Amid concerns, food bank gets P&Z approval

The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission approved an amendment Monday to an existing conditional-use permit to allow F.O.R. Maricopa food bank to move amid concerns about a blocked fire lane, overcrowding in the parking lot and the food bank’s bathroom facility.

The food bank anticipated moving from its doublewide trailer on Gunsmoke Road to the vacant Pinal County Sheriff’s Office substation off North John Wayne Parkway in May to coincide with its fifth anniversary. That date has been pushed back to the first week in July.

The move will give the food bank about 1,000 more square feet of space.

The amendment piggybacks onto an existing permit allowing the operation of the city’s park and ride adjacent to the old substation.

The request comes with the added stipulation that the designated fire lane for the facility also can be used one day a month for a semi truck to unload canned goods bought from United Food Bank.

“We would like to have something that says to us we can have a vehicle stand in the fire lane and that is acceptable,” said Henry Wade, vice chairman of the commission.

Wendy Webb, F.O.R. executive director, said the semi truck delivers canned goods on the third Friday morning of the month and would need to be in the fire lane from 20 to 40 minutes.

Brad Hinton with the city’s planning services department said Monday there are multiple fire lanes at the site that can be used if a truck happens to be sitting in the lane. He said the lane will be marked as a fire zone so food bank clients do not park in the zone.

The old substation is located next to the fire department’s original fire station and interim headquarters.

Hinton and City Planner Rudy Lopez assured commissioners the site plan has the stamp of approval from the city’s fire inspector.

Jon Sheaffer, a public information officer for the Maricopa Fire Department, said Tuesday the inspection and approval process for the substation has been reviewed by deputy Fire Marshall Eddie Rodriguez and was submitted to planning and zoning for comments and approval from their end, and that the information has been forwarded to the council for consideration at the June 19 council meeting.

Commission Chairwoman Courtny Tyler expressed frustration Monday that the information on the fire lane being approved by the fire department to be used as a delivery zone was not included in the commissioners’ packets.