not like higher gas prices any more than you do, gas station owners probably don’t mind how much you spend on impulse buys.