Hernando County approves Walmart fuel station plan near Spring Hill store

Hernando County commissioners unanimously approved a master plan revision on June 2 that clears the way for Walmart to add a fuel station beside its Spring Hill Supercenter on Commercial Way, a decision that turns part of an outparcel once intended for overflow parking into a gasoline use. The change applies to the parcel near 1485 Commercial Way, about 240 feet south of Osowaw Boulevard, and expands the site’s Planned Development Project, General Commercial zoning to include C2 uses that allow a fuel station.

The vote matters well beyond one retailer’s expansion. The county planning department’s role includes master plan review, rezoning, special exception permits, conditional use permits and concurrency, so the action fit squarely into Hernando County’s oversight of growth in one of Spring Hill’s busiest commercial corridors. Walmart’s Spring Hill store is listed as store #967 at 1485 Commercial Way, Spring Hill, FL 34606, placing the new use directly in the middle of a corridor already strained by retail traffic.

Commissioner Ryan Amsler focused the board’s discussion on how drivers would get in and out safely. Development Services Director Omar DePablo said access would come from the existing frontage road, not directly from U.S. 19, and engineer Matt DeAngelo of CPH Consulting confirmed the fuel station would not have direct access from the highway. Planning staff also said fuel delivery trucks could use the frontage road, but they could not block it, underscoring how much the county is relying on access management to limit conflicts near the store.

Traffic conditions at the site are already tight. The planning report said the existing Walmart driveway operates at Level of Service F during morning and evening peak periods, the lowest grade on the county’s scale. Hernando County transportation planning materials also identify multiple congestion problem areas in the broader Spring Hill corridor, reflecting a countywide effort to track bottlenecks and manage cumulative development impacts. In practical terms, the approval gives Walmart room to expand at a major retail intersection, while leaving county officials to watch how the added fuel use will affect congestion, ingress and egress, and day-to-day circulation along Commercial Way.