{"id":368270,"date":"2025-11-10T03:06:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T03:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/368270\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T03:06:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T03:06:11","slug":"railway-hub-rejected-request-a-real-problem-for-locals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/368270\/","title":{"rendered":"Railway hub rejected request a ‘real problem’ for locals"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Whether Maricopa County residents have followed along with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) rezoning drama or not, president and CEO at Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry Danny Seiden said its handling<\/a> is something \u201ceveryone should care about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people need to understand where revenue comes from,\u201d Seiden told\u00a0KTAR News\u2019 The Mike Broomhead Show\u00a0on Thursday. \u201cThis is worth seven Super Bowls a year. That\u2019s how big this project is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seiden was reacting to the county board on Wednesday unanimously voting down a zoning change request by BNSF to create a $3.2 billion railway hub in Wittmann, a rural community about 35 miles northwest of downtown Phoenix.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether you\u2019re a resident or a private business, if you allow government, and even a typically well-governed thing like Maricopa County, to come along and steal your value, that\u2019s a real problem for us,\u201d Seiden said. \u201cThat is what we are so upset about with the (Maricopa County Board of Supervisors) yesterday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t like the project, fine. But (BNSF) has every right to their private property rights that the residents have.\u201d<\/p>\n

The railroad operator had its proposed hub delayed multiple times<\/a> by local Wittmann residents already, and Seiden said Wednesday\u2019s vote was only supposed to be about amending the project\u2019s mislabeling of buying residential instead of industrial property. The county board, instead, \u201cturned it into a hearing on the project as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

BNSF\u2019s Intermodal Comprehensive Plan Amendment, which proposed changing the land use north of U.S. 60 between 211th and 235th avenues from single-family to mixed-use development, was the most recent piece rejected in the ongoing saga.<\/p>\n

In Seiden\u2019s eyes, if the county loses a hub of this magnitude and size \u2014 proposed 4,230 acres \u2014 \u201cit sends the wrong message\u201d to all future prospective land buyers and brings to question all county lawmaking in regards to private property.<\/p>\n

More than the project proposal discrepancy, Seiden said there has also been some \u201cmisinformation\u201d on the project itself.<\/p>\n

As an example, Seiden called out Surprise Mayor Skip Hall for saying the potential job creation from the railway hub wouldn\u2019t be for the city\u2019s \u201chighly trained, highly educated workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what he\u2019s talking about. This is a logistics supply chain,\u201d Seiden said. \u201cThese are highly trained people. These are highly skilled people. These are high-paying jobs that everyone should want. This project supports 50,000 jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

To back up this job growth up, Seiden referenced a similar project in Edgerton, Kansas, that also had \u201cneighbor opposition at first\u201d but since has decreased taxes, helped the town build roads, schools and more.<\/p>\n

Follow @pwmoses11<\/a><\/p>\n

We want to hear from you.<\/p>\n

Have a story idea or tip? Pass it along to the KTAR News team here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\t
\n\t<\/a><\/p>\n