Convenience store giant QuikTrip, which in October 2021 backed off from a plan to build a store and fueling station capable of serving 18-wheelers and cars on East Clay Street, has acquired the three lots it would have used for the store.

According to Warren County land records, QuikTrip acquired the three properties, totaling 12 acres of land, through quitclaim deeds in March, six months after company officials notified Vicksburg community development officials that they were withdrawing the application for a variance to the city’s zoning ordinance for convenience stores.

Each deed has the notation “QuikTrip Store No. 7245.”

Repeated attempts to contact representatives for QuikTrip by telephone and email about the land acquisitions were unsuccessful.

As of Friday morning, according to city records, QuikTrip has not filed any applications for building permits or for a variance to the zoning ordinances.

Tulsa, Okla.-based QuikTrip, which according to its website has 941 stores in 15 states, applied in early July for a variance to the city’s zoning regulations seeking to increase its store size from the 5,000 square feet set by city ordinance to 8,292 square feet for the proposed fueling station.

A spokesperson for the company declined at the time to give specifics on the proposed development, saying it was in the first stages of planning.

According to plans on file with Vicksburg’s Community Development Department, QuikTrip proposed to build a 516,048 square-foot operation on 11.85 acres of land. The complex had room for 23 truck spaces, eight diesel bays with two pumps for diesel for cars and 10 gas bays. It also included a truck scale and the store building had a training room, workroom and support room, besides floor space for retail and food sales.

Company officials in mid-July sent an email to the city’s zoning department asking to postpone the meeting for two weeks to get more information. By that time, opposition to the fueling station developed over traffic safety concerns and signs opposing the station popped up on East Clay Street.

Two months later, in September, QuikTrip re-filed its variance request and a hearing was held on Oct. 5, 2021. After more than an hour of discussion and debate about the project, the Vicksburg Planning Commission, meeting as the Zoning Board of Appeals, tabled QuikTrip’s application to allow company officials time to correct deficiencies in the application for the variance.

On Oct. 26, QuikTrip withdrew its variance request but did not specify if it would be building a smaller store.