Queen Creek P&Z recommends QuikTrip next to Schnepf Farms

The Queen Creek Planning & Zoning Commission has recommended approval for a new QuikTrip station on 2.6 acres of undeveloped land at the northwest corner of Cloud and Rittenhouse roads, adjacent to Schnepf Farms.

The commission voted 6-0 to recommend approval of a rezoning, conditional-use permit and site plan for the QuikTrip.

Commission Chairman David Gillette was not present.
The requests now go to the Queen Creek Town Council for final approval.

The proposed QuikTrip will 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. The land is in the town’s South Specific Area Plan, created in 2016 to emphasize “the preservation, protection and growth of agritainment sites, as well as the maintenance of commercial acreage, character and design standards,” a staff report stated.

In 2020, the town approved a request to annex the area and rezone property owned by the Schnepf family as part of an agritainment district. The district was “created to celebrate the town’s agricultural character and preserve the assets that contribute to its unique agrarian history,” the staff report continued.

As a result, only the 2.6 acres owned by QuikTrip remain zoned as rural residential.

“Back in 2020, Schnepf Farms decided to rezone all of their property to agritainment to kind of clean it up and then to propose future development for the site. By that time, the Schnepf family had sold this property to QT,” Erik Swanson, town planning administrator, told the commission. “So, they (QuikTrip) weren’t able to do that zoning at that point in time.”

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

“When Mark Schnepf sold this property to QT, he retained the right for review and approval of design. So, 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 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.

“I know sometimes it can be a pain in the knee on this Queen Creek (agritainment) stuff, but we specifically want a certain look and thank you for working with (town staff),” commission member Alex Matheson told the applicant.

A neighborhood meeting on the project was held on April 15, 2026, at Schnepf Elementary School, and no members of the public attended.

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.