Not in favor of Midvale truck stop

Dear Editor

 Perhaps I waited too long to weigh in on the proposed zoning change near Midvale, allowing the development of a truck stop/convenience store, etc., but I think a little common sense is all that’s required to understand why this development should NOT be approved.

 Truckers make their living by covering as many miles in a day as possible. When they do stop for services (and certainly for lodging), it is not in a small, rural community like Midvale, but in larger hubs, e.g., Ontario or perhaps, Boise, which are not that much farther down the road from Midvale (and nearer to major services), but do allow the truck drivers to cover more miles in a day, which is their end goal. 

 If this facility is constructed, it will only be to allow the landowner to make money on his fallow ground, and the developer to get his money back from less than savvy investors before it goes bust. We don’t have to look very far to see an example of the future of such a facility, only a few miles up I-84 to the community of Durkee, Ore. 

 A few years ago, a nearly identical facility to what is proposed for Midvale was opened along the freeway there. Durkee, like Midvale, is a small, out of the mainstream community (although just off the freeway), not a hub nor destination for truckers. After a few years, the facility there went belly-up, and has remained so ever since. Such will be the fate for a similar business in Midvale, too.

 Local residents don’t want “convenience,” (and have said so), and their business alone is not sufficient to keep such a facility financially viable. Thus, after a short amount of time, the business in Midvale will fold and its unused remnants will remain a blight to the nearby residents, who will never escape its scar on the land and their lifestyle.

 Based on public testimony, the only individuals who support this boondoggle are those who’ll make money from its development and won’t have to suffer the consequences of the aftermath when it folds.

David Martson

Weiser, Idaho