Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc. has applied with the Baker City/County Planning Department to build a truck stop and travel center east of Interstate 84 and northeast of the Super 8 Motel.

The 13.3-acre site, which includes three separate property owners, is vacant. The site starts at the intersection of Campbell Street and Best Frontage Road and extends to the north and northwest.

The Baker City Planning Commission will have a public hearing on Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. at City Hall to consider Love’s application.

Although Love’s proposed development is an allowed use in the general-commercial zone, the business would generate enough traffic to require a traffic impact study, and that makes it a type 3 project subject to approval by the planning commission, said Tara Micka, senior planner at the Baker City-County Planning Department.

Businesses that generate relatively less traffic can be approved by the planning department and don’t trigger a public hearing with the planning commission.

According to a project narrative from an engineering firm working for Love’s, the truck stop would include two structures of about 11,000 square-feet each.

One would include a convenience store with a “quick service restaurant and drive thru.” The narrative doesn’t list which franchise the restaurant would be.

The other building would include a truck tire shop.

The facility would also include a truck scale, gasoline and diesel pumps, and separate parking areas for cars (67 spots) and commercial trucks (67 spots).

The truck stop would have four access driveways, according to the narrative.

The parking lot, fuel pumps and restaurant drive-thru would be accessed from Campbell Street to the south, and Best Frontage Road to the east. That part of the travel center, catering to passenger car traffic, would be at the south side of the development, nearest Campbell Street.

The truck parking, fuel pumps and tire shop would have truck driveways off Best Frontage Road.

The truck stop would connect to existing city water and sewer mains which are on the property.

Shawn Baker, a real estate project manager for Love’s, said the company, once it had approval from the planning commission, had hoped to start construction in April of this year. But he doesn’t think that’s likely in part due to pending permits with the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Baker said ODOT is requiring Love’s to widen the eastbound offramp at the Campbell Street interchange to accommodate the increase in truck traffic that travel center would generate.

Baker said construction will take about eight months, so he said it would be “tough” to open the travel center before the end of 2023.

“We’re excited to be there,” he said on Monday, Jan. 23.

The parcels where Love’s wants to build are owned by Hat Brand Land and Livestock LLC of Baker City (registered agent is Brent Gyllenberg, according to the Oregon Secretary of State’s office), Scott and Mary Bates of Roseville, California, and R&D Land Company LLC of Ontario (registered agent is J. Ryan Gentry).

Love’s, which is based in Oklahoma, opened its first store in 1972. The company opened its 600th store in 2022.

There are seven Love’s travel centers in Oregon — Ontario, Boardman, Madras, Troutdale, Albany, Roseburg and Klamath Falls.

Baker said the company seeks to have a travel center about every 150 miles of freeway, although the interval can be shorter on more heavily traveled routes such as Interstate 5.

Another development east of the freeway

Love’s is the second major commercial development planned on the east side of Interstate 84.

In September 2022 the Baker County Planning Commission approved Maverik Inc.’s application to build the company’s second gas station/convenience store in Baker City.

Maverik, which opened its current store, at 1520 Campbell St., in November 2011, plans to build the new business just east of Interstate 84 near the North Baker City interchange, exit 302. The property is just southeast of the freeway overpass.

The proposed new Baker City location would employ 15 to 18 people, according to Maverik’s application. It will be bigger than the existing business, with a convenience store of almost 6,000 square feet, compared with the current store’s 4,200 square feet.

The new location will have 12 fueling pumps, compared with eight on Campbell Street.

Cassie Younger, Maverik’s planning project manager, said last fall that she expected the new location to open in 2024. The Campbell Street location will continue to operate after the new store opens, she said.

A staff report to the Baker City Council for its Jan. 24 work session states that the city will be extending water and sewer lines to the site of the new Maverik store, which is just southeast of the North Baker City freeway interchange, exit 302.

Maverik has paid for those extensions, and “plans construction of their facility in the spring,” according to the staff report.

The Baker City Planning Commission will have a public hearing regarding Love’s application to build a travel stop in Baker City.

The hearing will be Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 1655 First St.