Anthony, TX Neighbors Concerned Over New Truck Stop In The Works

A group of concerned Anthony, Texas residents are hoping Town Council will put the brakes on a planned truck stop on Mountain Pass.

“I understand their concerns,” said Mayor Art Franco. “But legally, I can’t stop it.”

Anthony already has two truck stops off I-10. The new one would be owned and operated by Love’s Truck Stop. At a Town Council meeting Tuesday night, a group of concerned neighbors spoke out about concerns surrounding the project.

Bob Rader was one of those neighbors. He said council must consider potential health risks of diesel emissions associated with large trucks. Angie Boone also spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting. She said she would like for a comprehensive study to be done on the area’s traffic flow and bridge stability before the project moves forward.

Mayor Franco said his hands are tied. “(The land) is zoned for that (type of project), it’s commercial property and the developer has the right to develop it,” he said. “I am not thrilled about another truck stop. I wanted something different, maybe a small shopping center or a hotel. But that’s not my doing.”

However, community members maintain town council could deny or delay the issuance of necessary permits for the new truck stop.

Boone said she still has concerns over the liability for a planned water retention pond on the property. The town is requiring Love’s to build a retention pond in the sold land. The town engineer looked over Love’s design for the retention pond and concluded it was not big enough. The engineer recommended Love’s redesign the retention pond to make it ten times bigger than the original design. Instead of heeding the engineer’s advice however, the town council ended up approving the smaller-sized retention pond.

“I’m concerned that what council and Mayor Franco have done by voting to ignore the engineer’s advice on this could truly open up the community here in town to some potentially catastrophic types of liability,” said Boone.

Franco said Love’s would be responsible for any damage liability if their retention pond did not hold up. He also said he will require Love’s to abide by certain conditions before issuing them the necessary permits. Those conditions include getting Love’s to pay for and build an additional traffic lane on Mountain Pass as well as a retention wall.

Franco said if all goes smoothly, the permits could be issued in two to three weeks.

The town of Anthony stands to earn thousands of dollars in potential property tax revenue from the Love’s Truck Stop deal.