Public Comment

City of El Mirage — Regular Meeting (2025-08-12)

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From:
Dave Rath
To:
Jose Macias
Cc:
David Nuttall; Tesla Caperton; David Delong
Subject:
Zoning Public Meeting
Date:
Friday, August 1, 2025 2:29:19 PM
Attachments:
20250801134527.pdf
External Sender - From: (Dave Rath <drath@swcp.us>)
This message came from outside your organization.
Mr. Macias,
 
I am writing on behalf of Southwest Concrete Paving Co., owner of the property at 12313 W. Alice
Avenue in El Mirage since January of 2019.   We own the property both here and at 8686 North El
Mirage Road, using it as a joint facility to operate our concrete paving business from.  I was
surprised to have been handed the attached notice of public meeting document regarding a
potential conditional use permit for an asphalt plant to operate directly across the street from our
property on Alice Avenue.  The purpose of this email is to express our strong opposition to the
conditional use permit submitted by LCA Arizona LLC for the construction and operation of a “low
carbon” asphalt plant.
 
Our business, and many others in the area, rely on a safe, clean, and commercially compatible
environment to function effectively. The introduction of a heavy industrial operation such as an
asphalt plant poses a direct threat to that environment. Our street is not equipped to handle large
volumes of truck traffic, and the daily movement of industrial vehicles would create significant
safety risks for our employees, neighbors, vendors, and customers who frequent our facility.  Of
specific concern is the Alice and El Mirage intersection – which is small and not even remotely
designed to handle the heavy axle truck traffic or volume that and asphalt plant would bring.  The
risk of serious accident at that intersection would increase exponentially overnight. The associated
noise, odor, and emissions are incompatible with surrounding commercial operations and will
degrade the quality of life and working conditions in the area.
 
This proposal is also in direct conflict with the City’s adopted General Plan, which calls for
compatible development, protection of existing employment centers, and infrastructure alignment
with the intensity of land use. Alice Avenue lacks the roadway capacity and buffering necessary for
this kind of operation, and this use would violate the planning principles the City has committed to
uphold. Additionally, the General Plan identifies economic development goals that prioritize
attracting quality businesses and preserving the integrity of existing commercial areas. Approving
this facility undermines those goals.
 
Our company made significant investments in this location based on the reasonable expectation
that the zoning would remain stable and that incompatible industrial uses would not be introduced

directly adjacent to commercial properties. Since purchasing the property, we have made
significant site improvements and facilities upgrades.  We keep our premises clean and well-
manicured, and quite frankly have been good tenants.  Had we known that a project of this nature
would be considered, we would not have purchased property or established operations here.  We
enjoy this neighborhood and recoil at the proposition that has been distributed. 
 
We respectfully urge the Commission to deny this application. The long-term harm to local
businesses, safety, and land use integrity far outweighs any benefit the applicant may claim. This
type of facility belongs in a designated industrial corridor with appropriate infrastructure—not
inserted into a mixed commercial zone at the expense of surrounding stakeholders.
 
 
David J. Rath
Vice President
Southwest Concrete Paving
Office: (623) 516-0013
Mobile: (602) 550-1514
Fax: (623) 516-8090
www.swcp.us
 
 
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