On Oct. 27, 2025, the Goodyear City Council voted 7–0 to approve a use permit for a multi-tenant commercial pad with a drive‑through at the northeast corner of West Indian School Road and North Sarabello Avenue within Palm Valley Phase 5.

The permit approval follows a staff recommendation to approve the application subject to a set of stipulations intended to protect nearby residences, including completion of landscaping between the pad site and the residential perimeter wall before a temporary or final certificate of occupancy is issued. Christian, a city staff member in planning, said, “Yes. Every piece of landscaping between the actual pad site for the multi tenant building and the residential wall will be completed as part of this use permit.”

Council members pressed staff on several operational details. Terry Europe, a council member, asked whether trees were included as part of the setback stipulation: “Can you just confirm, the trees are part of the stipulation, with this project. That is correct?” Christian confirmed they are. Brandon, a council member, asked about the queuing length and potential for customers to be trapped in parking when a long drive‑through line forms; Christian said the proposal provides 14 queuing spaces and exceeds the minimum requirement and described the site circulation. On setbacks, staff said there is a minimum 30‑foot setback based on building height but that, in practice, the building would sit roughly 80 to 100 feet from the nearest residence given the landscape buffer and setback.

Noise and nuisance controls were a recurring focus. Council discussed an existing condition at a nearby McDonald’s and a stipulation requiring monitoring of speaker decibel levels; Christian explained enforcement is complaint-driven: if a decibel complaint is filed via the city’s 311 system, code enforcement would investigate. Councilwoman Gillis asked whether the air/food scrubber installed at the McDonald’s had posed problems; Christian said there had been an issue initially with the fire rating and a replacement unit was installed and is now in compliance. He added that any requirement for an air scrubber for this new tenant would be user-based and would be determined during building permit review: “If their operations are going to generate food nuisances, we would require the scrubber to be installed.”

Councilman Ratino noted the area was zoned C‑1 in 2003 and that aircraft noise contours from Luke Air Force Base influenced land‑use transitions; staff confirmed commercial uses commonly act as buffers between employment/industrial corridors and residential areas. During the public exchange, resident Madison Lee (address provided for the record) asked whether a Starbucks was still expected; staff and another council member said Starbucks would not be the tenant but that Bosa (a donut/coffee user) and Sherwin‑Williams had been discussed. Christian noted that the use permit approves drive‑through users generally and specific tenants would be vetted during subsequent site‑plan and building‑permit reviews.

Stipulations listed during the hearing include completion of the landscape buffer (trees and planting) before certificate of occupancy is issued, a minimum queuing capacity that exceeds the four‑vehicle minimum, complaint-initiated code enforcement for decibel exceedances at speakers, and user‑based requirements for odor/air scrubbers if the operator’s planned activities generate cooking or similar nuisances.

The council vote was 7–0. The applicant did not present a detailed tenant lineup at the meeting; staff said site‑plan approval and building permits will follow and will be required to conform substantially to the approved use permit and its stipulations.