By Kathryn Cargo, Victoria Advocate


A gas station about the size of the infield of a baseball diamond is coming to Victoria.

The new Texan, which will measure about 10,000 square feet, will be the sixth in the chain and follows the opening of one in Cuero in the spring. Brian Dlugosch, of Yorktown, owns the chain with his wife, Denise Dlugosch.

The Victoria location will be adjacent to Victoria West High School on the corner of Zac Lentz Parkway and U.S. 87. and will be the chain's largest. Dlugosch said Victoria was a good market for the store.

"It's a good growing market - a good daytime population," he said. "We see a good fit on that side of town. There's not a lot of development."

Dlugosch is finalizing construction plans and will submit them to the city soon. He said he hopes construction will start sometime this year and be complete by summer 2018.

Victoria City Council approved an exemption to an ordinance for Dlugosch, permitting him to build at that location. The ordinance prohibits the sale of alcohol at a business located within 300 feet of a church, school, public hospital or child care facility, said Mayor Paul Polasek.

The fall after the Dlugosch brothers purchased the 5.5 acres in summer 2016, the City Council amended the code, changing how the distance between a business selling alcohol and schools, churches, public hospitals and child care facilities is measured.

"They worked with VISD, and VISD's had no problems with the fact that they sell beer as any other convenience store," Polasek said. "It would not be an issue in that sense."

Without the exemption, Dlugosch wouldn't be able to sell alcohol at the location.

The decision made by the City Council also ensures any future business on that land could only sell alcohol for offsite consumption, Polasek said.

"The city has been good to work with to issue us a variance (exemption) to allow us to build there," Dlugosch said.

The Texan will help spur development on that side of town, Dlugosch said: "It's going to grow and keep going that direction."

The store will have a full-service kitchen with made-to-order food items such as burgers, sandwiches, pizza, breakfast tacos, breakfast plates and a bakery, Dlugosch said.

The Texan will also sell general convenience store merchandise as well as trucking supplies and novelty items.

The store will have a large parking lot with gas pumps as well as diesel for 18-wheelers and trucks.

"We're looking forward to expanding into Victoria," Dlugosch said.