Queen Creek council set to vote on a proposed QuikTrip fuel station

The Queen Creek Town Council is set to vote on QuikTrip’s request to build a fuel station on 2.6 acres of undeveloped land at the northwest corner of Cloud and Rittenhouse roads, adjacent to Schnepf Farms.

At its June 15 meeting, the council voted 6-0 to approve a continuance until July 15 for a public hearing on QuikTrip’s requests for rezoning, conditional-use permit and site plan.

The Planning & Zoning Commission recommended approving the requests to council at its June 10 meeting.

The proposed QuikTrip would have a 7,152-square-foot fuel canopy with eight pumps, and a 5,312-square-foot convenience store that will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It will have access from Rittenhouse and Cloud roads.

The property is currently zoned rural residential, and QuikTrip is requesting a rezoning to general commercial. The conditional-use permit is needed to allow fuel sales.

The Schnepf family sold the 2.6-acre site to QuikTrip in 2009. In 2020, the town approved a request to annex the area and rezone property owned by the Schnepf family as part of the agritainment district. As a result, only the property owned by QuikTrip remains zoned as rural residential.

When Schnepf Farms owner Mark Schnepf sold the property to QuikTrip, he retained the right to review and approve the design.

In 2021, QuikTrip submitted a pre-application request for the site “and received substantial comments,” according to the project narrative.

“Over at least last five years, QuikTrip’s been working very closely with the Schnepfs and trying to create something that’s compatible with their farm and their agritainment concepts,” Brian Greathouse of Burch & Cracchiolo, the law firm representing QuikTrip, said at the June 10 planning commission meeting.

The proposed QuikTrip will include a gabled roof with tan concrete sliding panels complemented by brick elements. The landscaping will also complement Schnepf Farms to the south and the Villages at Schnepf Farms residential development, the report stated.

A neighborhood meeting on the project was held on April 15 at Schnepf Elementary School, and no members of the public attended. A resident in the Villages at Schnepf Farms, however, raised concerns “about the interaction between trucks parked behind the building and the residential properties,” the report stated.

In response, QuikTrip is adding four additional oak trees along the western boundary and one additional mesquite tree along the northern boundary.

The Queen Creek Town Council meeting starts at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday at Community Chambers, 20727 E. Civic Parkway.

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.