BNSF plan for Wittmann logistics hub faces local opposition

WITTMANN, Ariz. - One of the nation's largest freight railway companies is planning a brand-new logistics hub less than a mile from some homes in Wittmann, an unincorporated community about an hour northwest of Phoenix in Maricopa County.

Some residents are part of a movement opposing the project.

What we know:

Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) bought the state trust land in 2022, near property the company purchased in 2004. BNSF touts the economic benefits the hub will bring, including the creation of approximately 77,000 new jobs.

However, residents say the downsides outweigh any economic boost. Safety, water and power consumption, and noise pollution are all concerns.

An increase in traffic is also a factor, with a traffic impact analysis showing an expected 22,000 additional vehicles daily in the area.

Some residents say development is not the issue, but they would rather see a rural residential project near their homes than a busy railway operation. Opposition letters have also come from the principal at nearby Nadaburg Elementary School and a retirement community in Sun City West.

BNSF representatives say the company is committed to working with residents to be the best neighbors possible, but Wittmann resident Kirby Anderson isn't buying it.

"It's corporate profits before people and that's unfortunate. It's sad that that's the way our society is going, that some members believe that's the way," Anderson said. "I ask them if they truly believe that, come out and take a tour with me and see if I can change your mind."

BNSF public affairs spokesperson Lena Kent said she understands residents' concerns.

"I know that people are worried about the area changing with our project, but there's already so much master development planned out there," Kent said. "I mean that whole area is growing and when you think about how are you gonna meet the needs, the transportation needs of that area, or of the Phoenix marketplace, how do you plan to do that? You can truck it all in, or you can rail it all in and if you're gonna rail it in, we need a place to land it."

What they're saying:

Anderson says the hub — spanning over 4,000 acres around his and his neighbors' homes — will greatly harm their community.

"This project is such a monstrosity and such a negative impact on surrounding communities. It should be located five miles from a residential property," Anderson said.

Instead, it's planned to be built less than a mile from their quiet community, where Laura Deaver lives with her husband and young daughter. A major concern for them is safety.

"As you can see, I have a second-grader. We know all of our neighbors, everybody knows us, and it's very rare to see strangers out here and with this project there are a lot of safety issues with living next to a logistics facility like they're proposing," Deaver said. "Rural residential does not belong next to heavy-duty industrial."

Residents also worry about water and power consumption and the rising costs that could come with it.

"Land use, as rural residential homes, would use about 720,000 gallons of water a day. BNSF is going to use 1.7 million gallons of water a day. So the best use of the land just from a water standpoint is homes," Anderson said.

Kent said those statistics are not accurate and that the company will use less water than a residential master plan would.

"In an intermodal facility, the type of use that we'll have there is for basic use sites. Using the restroom and washing their hands. We're not big consumers of the water," Kent said.

Dig deeper:

BNSF acquired Type 2 water rights to build wells for the project, which Kent said limits their allotment of water use. "BNSF acquired 1,661 acre-feet per year of Type 2 water rights. We can't withdraw any more than that," Kent said.

Deaver fears that the allotment may hurt residents who also rely on well water.

"If our water table drops and our wells, heaven forbid, go dry, it's our responsibility to re-drill them and that's a cost that a lot of us cannot afford," Deaver said.

Kent explained further, saying, "A typical residential subdivision needs roughly 1.5 AF per acre of water annually. If BNSF’s site was developed as a residential master-plan that uses 1.5 AF/ac, it would use 6,463.5 AF/yr. That comes out to BNSF’s project using only ~27% as much water as a residential master plan would."

The company has also requested a change to zoning requirements that would allow them to build structures double or triple the current Maricopa County industrial height requirements. Anderson said that to put it into scale, the power line's first line on the bottom is 30 feet, the second is 60 feet, and the top is 90 feet.

To combat the potential disruption to locals, BNSF plans to build buffers between its property and homes.

"In Maricopa County, for example, you're only required to have a 25-foot setback between the home and the warehouse, for example. And we have proposed a minimum of 400 feet, so significantly farther away from their homes than what other development could potentially be there," Kent said. "In the 400-foot setback, 150 feet of that will be landscaping and berms to shield them from, you know, the side of the warehouses."

Anderson said he's not buying it.

"The trees that they show on their plan, it would take probably 60 years or longer to get the trees that full," Anderson said. "That tree over there for example has been there for six years and it was a very large tree when it showed up here in the first place. It's not protecting lights, it's not protecting any sound."

BNSF lists the addition of traffic signals and intersection improvements near the hub, and Kent said conversations are ongoing with transportation agencies. Still, no plans have been mentioned to widen existing roadways.

'It's very heartbreaking what big industry can do'

That's a major red flag for District 29 Legislative Chair Lisa Everett.

"It concerns me that BNSF does not have in any of their plans to widen the roads, whether it's the 60, the 74 or any of the roads near their property," Everett said. "So we're talking two-lane roads with an astronomical number of trucks added to the traffic we already have."

Everett is supportive of the opposition movement and residents voicing these concerns.

"I've learned that it's very heartbreaking what big industry can do unless the public stands up and fights," she said. "They're clearly telling them that this is not something for our community, it could be put further in the desert and not have the negative impact on the neighborhood. They just don't feel heard."

Maricopa County Board of Supervisors member Debbie Lesko said she hears residents loud and clear and is taking their concerns seriously ahead of the board's vote on the project.

"If the vote was tomorrow or today, I would vote no, because the majority of my constituents are opposed to this," Lesko said. "Now, if something changes between now and Nov. 5, then we'll see. But right now, if they voted today, I'd vote no."

Lesko said there is a meeting on Aug. 13 with the Arizona Department of Transportation and the Maricopa County Department of Transportation to further discuss traffic problems.

The project will go before the Zoning and Planning Commission in October, and the Board of Supervisors will vote on the project Nov. 5. Lesko did mention that due to federal exemption rights for railroads, the intermodal facility portion of the project could still be built without county approval.

'It's really important for us as a company to be a good neighbor'

Kent said the company has held meetings to hear residents and has made changes to aspects of the project because they care.

"It's really important for us as a company to be a good neighbor. And that's why we've gone in, and we've tried to make all of the concessions to do the best that we possibly can," Kent said.

Meanwhile, Anderson and Deaver say communication with BNSF is lacking and encourage anyone in favor of the project to spend some time in Wittmann before assuming it's the right location for the hub.

"Come out and visit. Please come out here and visit. It doesn't belong," Deaver said. "If you come out here, and you walk our community, you will see that it does not belong."

What you can do:

Click here to learn more about the project.