Residents balk at new Circle K planned for Queen Creek

Nearby residents are coming out against a proposed Circle K convenience store and fueling station at the northwest corner of Ocotillo and Meridian roads within the Avalon Meridian Commercial Center.

Circle K Stores inc. is requesting a conditional-use permit and site plan approval of the fuel service station with a 4,600 square foot canopy and seven pumps, as well as a 5,200-square-foot convenience store on a 1.68-acre site.

The Planning and Zoning Commission approved recommending the permit and the site plan to the Queen Creek Town Council.

The item was set to go before the council at its Wednesday meeting, but Circle K has asked for a continuance to May 20 “due to a timing conflict,” according to a staff report.

If approved by council, the fuel station and convenience store will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Nearby residents oppose the development, saying it will increase area traffic, bring loiterers to the site and cause environmental problems.

“We are not against the development. However, we strongly believe that the particular proposal as it stands does not adequately consider the quality of life for the residents who already live here,” resident Brittany Ashbaker told members of the planning commission during its April 8 meeting. “If it has to be here, we ask that we have meaning changes required to better protect our neighbors.”

Ashbaker suggested the number of fueling stations be reduced and the convenience store be smaller than the proposed 5,200 square feet.

The developers held a neighborhood meeting Feb. 23, which 20 people attended.

“Traffic-related concerns included the potential for cut-through traffic in nearby neighborhoods,” according to a staff report. “Additional questions focused on environmental considerations such as fume exposure and applicable separation distances, as well as concerns with the surrounding property values.”

The Circle K representative, Brennan Ray of the Ray Law Firm, said the store and fuel pumps will not be “traffic generators.”

“I’m not going to stand here and say there are no new trips, but 75% of the people that visit a Circle K … come from the traffic that’s already in the area,” Ray said.

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, the staff report continued.

“The proposed use is separated by a drive-thru directly west of the Circle K convenience store, a proposed stand-alone AutoZone, 100 feet of parking lot and an enlarged landscape buffer of 30 feet,” the report stated. “It is also important to note that Meridian Road is a major arterial that connects to (State Route) 24, approximately 3 miles north of the subject site.”

The proposed site is adjacent to an empty lot owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Addressing the environmental concerns, Ray said the fuel stations and underground tanks must comply with state and federal environmental requirements. For the state, monitoring would be conducted by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, the Arizona Department of Agriculture Weights and Measures division, and the Maricopa County Air Quality Control Department.

“It’s not as if the state comes out one time and inspects it and says, ‘All right, we’re good.’ No, the state will continue to come out and inspect all the equipment, all the monitoring to make sure everything is continually operating as it needs to,” Ray said.

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.