A still-growing Wisconsin-based convenience store chain is set to take root in an undeveloped area of Whitewater, based on plans in motion.
Officials with La Crosse-based Kwik Trip have unveiled plans of opening a convenience store, gas station and car wash on two currently vacant parcels on Elkhorn Road, or Business Highway 12, near the roundabout.
Talk of opening a Kwik Trip within the area actually stretches back to 2007 as part of a larger set of development plans that never came to fruition as economic forces ensued in the intervening years.
Kwik Trip representative Leah Berlin went before the Whitewater Plan and Architectural Review Commission on Dec. 9 and discussed the company’s continued commitment to the area a dozen years later and how plans have evolved in the time since.
When plans initially were presented more than a decade ago, Kwik Trip’s proposal for the site called for a smaller footprint.
“Since 2007, Kwik Trip’s business has expanded,” Berlin said, explaining the rationale behind the company’s desire to combine two currently separate parcels into one.
Based on the company’s revised operating plan at the Whitewater site, Berlin said the store would feature such amenities as the new take-home meal program that has been introduced at some stores in recent months. Also in the plans is a more robust grocery selection, which the company has rolled out at stores in recent years.
Additionally, Berlin said the revised plans incorporate two rows of diesel filling stations for semis, UPS trucks and other vehicles requiring the fuel source.
Kwik Trip in recent years has been expanding its presence across Wisconsin and many neighboring states. The growth trajectory picked up steam two years ago when the operation acquired the similarly themed PDQ convenience store chain that was a stalwart in Madison and other areas of Wisconsin.
Based on the company’s timeline, Berlin said Kwik Trip intends to begin construction of the Elkhorn Road store in March 2021.
“Our 2020 schedule has been filled for a while,” Berlin said, pointing out why the timeline stretches out beyond a year.
Commissioners in the first municipal review of Kwik Trip’s plans gave a series of technical approvals to the site, including zoning modifications and a conditional-use permit.
City Planner Chris Munz-Pritchard said Kwik Trip would need to reapply for a new conditional-use permit if construction at the site had not begun in April 2021.
A number of granular details went under the microscope as commissioners devoted more than an hour at the recent meeting to consider Kwik Trip’s application.
Aspects under review included building materials, landscaping and such engineering data as where driveways and sidewalks would be placed.
Conceptually, the Whitewater Kwik Trip would reflect some of the company’s newer designs, with heavy emphasis on brick design and a green-colored roof.
One issue that was debated extensively was signage. Commissioners are in the process of reviewing the city’s overall sign ordinance and could make changes down the road. The motion called for Kwik Trip complying with whatever sign ordinance currently is in place at the time the equipment is ordered.
