Some Phoenix metro citizens are concerned that their quiet suburb near Luke Air Force Base is much busier, as a long-standing golf course is expected to be a hub for FedEx trucks.
Falcon Golf Club, just north of Camelback Road between Sarival and Litchfield Roads, closed in May after its first opening in 1984. Plans for the property, which is about two miles from Loop 303, require a cross-dock installation where trucks can and leave shipments.
The 303 arches traverse West Valley from Interstate 10 to Interstate 17, passing through the White Tank Mountains, Waddell Family Farms and wilderness in the unsoperated county of Maricopa. It has attracted an excess of production and distribution centers to lands that were once desert.
But this place is different. It’s not a raw desert, it’s a decades-old golf course.
In July, the Maricopa County Supervisory Board approved the FedEx facility as compatible with the nearby military base that trains fighter pilots. The assignment requires other approvals, such as rezoning, before it can be built, Maricopa County spokesman Fields Moseley said.
County officials approved the plans despite opposition from many citizens near Goodyear and Litchfield Park, who sent letters to county officials and introduced a crusade on social media to avoid plans, which said they would generate more traffic, noise and pollutants. in the area.
The county won 8 letters for the project, usually from local chambers of commerce, before the vote, officials said before the July vote. The opposition was much more intense: officials said they had won 438 opposition emails and 22,429 signatures on one line. request opposed to the project.
“We knew that when we bought here we would have traffic to drive, however, even in our craziest dreams we would have the idea that one day we would look at our fence to see a busy, noisy and giant transload facility with thousands of trucks running 24/7,” erin Parr, a litchfield Park resident, wrote to county officials.
The opposition did not come only from residents. The cities of Goodyear and Litchfield Park also officially opposed the project.
County officials say the domain is no longer the numb network that was now that the Loop 303 advertising room has a growth hotbed.
The Goodyear segment of loop 303, in particular, exploded with rei, Sub-Zero, Dick’s Sporting Goods and UPS production and distribution centers.
“This total dominance is becoming 303,” Maricopa County Supervisory Board Chairman Clint Hickman, whose district includes West Valley, said at a meeting. “If that happened to him (to Goodyear or Litchfield Park), they would write press releases talking about their ability to attract a wonderful organization like FedEx. “
Plans approved through the county supervisory board show that the transhipment facility will upgrade the old golf course to approximately 160 acres.
In addition to the truck docking and unloading area, the plans include a surveillance booth, offices, a gas station, a maintenance workshop and just about 2,200 parking areas.
Rory Blakemore, portfolio manager at Cowley Companies, an asset owner, said he had signed a confidentiality agreement with genuine real estate buyer Kiernan West and may not say more about what was planned for the site.
It is known when the transhipment installation might be up and running. Building permits have yet been issued, Moseley said.
The facility will run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and can facilitate approximately 1,100 truck trips per day, according to a traffic report, about 3 kilometers from Loop 303.
And it may not be the only facility of its kind nearby.
Amazon announced in August that it plans to open a cross-dock facility in Goodyear next year near Indian School Road and Cotton Lane as a component of its state expansion.
Residents for months have pushed back plans.
Those at Goodyear and Litchfield Park opposed the assignment and many citizens joined them.
In a letter to the county, Julie Arendall, goodyear city manager, wrote that the 24/7 nature of a transhipment facility would result in more traffic and noise in it and pose a risk to Goodyear’s quality of life.
Litchfield Park city manager Bill Stephens also wrote to oppose the project, saying that this type of traffic would “overwhelm” the small-town camel road.
A Facebook organization of approximately three hundred southwest valley people gave the impression of organizing and opposing plans. County officials were inundated with lots of emails from nearby citizens expressing considerations about increased traffic, noise and pollution, as well as the effects of Commercial Progression on the aesthetics of the area.
“Do we need help to make our charming communities look like downtown Phoenix?It seems that downtown Phoenix is one thing, but crime follows dirt and our safe community and family circle is in danger of being destroyed,” Gary and the citizens of Litchfield Park wrote Gabriele Bliss.
Litchfield Park resident and Litchfield Greens HOA President John Connolly organized a GoFundMe, with a $40,000 purpose, hoping to hire a law firm to combat those plans. So far, the page has been raised to $20,000.
Connolly said the joy of seeing an overwhelming opposition rejected was “daunting. “He said he felt that county officials had a way of voting, regardless of the number of public comment emails that opposed the project.
“What they call participation invited us to an assembly with predetermined results,” he said. “We have no recourse against them. “
Contact journalist Joshua Bowling at jbowling@azcentral. com or 602-444-8138. Follow him on Twitter @MrJoshuaBowling.