Here’s what Wichita’s first Love’s location will feature after council rezoning decision
The Wichita City Council has approved a zoning change that will allow a new Love’s truck stop near the I-135 and 21st Street interchange to erect an 80-foot sign and permit travelers to park their RVs for up to four nights.
If the City Council had denied the zoning change of two parcels from limited and general industrial to planned unit development, the planned truck stop could still have been constructed with a shorter sign and no RV parking.
Oklahoma City-based Love’s Travel Stops’ first Wichita truck stop will be at the northwest corner of the intersection on a property that is part of the ICT21 Industrial Park project.
According to staff planning documents, the north Wichita location will include a convenience store, a filling station for automobiles and semi trucks, an electric vehicle charging station, a restaurant with drive-thru, a semi truck repair and wash service, RV hookups and a dog exercise area.
The site itself is located in City Council District 6 but the houses just east of the interstate that will be less than a quarter mile away from the truck stop are in District 1.
“There’s nothing between me and Love’s except the highway,” Aujanae Bennett, president of the Northeast Millair Neighborhood Association, said at a District 6 Advisory Board on May 8. The rezoning case was not reviewed by the District 1 Advisory Board.
“Signage is the least of my concerns,” Bennett said. “My concern is 100 18-wheelers having the privilege to sit in my community and idle for 24 hours everyday. It is not characteristic of a residential neighborhood that’s been established there since the ‘50s to be a part of an RV park.”
A representative for Love’s did not respond Tuesday afternoon to a question about how many RVs will be allowed to park in the lot at any given time.
Bennett attended Tuesday’s meeting but was not allowed to address the council because an opportunity for public input was already given at a late-April Metropolitan Area Planning Commission meeting. No members of the public spoke during the MAPC meeting, and the body unanimously recommended approving the proposed rezoning.
The district advisory board voted 7-2 to recommend denial of the zoning request but no protest petitions were filed before the city deadline three days after the DAB meeting.
“I’ve heard extensive concerns, not only from my district but from District 1 as well,” District 6 council member Maggie Ballard said before voting in favor of the rezoning, which passed 6-0.
Some resident concerns from the DAB meeting included noise pollution and light pollution from the up-to-80-foot pole sign next to the interstate. City staff noted that the interchange is already illuminated by three tall light poles.
A representative for Love’s said at the DAB meeting that most of their RV travelers only stay for one night at a time.
“There were concerns about what a truck stop could bring to the area as far as trafficking and prostitution,” District 1 council member Brandon Johnson said.
Council members agreed that the Wichita Police Department should coordinate with Love’s to preemptively address the risk of illicit activities at the truck stop.
No timeline for construction or completion of the truck stop has been made public.
Love’s recently announced five new locations along the Kansas Turnpike in Lawrence, Topeka, Matfield Green, Towanda and Belle Plaine.
