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The Planning Commission has unanimously recommended rezoning a 5.2-acre property along Holland Road and Enterprise Drive to build a convenience store, gas station and a pair of drive-through restaurants.

The property is currently zoned light industrial and, if approved, it would be rezoned for general commercial use.

The staff report noted the proposed commercial uses for the property in Port Logistics Park, which used to be known as the CenterPoint Intermodal Center, but no specific uses have been proffered by John Knott, representing property owner Equus Capital Partners.

It purchased about 500 acres of undeveloped land just north and west of the renamed Port Logistics Center along Holland Road, also known as U.S. Route 58, as well as three buildings on Enterprise Drive and another at 375 Kenyon Road, for $119 million in June 2019.

The other properties surrounding it are all vacant, though to the east, a future fire station has been proposed.

With other general commercial-zoned properties nearby, Knott told the commission that its rezoning would be appropriate.

The conceptual plan for the property proposes access to the site from both Enterprise Drive and Holland Road, but due to concerns about future traffic signals at Enterprise Drive and Holland Road, the location of an emergency signal for a future fire station and the location of the entrance within a future merge area, city planning staff does not support the plan and would not approve a site plan with access from Holland Road.

The staff report on the proposed rezoning states that if the request were to be approved, that access concerns would need to be addressed properly prior to site plan approval.

Knott said his group is also developing a pair of warehouses in Port Logistics Park just north and east of the property it wants to rezone.

“We think that potential uses in (general commercial zoning) would become an amenity not only for residents of Suffolk, travelers along Route 58, but also tenants and employees of our industrial park,” Knott said.

Along with the two warehouses Equus is developing, it is also extending Enterprise Drive from Route 58, which Knott said would be finished by summer 2021.

Knott said during a public hearing that while not having that access wouldn’t deter him from moving forward with plans, he would prefer to have that access and believes it is possible.

“That would be OK,” Knott said, “but we would prefer a right-in, right-out. We think that would be a more attractive feature for businesses.”