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westvalleyview.com
INSIDE
This Week
The Voice of the West Valley for 35 years
May 27, 2020
Residents protest developments BY TOM SCANLON
West Valley View Managing Editor
NEWS .............. 8 The new ‘house call’ is telemedicine
NEWS ............ 10 Three shot at Westgate, suspect arrested
BUSINESS .... 15 House of games is back as the Main Event reopens
OPINION ...............12 BUSINESS.............. 15 FEATURES ..............17 YOUTH ..................20 OBITUARIES ...........22 CLASSIFIEDS ..........23 NORTH
When word of a new development comes along, some simply say, “Oh well—there goes the neighborhood.” But not people like John Connolly and C.J. Unzen. They say, “Oh no—don’t ruin the neighborhood!” Both are residents of Litchfield Park. Connolly lives at Litchfield Greens, on the east side of the Loop 303. Unzen lives on the west side of the freeway, which has become the hub of development. A few months after Unzen heard about a Love’s Travel Center brewing in her neighborhood, Connolly learned of plans to turn the Falcon Golf Course—just outside Litchfield Park and Goodyear—into a “cross-dock” transportation facility. Neither of them liked the projects one bit. Connolly is leading opposition to what could bring thousands of trucks daily to West Camelback Road. Unzen and a group of neighbors she helped organize say a truck stop will bring excessive traffic, noise and crime to their
C.J. Unzen, center, and a group of Litchfield Park and Waddell residents vigorously oppose a Love’s Travel Center planned near Loop 303 and Bethany Home Road. (West Valley View photo by Tom Scanlon)
pacific neighborhood, which looks out to White Tank Mountain Regional Park. A third group is protesting plans to develop Allen Ranch, a massive, 800-acre property north of Goodyear’s PV303. It is too early to tell if the residents’ protests will stop the developments. Cotton Properties, an area at the Loop 303 and Bethany Home Road that includes a pro-
posed Love’s Travel Center, was annexed from unincorporated Maricopa County into Glendale in January, despite outcry at meetings from Unzen’s group. Cotton Properties next goes to the Glendale Planning Commission at 6 p.m. June 4, when the developer’s request to rezone from agri-
Protest...continued on page 2
Buckeye No. 2, Goodyear No. 14 in fastest-growing cities BY TOM SCANLON
West Valley View Managing Editor
The race is on: Which West Valley city will crack the 100,000 population marker first? Avondale, at just under 88,000 population according to recent U.S. Census data,
has the edge. But Goodyear (86,840) grew at a nearly double rate over the last year, with a 4.8% increase, compared to the 2.6% increase that took Avondale’s population to an estimated 87,931. And then there’s Buckeye.
In the last year, Buckeye blew away all Arizona cities, growing by a 7.1% rate to reach 79,620. Buckeye’s growth over the last decade has been even more remarkable.
Cities...continued on page 4