QuikTrip gets OK for station near Schnepf Farms

QuikTrip has received the green light 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 July 15 meeting, the Queen Creek Town Council approved on a 6-0 vote QuikTrip’s requests for rezoning, conditional-use permit and site plan. Council Member Leah Martineau was absent from the meeting.

The request was on the council’s public hearing consent agenda. No member of the public spoke on the matter.

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

The 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 requested 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.

“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 resident in the Villages at Schnepf Farms raised concerns “about the interaction between trucks parked behind the building and the residential properties,” a staff report stated.

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

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.