After seven years, Queen Creek will finally acquire a parcel of land for more than $111,000 that’s part of a major road improvement project.
The town has been trying to buy the property located along Rittenhouse and Cloud roads from QuikTrip since 2019 for the Rittenhouse Road from 213th Street Alignment to Riggs Road Project.
At its Sept. 16 meeting, the Queen Creek Town Council approved a resolution declaring a “need and necessity and a public purpose” for the land and authorizing the town manager to “take any and all action necessary” to acquire the property.
The resolution was on the council’s consent agenda in which all items are handled through one motion and vote.
In 2019, the town approved acquiring nine properties for the project, but only eight were completed.
“The final property was that of the QuikTrip Corp. at Rittenhouse Road and Cloud Road. An agreement was reached to purchase the necessary right-of-way in the amount of $111,941; however, the documents remained unsigned by QuikTrip,” according to a staff report.
Town staff sent the purchase documents two times and informed QuikTrip “several times” that a signature was needed, the report continued.
“QuikTrip confirmed their desire to sign the documents and the need to do so but the documents remained unsigned at the time the project was completed utilizing the agreed upon right-of-way,” the report stated.
As a result, the town has been in trespass of QuikTrip’s property.
When QuikTrip was ready to begin developing a fuel station and convenience store on 2.6 acres of undeveloped land at the northwest corner of Cloud and Rittenhouse roads in October 2025, its request for rezoning and permits required signing the right-of-way documents.
The town approved QuikTrip’s request for rezoning in July.
Because so many years have passed since the original action to acquire the property, the council had to issue a new resolution calling for the completion of the right-of-way documents.
The cost of the land was budgeted in 2019 for the road project, but the money was never spent. The town’s current fiscal year budget does not include funds for the purchase, so staff will transfer operating contingency funds from the town’s general fund to pay for the land.
Janet Perez can be reached at jperez@iniusa.org. Please send your comments about this article to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
Janet Perez News Editor | Queen Creek &
San Tan Valley
Meet Janet Janet Perez joined Independent Newsmedia as editor of the Queen Creek Independent and Florence Independent in 2020. She started her career in 1989 with the Gannett-owned El Paso Times. In 1992, she moved to Tempe and has worked in newspapers, magazines, radio and television. She left Arizona for three years to work at New Mexico State University and Baylor University before returning to work at Arizona State University. Missing the business, she went back to journalism in 2017.
Community: A long-time pet owner, she supports animal welfare causes.
Education: University of Texas at El Paso with a BA in journalism and a minor in political science.
Random Fact: She had a head full of random facts.
Hobbies: Reading, watching documentaries, cooking and playing with her dogs.
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