ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Residents in St. Augustine are fighting to keep a 7-Eleven from opening up shop near their homes.
So far, the neighbors have been successful. The city's planning director recently rejected 7-Eleven's permit to build.
St. Augustine Mayor Joseph Boles told Channel 4 the permit was largely rejected because of width of the store's proposed entrance and exit point onto San Marco Avenue.
The plan calls for that entrance and exit point to be 35 feet, significantly wider than the city's maximum requirement of 24 feet.
"To relax on that requirement would not be in the best interest of our city, not only from an aesthetic point of view but safety, also from the orderly safety of traffic through our city," said Boles.
Channel 4 spoke to a woman who lives nearby the proposed 7-Eleven site. She's thrilled that the city blocked the 7-Eleven's permit.
The woman told Channel 4 that she is concerned the site would ruin property values, cause traffic headaches and destroy the historic neighborhood.
"The tankers would be coming in there, the noise would be bad and it would just ruin what's on the edge of a national historic site," she said. "It's got these beautiful trees and I'm sure if this project were to happen, neighbors would try to sell their places and move because it would be horrendous, a nightmare."
7-Eleven could appeal the city's decision which, according to the St. Augustine Record's report, they do plan on filing an appeal.
Channel 4 contacted 7-Eleven's attorney Thursday afternoon, but phone calls were not returned.