Glendale officials in late 2019 offhandedly mentioned plans for a Love’s truck stop, and West Valley residents have since raised concerns that idling trucks would pollute the air, bring traffic and crime and lower property values.

Company officials have their eye on property between Bethany Home Road and Glendale Avenue, just west of Loop 303 and a stone’s throw from Luke Air Force Base. The area is far from Glendale proper, nearer to communities such as Surprise, Litchfield Park, Waddell and unincorporated Maricopa County.

Dozens of those non-Glendale residents have formed a grassroots opposition, saying idling semitrucks would pollute the air and bring traffic, crime and noise. They say it’s unfair that a development on the far western edge of Glendale could impact people who don’t live in the city.

“We pay for the price for Glendale’s revenue grab and that bothers me,” Waddell resident Alan Erickson said. “It just doesn’t belong so close to a neighborhood.”

Before anything can be built, city officials would have to rezone the agricultural land for commercial development. Residents can weigh in on the proposed rezoning at a meeting on May 21. 

What’s the plan?

City officials briefly mentioned the truck stop plans at a City Council workshop in November. The discussion focused on new business coming to Glendale along Loop 303, where Red Bull and White Claw facilities were recently announced.

Randy Huggins, Glendale economic development officer, said at the meeting that a Love’s Travel Stop was planned for Bethany Home Road on the west side of Loop 303 — land the city had recently annexed.

No plans for the truck stop have yet been submitted to the city. But a rezoning effort is underway. 

The Glendale Planning Commission has rescheduled a vote on rezoning the land several times and hasn’t held any public comment meetings.

Following the neighborhood meeting that is planned for May 21, which will be online, the Planning Commission is scheduled to hear the rezoning case on June 4. The commission will send its recommendation to the City Council for a vote. 

Love’s hasn’t bought the land yet

Although city officials said a Love’s truck stop was planned, Love’s hasn’t actually bought the land yet. 

“We are under contract for the property but we have not yet purchased it. We are still going through the due diligence portion of the process,” Love’s spokesman Chad Previch told The Arizona Republic in an email. “We’re looking to purchase 10-12 acres for a possible Love’s Travel Stop with up to three restaurants.”

The Planning Commission will only vote on rezoning the land from land with an agricultural use to a planned area development, which allows for commercial and retail space. The commission is not voting on the truck stop itself.

Narasimha Yerramsetti, who partially owns the land, wouldn’t confirm that the truck stop was still planned. 

‘It’s going to be 365, 24 hours a day’

Nearby residents say they feel Glendale is looking out for itself at the expense of its neighbors.

CJ Unzen lives in unincorporated Maricopa County near Citrus and Bethany Home roads. She moved there about a year ago because it’s not too crowded or too busy.

“We saw this particular area and loved it. We loved that it was more rural,” she said. 

She’s concerned that a truck stop would bring in more traffic and with it more pollution, more crime and more noise. The roaring jets at Luke Air Force Base aren’t that far from her, but she doesn’t mind because they typically stop at night.

Nearby residents are concerned the noise from the idling trucks will go all night. They’re also concerned that it will make their property values dip.

“It’s going to be 365, 24 hours a day,” Erickson, a Waddell resident, said. “I see this only as a revenue grab by Glendale without regard for the human cost they’re inflicting and will be inflicting on people that aren’t even citizens of Glendale.”

Residents said they don’t see why a truck stop is necessary along a freeway like the 303. They’re usually along major interstates, not connectors, Erickson said.

He’s concerned that students walking or biking from nearby schools — Canyon View High School and Belen Soto Elementary School — would be in harm’s way if there’s a nonstop trickle of trucks in the area.

“Glendale’s jurisdiction will stop at Cotton Lane and everyone to the west will reap the benefits, so to speak,” Erickson said.

City Councilwoman Joyce Clark, whose district includes the potential truck stop site, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

More on May 21 meeting

Glendale will have a virtual meeting at 6 p.m. May 21 in which residents can weigh in on the rezoning request. 

Access the meeting online at gotomeet.me/TBZoning/303Cotton. Residents who don’t have a computer can call into the meeting at 1-646-749-3122 and use access code 401-607-069.

Reach reporter Joshua Bowling at [email protected] or 602-444-8138. Follow him on Twitter @MrJoshuaBowling.

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