BAKER CITY — Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc. has applied with the Baker City/County Planning Department to build a truck stop and travel center east of Interstate 84 and northeast of the Super 8 Motel.

The 13.3-acre site, which includes three separate property owners, is vacant. The site starts at the intersection of Campbell Street and Best Frontage Road and extends to the north and northwest.

The Baker City Planning Commission will have a public hearing on Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. at City Hall to consider Love’s application.

Although Love’s proposed development is an allowed use in the general-commercial zone, the business would generate enough traffic to require a traffic impact study, and that makes it a type-3 project subject to approval by the planning commission, said Tara Micka, senior planner at the Baker City-County Planning Department.

Businesses that generate relatively less traffic can be approved by the planning department and don’t trigger a public hearing with the planning commission.

According to a project narrative from an engineering firm working for Love’s, the truck stop would include two structures of about 11,000 square-feet each.

One would include a convenience store with a “quick service restaurant and drive-thru.” The narrative doesn’t list which franchise the restaurant would be.

The other building would include a truck tire shop.

The facility would also include a truck scale, gasoline and diesel pumps, and separate parking areas for cars (67 spots) and commercial trucks (67 spots).

The truck stop would have four access driveways, according to the narrative.

The parking lot, fuel pumps and restaurant drive-thru would be accessed from Campbell Street to the south and Best Frontage Road to the east. That part of the travel center, catering to passenger car traffic, would be at the south side of the development, nearest Campbell Street.

The truck parking, fuel pumps and tire shop would have truck driveways off Best Frontage Road.

The truck stop would connect to existing city water and sewer mains which are on the property.

Shawn Baker, a real estate project manager for Love’s, said the company, once it had approval from the planning commission, had hoped to start construction in April. But he doesn’t think that’s likely in part due to pending permits with the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Baker said ODOT is requiring Love’s to widen the offramps at the Campbell Street freeway interchange to accommodate the increase in truck traffic the travel center would generate.

Baker said construction will take about eight months, so he said it would be “tough” to open the travel center before the end of 2023.

“We’re excited to be there,” he said.

The parcels where Love’s wants to build are owned by Hat Brand Land and Livestock, of Baker City, Scott and Mary Bates, of Roseville, California, and R&D Land Company, of Ontario.

Love’s, which is based in Oklahoma, opened its first store in 1972. The company opened its 600th store in 2022.

There are seven Love’s travel centers in Oregon — Ontario, Boardman, Madras, Troutdale, Albany, Roseburg and Klamath Falls.

Baker said the company seeks to have a travel center about every 150 miles of freeway, although the interval can be shorter on more heavily traveled routes such as Interstate 5.