The property is immediately south of 4830 S. Dixie Drive where a Frisch’s Big Boy restaurant had operated for nearly six decades before closing in 2023.
The two applicants for the rezoning request — Highdale LLC and developer Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate — plan to knock down the two-story brick apartment building adjacent to the vacant restaurant and turn the combined site into a Wawa convenience store/gas station.
Wawa is a chain with more than 1,100 locations. It opened its first Ohio store in April in Butler County’s Liberty Twp.
The request wraps up a months-long process, one that saw it reviewed May 20 in a public hearing by the Planning Commission, which recommended it for approval. City council held a second public hearing July 10 and gave it two official readings in August.
Voting against the rezoning Thursday were council members Ora Allen and Jeanette Marcus. Council member Shirley Whitt was not present. All other members of council voted to approve the rezoning.
Marcus voiced strong opposition to the project at the July hearing, citing safety and environmental concerns and saying it would disrupt nearby residents.
Casey Abney, project manager for Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate, previously told council that Wawa identified Moraine as a strategic location because of how visible it is and how close it is to major highways.
Reached by this news outlet Thursday, Abney declined comment on the project.
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