Queen Creek council approves controversial Circle K

A controversial Circle K will be going up on the northwest corner of Ocotillo and Meridian roads within the Avalon Meridian Commercial Center.

During its Wednesday meeting, the Queen Creek Town Council unanimously voted in favor of a conditional-use permit and site plan approval for the fuel service station with a 4,600-square-foot canopy and seven pumps, as well as the 5,200-square-foot convenience store on a 1.68-acre site, which has been zoned for general commercial use for at least 10 years.

“If they have the proper zoning, if they have the right to be there, then by all means they are welcome to build there,” Mayor Julia Wheatley said. “We want to make sure that our residents are happy, but it’s a very fine line. What is constitutional? What will potentially land a lawsuit on the town?”

Vice Mayor Bryan McClure said the project had been “thoughtfully planned out.”

“After determining a project is safe for the community, we need to give the owner freedom to decide what to build on their land,” he said. “We’ve got to respect property rights, and it is not the proper role government to decide which business goes here because this could be a slippery slope.”

Nearby residents addressed the Planning and Zoning Commission during its April 8 meeting to oppose the development, saying it will increase area traffic, bring loiterers and crime to the site, and cause environmental problems. Others wondered why it is needed as another gas station is set to be developed just across the street. The fuel station and convenience store will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

During Wednesday’s council meeting, one resident spoke out against the Circle K citing traffic concerns and crime.

“Twenty-four-hour establishments usually invite some crime,” said Len Santoro, a resident of the nearby Malone Estates. “We heard a lot about there’s going to be all kinds of video surveillance and things like that to kind of alleviate that. Well, that’s great. They’re going to take pictures of the folks that are committing the crime. But we’re really concerned that it’s inviting something that we don’t already have.”

The developers held a neighborhood meeting on Feb. 23 and 20 people attended with many expressing traffic-related concerns, such as the potential for cut-through traffic in nearby neighborhoods, according to a staff report.

Circle K representative Brennan Ray of the Ray Law Firm said during the April 8 meeting the store and fuel pumps will not be “traffic generators.”

The fuel canopy and pumps will be adjacent to Meridian Road, and the fuel canopy will be about 500 feet from the nearest residential property to the west and will be separated by a drive-thru directly west of the convenience store, a proposed stand-alone AutoZone, 100 feet of parking lot, and an enlarged landscape buffer of about 30 feet.

The site is also adjacent to an empty lot owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The church purchased the land after it was zoned for general commercial.

“Had the church already been under construction, the Circle K would have been potentially blocked,” Council Member Robin Benning said. “We’ve had this come up before, but in this case — though, I feel bad for the Church of Jesus Christ (of Latter-day Saints) — they probably won’t be able to develop a church on that site any longer with alcoholic sales in that location. But unfortunately that’s the way it works.”

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.