Maverik changes angle of store on former Franklin School property

A document the city of Boise received Thursday shows a diagonal orientation for a proposed Maverik convenience store on the southwest corner of Franklin Road and Orchard Street.

A site plan that Maverik, a gas station and convenience store company based in Salt Lake City, filed in March showed a storefront oriented along Orchard Street, though with a walk-up entrance angling in from the corner of Franklin and Orchard. It's unclear why Maverik revised its site plan. Efforts Monday to contact a company representative for comment on the change were not immediately successful.

Besides the convenience store, Maverik's site plan calls for nine commercial lots on the 4.74 acres of frontage land along Franklin and Orchard. The city of Boise plans to develop a park on the interior three acres southwest of the proposed convenience store.

The Boise Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to consider the full development plan at their meeting Tuesday. The meeting is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. in the third-floor City Council chambers of City Hall, 150 N. Capitol Blvd.

This piece of ground has been a focal point for the city of Boise for years. School buildings stood there for more than 100 years before they were torn down in 2010. In 2013, the Boise School District and the city reached an agreement to sell Boise the three interior acres for a park. The agreement also gave the city a six-month option to buy the frontage property, which is more attractive to businesses because of its prime exposure to busy streets.

Boise hoped to find a nonprofit organization or business whose mission fit the park to occupy the frontage property. The city fielded several inquiries from groups interested in developing the property, but none led to a deal.

The option to buy the frontage ground expired, and the city lost much of its influence over what can be built there. Maverik bought the land two years ago for about $1.25 million, raising eyebrows of people at City Hall and in the neighborhood who are concerned that putting a convenience store next to a city park isn't appropriate.

The city hopes to develop the park somewhere around 2020.

This story was originally published January 16, 2017 at 12:02 PM with the headline "Maverik changes angle of store on former Franklin School property."