
A city in California has agreed to reimburse Love’s Country Stores for up to $1.65 million, as long as they build a new truck stop on their land.
On Tuesday, March 6th, the city council of Salinas, California approved a tax-sharing plan that would allow for Love’s to build a full fledged truck stop, complete with a mechanic shop and a hotel, on land near the Salinas Municipal Airport off Highway 101 that would otherwise be too expensive to develop.
According to The Californian, under the tax-sharing plan, the city of Salinas would annex the piece of land in question, expanding their city’s borders, and Love’s would complete the $2 million worth of land development. Once the facility is up and running, the city would then return 32 percent of sales tax collected from the travel stop, an estimated $266,700 a year, to Love’s until they have been reimbursed for $1.65 million dollars, or until 7 years have passed, whichever comes first.
Once the proposal passes through the planning commission, the truck stop will feature 85 truck parking spots, 23 truck fueling stations, a mechanic shop, an Arby’s restaurant, and a Comfort Suites hotel, as part of Love’s hospitality branch.
The new travel stop is expected to be one of the largest sales-tax generators in the city, and could add at least 50 full time jobs to the surrounding community. The new truck stop also has the potential to eliminate the truck parking problem around the city by giving truckers a place to stay and park for the night other than the pre-existing Pilot travel center at the corner of Work Street and South Sanborn Road in Salinas.
The location’s environmental impact report is still under review by various committees, and it is not yet clear when construction on the potential truck stop will begin.