The owner of a gas station in Tysons is seeking to formalize the property’s side hustle as a U-Haul vehicle rental site.
Petroleum Marketing Group submitted an application to Fairfax County on Sept. 25 requesting a special exception amendment to allow a truck rental establishment in conjunction with its BP gas station at 8217 Leesburg Pike.
In a statement for the application, PMG acknowledges that rental trucks have actually “operated on the property for some time,” but the filing seeks to get the service officially approved as an “ancillary use” — one that’s needed to support the growing residential population in Tysons.
“The fact that all of the trucks and vans available for rent at the Property are rented out every weekend and close to all of them are rented during the weekdays provides a very clear and obvious validation of the great need for the service,” the application says.
Under PMG’s proposal, U-Haul will maintain up to 16 vans and trucks on the property, operating from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. The trucks will be either 10 or 15 feet long, though the fleet will mostly consist of vans.
Customers will rent the vehicles on site at the existing gas station building. The establishment is expected to draw 14 to 18 patrons on weekends and eight to 12 on weekdays, generating an estimated 56-72 trips on weekends and 32-48 trips on weekdays, according to the application.
The gas station will remain, U-Haul International Director of Real Estate Randal Studer Jr. confirmed to FFXnow. The only physical change proposed to the site is restriping for the vehicle storage.
“This location has been offering truck rentals for the past 16+ years and demand is through the roof,” Studer said by email. “Our application seeks to maintain the status quo by bringing the property into code compliance.”
Per the statement of justification, PMG is open to working with the Virginia Department of Transportation “to potentially provide landscaping” similar to the streetscape shown in a plan to redevelop the adjacent auto dealership at 8226 Boone Blvd.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a proposal from Garrett Companies in 2017 to replace the dealership with a mixed-use residential building that would include 385 apartments and up to 129,000 square feet of office and retail space. However, the project was put on hold after the developer filed for bankruptcy in 2018.
According to county records, the property was sold to the McLean-based company Tepe & Hisar for $19.5 million on June 21, 2019, but there hasn’t been any movement since then on a redevelopment.
In its statement, PMG says neither of the uses on its site — the gas station and the U-Haul vehicle rental service — will interfere with the future development, which would also provide a new public street connecting Leesburg Pike (Route 7) and Boone Blvd.
In fact, the property owner argues that the truck rental establishment will support the county’s goals of drawing more residents and creating more housing in Tysons.
“Those residents should have close and convenient rental truck availability,” the application says. “It is very typical across the County and the country for truck rental establishments to co-locate with gas/service stations.”
The special exception application is still waiting to be formally accepted for review by county staff.
Image via Google Maps
