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For the second time in less than a year, the Farmers Branch City Council has rejected a QuikTrip gas station and convenience store proposed for the corner of Midway Road and Alpha Road, voting 3-2 Tuesday to deny the application with prejudice. Denial with prejudice means the application cannot return to the council agenda without a material change to the proposal.
The vote closed out a lengthy public hearing on the 1.48-acre property at 13601 Midway Rd., a former bank building. QuikTrip, which already operates one location in Farmers Branch at 1600 LBJ Freeway, sought to demolish the existing building and construct a 24-hour gas station and convenience store with 20 fueling pumps and a 5,029-square-foot store.
The council rejected both Ordinance 3987, which would have granted a specific use permit for the gas station and convenience store, and Ordinance 3989, which would have added a beer and wine sales overlay to the same parcel.
Because more than 20% of property owners within the required 200-foot notification buffer submitted formal letters of opposition, approval would have required a supermajority, meaning four of five council members voting in favor. The council first turned down a QuikTrip proposal for this same location in a 3-2 vote at its May 6, 2025, meeting, citing concerns about traffic, safety, and alignment with the city's comprehensive plan.
Property owner Nick Farris, who has agreed to sell the parcel to QuikTrip, urged the council to approve the project. "Who would you rather have owning and maintaining this site?" Farris said. "QuikTrip, who's going to spend millions and millions of dollars developing it, or me?" Farris told the council that when the business currently occupying the building eventually vacates, he will fill the space with whatever tenant he can find, and warned the replacement may not be of QuikTrip's caliber.
Dallas Cothrum, CEO of MasterPlan Consultants, representing QuikTrip, argued the site already functions as part of a commercial corridor and said the city's comprehensive plan should not be the deciding factor, noting that special use permits for alcohol sales had previously been granted to businesses directly north of the proposed location.
In an unusual agenda, Cothrum spoke before council during the study session as well as during the public hearing during the regular council meeting.
QuikTrip's traffic engineer, Kelly Parma of Lee Engineering, told the council the company voluntarily commissioned a traffic study, one that was not required by the city, and concluded that roughly 75% of customers at a convenience store of this type represent existing pass-by traffic rather than new trips generated by the development.
Michael Gallops, president and CEO of the Metrocrest Area Chamber, appeared in support, describing the project as a reinvestment in an existing commercial corner and calling QuikTrip the kind of high-quality operator the city should seek to attract. The chamber submitted a written letter of support prior to the meeting.
More than a dozen residents, school officials, and business owners addressed the council in opposition, most citing traffic safety, proximity to Parish Episcopal School, and the absence of an independent city-required traffic study.
Dr. Matthew Rush, head of school at Parish Episcopal, said the school had been requesting a proper traffic study for more than a year. He said the school's concern was not with QuikTrip as a company but with the traffic volume any high-turnover business would add to roads already crowded twice daily by school carpool. "Safety is a number one concern for me and for the school," Rush said.
Attorney Chris Bowers, representing Parish Episcopal, raised a procedural objection. QuikTrip representatives had been given 45 uninterrupted minutes during a council study session held that same afternoon, he said, while each opponent at the public hearing was limited to three minutes. The broadcast of the study session had also cut out partway through, he said, meaning most residents present had no opportunity to hear or rebut what QuikTrip presented. "That is not a level playing field," Bowers said. "It is fundamentally unfair."
Resident Barbara Currier said she visited comparable QuikTrip locations and measured a 42-foot green space buffer at one site, conditions she said bore no resemblance to the tight Midway and Alpha corner. She also noted that a one-mile stretch of Midway Road already contains four gas stations. "I don't see how anybody can make the case that to add a fifth gas station would increase our convenience," she said.
Steve Flens, whose business sits directly north of the proposed site, called the 1.48-acre footprint a structural constraint no operator could overcome. "It is not speculative," Flens said. "It is a predictable site constraint problem."
Council member Elizabeth Villafranca, whose District 4 includes the site, was the most vocal supporter on the council. She said she had spoken with district residents who favored the project and compared the opposition to past community resistance to an H-E-B store and a St. Jude housing center. "I really believe that QuikTrip is a great, great partner," she said.
Council member David Reid said the comprehensive plan should not be treated as an absolute barrier, noting the city had already issued special use permits for similar uses in the immediate area. He also argued that a physical barrier blocking cut-through traffic to Sigma Road, which runs past the school, could be installed as a condition of approval, potentially reducing safety concerns regardless of who ultimately occupies the property.
Council member Roger Neal said the volume of public testimony and opposition letters was decisive. "I don't believe that there's been a compelling case made for the need of this gas station at that location," he said. Neal added that the council's role was to evaluate the zoning question, not the quality of QuikTrip's business operations.
Neal made the motion to deny, which was seconded and passed 3-2, with council members Lupe Gonzalez and Tina Bennett-Burton also voting in favor of denial. Council members Villafranca and Reid cast the dissenting votes. The outcome matched the same margin by which the council rejected the proposal last May. With the denial issued with prejudice, QuikTrip would need to substantially alter its application before the site could be considered again.
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