Bradenton Church Saved By Thorntons Gas Station

A Bradenton church is going to be saved by a gas station.

Bradenton City Council on Wednesday approved 4-0 a Thorntons gas station on State Road 664 and 48th St. Court East, on land owned by Faith United Church of Christ.

The approval allows the church to sell the 1.83 acres to the Clarksville, Indiana-based convenience store chain, providing the congregation enough money to keep its doors open.

"The only offer we received was from Thorntons Inc," said Fred Damianos, a member of the church since 2001, who said that the church had deep financial issues. The church's congregation voted unanimously to sale the Thorntons, he added.

After researching the family-owned company, the church voted unanimously to sell the property to Thorntons, which gave a non-refundable deposit to keep the church's operations afloat, Damianos added. The church also became home to an apostolic church for added revenue, he said.

The Thorntons chain predominately has stores in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. The Bradenton store will have 20 pumps.

The gas station would just be the fifth or sixth Thorntons in Florida, said Eric Zoph, vice president of construction and environmental concerns for Thorntons. 

"It's a family-owned business. It's been around for 42 years, and two years ago voted the national convenience store chain of the year," Zoph said.

The first Florida Thorntons opened in late November in Clearwater and also opened a store in Largo in December. The third Thorntons opened in Tampa Wednesday evening, he said.

Another gas station could be going in at the next light west of the Thorntons. A developer filed a pre-application for Wawa at the old Eckerd. At the earliest, it would be built in 2015 if the developer decides to pursue Wawa.

Along a short stretch of SR 64 now is a 7-Eleven, and down the street is a Mobil gas station beside Publix.

Braden River Lakes residents and the home owners' association complained of potential crime, litter and a glut of gas stations. There weren't any legal reasons provided to deny the plan for sake of compatibility.

"It would be difficult for us as a council to deny it because there are too many gas stations on SR 64," said Councilman Bemis Smith (Ward 4). 

A Braden River HOA representative then claimed that the number of fatalities are the intersection are "enormous."

The intersection had four fatalities in eight years, according to the Bradenton Police Department. The most recent fatality was in 2011.

Another resident, Chuck Binkley, of 14th Avenue East, took a shot at the church.

"It's too bad our church friends allowed their irreverence fiscal irresponsibility to overstp the scripture of Love Thy Neighbor," he said. "It's a shame."

Braden River Lakes resident Patricia Kopke said she will refuse to shop there.

"This is one woman who will never shop at Thorntons," she said. "I won't buy a gallon of gas, I won't buy a gallon of milk from them."

The gas station conceded a few features for the sake of the Braden River Lakes neighborhood. The gas station will construct an eight-foot tall decorative fence at the rear of the store, and the western side of the store facing 48th Street Court East will just have a brick finishing and windows, removing its marquee red frame and name. 

Additional trees and shrubs—about $30,000 worth—will be placed on that side to provide a buffer, according to Zoph.

If the project wasn't approved and the church couldn't sell the land to Thorntons, the church would not have enough money to operate and could close and force to sell all of its 4.83 acres, Damianos said.

"It has power to attract strip mall or something less desirable than what is there today," he said. 

Road improvements through the Florida Department of Transportation are planned for that intersection, too.

Some of those improvements include:

• Reducing speed limit on SR 64 from 50mph to 45mph
• Additional through lanes on SR 64 in both directions
• Sidewalks on both sides of SR 64
• Westbound left-turn lane entering Braden River Lakes lengthened by 280 feet
• Second left-turn lane on eastbound SR 64 and southbound 48th 

The council directed the developer to also consult with FDOT to allow them to build an acceleration lane on eastbound SR 64 coming out of the gas station. Right now, FDOT is only allowing a de-acceleration lane.