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Goodyear council advances I‑10 Citrus Gateway general‑plan amendment amid residents’ safety concerns
Summary
The council voted unanimously to amend the Goodyear 2035 plan to change roughly 267 acres near I‑10 from 'neighborhoods' to 'business and commerce.' Residents urged the council to prevent semi‑truck access on Roosevelt Street and protect school crossings; staff and the applicant said detailed traffic and buffering will be addressed with a later rezoning.
The Goodyear City Council voted unanimously on Dec. 16 to adopt a major amendment to the Goodyear 2035 general plan that would change about 267 acres at the southwest corner of North Citrus Road and West Roosevelt Street from a 'neighborhoods' designation to 'business and commerce.' Council members approved the resolution 7–0 after a public hearing and detailed staff presentation.
Guadalupe Cortes, principal planner, told the council the application would allow higher-density commercial, business‑park and light‑industrial uses not permitted under the property's current neighborhoods designation and noted constraints on residential development posed by Luke Air Force Base overflight density contours and recent changes in state water policy. Staff also described required street work: the developer will construct half‑street improvements for Citrus Road and Van Buren Street and design a frontage road along Roosevelt to separate local traffic from site access.
Residents who live north of Roosevelt urged the council to prevent truck access and protect children who use school‑bus stops in the area. “If a solution cannot be found for this project, I prefer that it remains as a residential area,” Myra Martinez said through a translator. Resident Salmo Livares told the council he feared semis entering and exiting on Roosevelt would create safety, noise and privacy problems for neighbors.
Wendy Bridal, speaking for the applicant (Kerner Rankin), said the developer plans a frontage road, landscaped islands and other measures to mitigate truck impacts and that the project team will provide more detailed solutions with the forthcoming rezoning submittal: “We understand the concern about semi trucks. We’re sympathetic to it,” Bridal said.
Council members repeatedly noted that the action before them was a general‑plan amendment — not a rezoning — and that detailed traffic, access and design issues must be addressed in later zoning and site‑plan reviews. Several council members said that because the property is limited for residential subdivision by the Luke overflight contours and water‑service constraints, advancing the land‑use change was appropriate. Staff and the applicant will return with a rezoning application and additional neighborhood meetings to refine access, buffering and screening.
The council’s approval moves the general‑plan amendment forward; any rezoning and site‑plan approvals that would establish specific uses, access points or truck routes will come back to staff and the council in later hearings.
What happens next: staff will review the developer’s rezoning application and the applicant is required to hold neighborhood meetings before council consideration of zoning, access and detailed mitigation measures.
