Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores is requesting a zone change in Richwood to construct of one of its new locations.
The 12,000-square-foot proposed site would include a restaurant, a convenience store, truck and automotive fueling stations, a dog park and more. WFF Investments LLC, a local real estate firm, has owned the property at 11303 Dixie Highway since October 2023.
Love’s is requesting a zoning map amendment that would change the prescribed use of the land from agricultural, commercial and employment planned development to an industrial use. The industrial zone classification is often utilized by truck stops.
According to Steve Walters, Real Estate Project Manager for Love’s Travel Stops, trucks are a focus of the application and business model. If approved, Love’s will provide 102 truck parking spaces, along with 65 automobile spaces.
“The main thing is, we want to give your trucks a place to park,” Walters said. “We put as many truck spaces in here as possible while adhering the most we could to the zoning ordinances.”
Overall, there are around 75 current truck parking spaces in the Richwood area east of I-75/I-71, according to Walters’ research. He said it’s not enough. Boone County has also consistently discussed commercial truck parking needs and the zoning ordinances that govern them.
“There are always trucks parked illegally around here,” Walters said. “So by adding truck parking, hopefully that frees up sheriff resources from going out and asking those illegally parked trucks to move.”
The Boone County Planning Commission staff report found that while Love’s application aligns with local land goals, the roads surrounding it have been “identified by the Boone County Sheriff’s office as a high-risk roadway network.” This raises some concerns about whether putting a Love’s Travel Stop in that spot could actually make traffic worse. Major Jason K. Noel, head of the Special Operations Division within the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, voiced such concerns in an email attached to the Love’s application staff report.
“Based on operational experience and available incident data, the Sheriff’s Office believes this development would further strain an already congested and high-risk roadway network,” Noel said.
Noel also referenced Kentucky State Police data that recorded 135 collisions in that area since July 7, 2023. The same data shows that 115 of those collisions involved commercial vehicles like semi-trucks and tractor trailers.
“Introducing another truck stop would increase the frequency and severity of these congestion issues, further burdening law enforcement resources,” Noel said.
Love’s Travel Stops’ application was up for public comment at the Nov. 5 Boone County Planning Commission meeting. No members of the public spoke in favor or against the proposed development, but the Commissioners themselves shared Noel’s traffic concerns.
Commissioner Corrin Gulick, also a Traffic Engineer at WSP USA, found issues with Love’s submitted Traffic Impact Study. The study was prepared by Sain Associates, Inc. in compliance with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s standards. Gulick questions the study period and the proposed growth numbers.
“I have spent significant time in this area,” Gulick said. “This traffic study does not seem to reflect the traffic that is actually out there.”
The study looked at traffic from 7 a.m. – 9 a.m. in the morning. Guilick and Commission Chairman Charlie Rolfsen pointed out that peak traffic in that area does not start until 9 a.m. That’s when the Sheriff’s department has to manually manage traffic signals daily to avoid delays and mitigate congestion.
“Here’s the deal,” Rolfsen said. “In the morning, all the trucks will leave at the same time. You tell me how you are going to prevent 102 trucks from leaving at the same time and gridlocking Richwood.”
Walters argued that shifts worked by truck drivers create a constant, steady flow of coming and leaving, not a major rush.
To move forward, Walters plans to get a newer traffic study to the Commission for review and address their concerns in an updated report for the Dec. 2 zoning meeting at 5 p.m. Then, the Commission will vote on whether they recommend approval to the Boone County Fiscal Court at the Dec. 16 business meeting at 7 p.m.
