Kum & Go planning larger Iowa City store

West Des Moines-based Kum & Go is seeking rezoning of three parcels of land in the Towncrest area of Iowa City for construction of a 5,900-square-foot Marketplace store.

City Manager Geoff Fruin said the new store and fuel islands will replace an existing 2,880-square-foot Kum & Go at 2303 Muscatine Ave. as well as the Towncrest BP at 2315 Muscatine Ave.

'This would be consolidating two filling stations into one,” Fruin said. 'There will be a single curb cut from Muscatine instead of two or three. From a traffic standpoint, this proposal cleans things up quite a bit.”

Fruin said the rezoning applications involve two single-family homes to the south of the existing Kum & Go and a portion of the Iowa City Hospice property at 1025 Wade St.

'The current parking for the Iowa City Hospice is off Wade Street,” he said. 'Kum & Go wants to take some of the Iowa City Hospice parking and give them parking where the two single family homes are behind their building.”

The land at 1010 S. First Ave. and 1022 S. First Ave. would be rezoned from residential to commercial use to accommodate parking for the hospice.

A slice of the hospice property also will need to be rezoned to a commercial district that allows a fueling station.

Fruin said the city staff is recommending approval of the zoning changes. Iowa City Planning and Zoning Commission will consider the requests when it meets Thursday, but will be asked to defer final action until its Jan. 18 meeting, he added.

'It's an incomplete application because some of the rendering dimensions are not to code,” Fruin said.

'We've suggested to the planning and zoning commission that they can consider it, talk about it and identify any issues they see. But the formal approval cannot happen until corrections are made to the site plan.”

Fruin said Iowa City Council likely will consider the rezoning request in early February. Demolition of the existing convenience stores and single-family homes as well as construction of the new Kum & Go likely would occur in the spring.

When contacted last month about a new Kum & Go and acquisition of the adjacent Towncrest BP station, Kristie Bell, Kum & Go director of communications, was not able to confirm any specific plans.

'We would love to build one of our new Marketplace stores at that location,” Bell said. 'The Marketplace stores offer a wide selection of fresh and made-to-order foods, expansive beer cave, a seating area with free Wi-Fi and charging stations and a selection of fuels.”