Trucks going to C-A-L Ranch worry folks in Ammon neighborhood
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AMMON –- The city of Ammon is looking forward to the economic growth that a new C-A-L Ranch store will bring, but with that comes a growing concern.
“I don’t want it to be my child that gets hit and killed because the city didn’t think about it before we granted these accesses,” resident Michellee Surerus said.
Surerus and other neighbors are worried about the route semi-trucks will be using to get into the prospective C-A-L Ranch parking lot.
The entryways for trucks to C-A-L Ranch starts on Curlew Drive, a residential area. Semi-trucks would be heading north through Curlew to get to the store. After being informed about this change, Surerus started fighting for another route.
She told the officials at the city, “I don’t feel like it’s okay for semis to be going through our residential area, one it’s illegal, and two my children’s lives are at stake,” Surerus said.
Director of Planning and Zoning Ron Folsom said is not illegal for the semis to be passing through a residential zone. He said he’s been open with neighbors about concerns, has even met with them on concerning the issue, but his hands are tied. Folsom said he couldn’t take away the rights of those who own the commercial area.
“They estimate there will be from four to eight trucks per day,” Folsom said. “The property that C-A-L Ranch purchased was zoned commercial in 2009. And, at the same time, two accesses for that commercial property was granted onto Curlew.”
Folsom said roads from 17th to 1st streets have been zoned commercial, and Curlew Drive is inside that area. A 700-foot stretch of Curlew is a residential zone, where the concerned neighbors live.
Surerus said she thinks an alternative for the semi trucks is to access C-A-L Ranch from South 25th East, Hitt Road, and route behind a strip mall near Insure It All. Folsom said this could be a possibility, but Walmart owns the accesses from Hitt Road.
“They actually control who can drive on them. They can say, ‘We are not going to let you have diesel trucks on (the lot),’ and that’s what they’ve done,” Folsom said.
Surerus has taken matters into her own hands and started a petition, called “Protect our Children.” She said her No. 1 concern is the safety of the many children in the neighborhood including her own 2-year-old son, and 2-month-old daughter.
“I don’t want my child getting hit, and I don’t want anybody else’s child getting hit. He’s my world, and she’s my world too,” Surerus said. “One day she’s going to be walking and I would be devastated if one of my children got hit.”
City officials said one possible solution would be for semi-trucks to access the lot by first driving through John Adams Parkway and accessing Curlew Drive heading south. John Adams Parkway is not yet completed, and it is only an empty field. This option wouldn’t become a reality until more businesses were developed in the field north of the new C-A-L Ranch.
Folsom said for now, the city has talked about adding signs and possibly a flashing light to soften traffic, but they are still looking over traffic options before C-A-L Ranch opens next June.
Surerus said she’s gotten some 40 signatures since starting the petition on Tuesday and will continue to advocate her children’s safety.
“This was a safe neighborhood, and now I don’t feel like it’s safe anymore,” Surerus said. “There might be another way. There might be a way of Walmart agrees to let them use their road. I hope and pray that my petition will be good enough.”