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PUMPED UP: Adding gas stations fuels debate in Fortville

Developers of a BP gas station in Fortville say they're hoping the fueling center at 625 W. Broadway St. will finally be ready to open sometime in September. Contractor delays reportedly halted progress at the gas station, which has sat empty since it was built in 2023.

Tom Russo | Daily Reporter

 

By Shelley Swift | Daily Reporter - August 2, 2025

FORTVILLE — Two gas stations are both one step closer to reality in Fortville.

On Tuesday, the town’s plan commission approved conceptual plans for a station at the southeast corner of Broadway and Ohio streets, less than a quarter-mile east of town hall.

Meanwhile, developers of a British Petroleum station at the northwest corner of Broadway and Garden streets — which has sat empty since it was built in 2023 — say they hope to open for business sometime in September.

Developers of the BP gas station in Fortville say they’re hoping the fueling center at 625 W. Broadway St. will finally be ready to open sometime in September. Fortville’s plan commission recently approved conceptual plans for another gas station to be built at Ohio and Broadway streets east of town.

Tom Russo | Daily Reporter

On Friday, Dalvir Shermar said he and his brother and business partner, Bally Shermar, recently hired a new contractor who plans to bring the long-awaited BP station at 625 W. Broadway St. to life.

Shermar said contractors still need to install the remaining 25% of stormwater drains and add curbs and a drive connecting the parking lot to the road.

Fortville’s building and planning director, Adam Zaklikowski, shared last week that the Shermars have encountered multiple delays with past contractors, and that they and town officials are “just as frustrated as the residents” over the delay.

Zaklikowski added that the remaining work is largely between the developer and INDOT, which oversees the connectivity between the gas station and Broadway Street, otherwise known as U.S. 36.

The planning director said the town can’t grant a certificate of occupancy until the project is complete.

Developers of the BP gas station in Fortville say they’re hoping the fueling center at 625 W. Broadway St. will finally be ready to open sometime in September. Contractor delays reportedly halted progress at the gas station, which has sat empty since it was built in 2023.

Tom Russo | Daily Reporter

”The bottom line is we want to see them open and successful,” he said.

Gas stations have been a hot topic in the community, as some residents have expressed reluctance to add to the two stations already in town — a Speedway station and a Huck’s station, located across the street from one another in the 300 block of East Broadway Street.

At Tuesday’s plan commission meeting, over a dozen residents spoke out against the proposed station at Broadway and Ohio streets. Some attended the meeting in person, while others weighed in via Zoom.

G.O. Investments of Winamac hopes to build the new station on the 1.73-acre site, which would feature 20 fuel pumps and an 8,700-square-foot building that houses a convenience store and three separate spaces available for lease.

Zaklikowski said the developer refiled an application to be heard at this week’s plan commission meeting after the original application was turned down at the commission’s meeting in June, when some members requested amendments such as additional parking.

Now that the developer’s conceptual plans are approved, Zaklikowski said the next step for the developer is to finalize construction plans and submit them to the town for approval, so that a building permit can be issued.

“They also need to get a permit from INDOT for the entrance,” he said.

Zaklikowski pointed out most remonstrators at Tuesday’s meeting were not speaking out against the project’s conceptual plans, but the idea of putting a gas station there in the first place.

He said by the time the details of the project were presented to the plan commission this year, the BZA had already granted a special use exception for the space in 2023.

Developers of the BP gas station in Fortville say they’re hoping the fueling center at 625 W. Broadway St. will finally be ready to open sometime in September. The local plan commission recently approved conceptual plans for another gas station to be built at Ohio and Broadway streets east of town.

Tom Russo | Daily Reporter

“The town council, BZA, plan commission and redevelopment commission all have different roles and have to look at different projects, so the scope of their review is always a little bit different,” he said.

While Zaklikowski said he understands not all residents are going to like all the decisions made by town officials, “I can say the remonstrators are always listened to. That’s always part of what we do,” he said.

Zaklikowski, who has worked as a planner for other communities, said there’s no real equation for knowing how many gas stations are right for a community.

“It’s all up to the free market,” he said, pointing out Broadway Street is part of the well-traveled U.S. 36, which draws a lot of vehicles in need of fuel.

“Some recent data we’ve got shows that Huck’s was the most frequently visited business in town, so I think based on information like that there’s an interest from (developers),” he said.