FERNDALE, Wash. — A conditional use permit has been approved for Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores, Inc to construct a store, fuel pumps, tire and lube facility, fast food drive-thru and truck scale on property located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Grandview Road and Portal Way. Permit applications were submitted to the City of Ferndale last summer.
Approximate location of proposed Love’s Travel Stop & Country Store
A public hearing in front of City of Ferndale Hearing Examiner Michael Bobbink was held January 21st after a 14-day public comment period. It was announced on January 31st that the CUP had been approved after considering information provided by the City, Love’s and public comment.
The approval is not without several conditions, ranging from landscaping to traffic studies. Included, in response to traffic concerns raised, is “Construction of frontage improvements adjacent to the site and off-site improvements including, but not limited to, construction of a southbound to eastbound left-turn lane at the Portal Way/Grandview Road intersection and installation of a traffic signal at the I-5 northbound ramps/Grandview Road intersection.”
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Click for more informationWhile not mentioned as 1 of the conditions for the CUP approval, the City included in a September 2019 site plan review letter to Love’s the requirement “to widen the Grandview Road intersection providing a right-turn lane and add or relocate required signalization.”
While the property is within the City of Ferndale, city water and sewer utilities do not currently extend to it. As a result, according to the City’s site plan review letter, “The temporary on-site septic approach to service the site is acceptable with the ability to connect to future City sewer extension to be installed at a later date.” and “Water service will be hot tapped off the existing PUD [Public Utility District No. 1] main.”
The City’s staff report said, “If use is approved, the project will proceed with the administrative review and site plan review process where specific development regulations are addressed and processed administratively.”
Love’s was founded in 1964 and is based in Oklahoma City, OK. There are nearly 500 Love’s Travel Stop & Country Store locations in 41 states according to the company website. Current Washington state locations include Napavine, Ellensburg, Ritzville, Spokane and Prosser.