BUCKEYE — The Buckeye Planning and Zoning Commission only needed about 15 minutes Tuesday to recommend approval for one of the two items on its agenda.
The board unanimously recommended for approval a property rezoning along the west side of State Route 85 between Southern Avenue and Baseline Road. Desert Sonora Co. and Dinan Holdings LLLP seeks light industrial rezoning for 227 acres to construct five buildings and a 20-acre water campus on land currently zoned rural-residential.
A conceptual site plan shows the five buildings would total about 3.4 million square feet. An annexation is also planned involving the property.
City of Buckeye principal planner Ken Galica told the board the property owners wanted to go with light industrial use. The owners could apply for heavy industrial zoning, as the council recently approve a amendment that allows for heavy industrial zoning if there is a half-mile light industrial zone buffer between the property and residential zones.
“City staff is fine with that,” Galica said of the developer not taking full advantage of a heavy industrial opportunity. “Their buildings will be versatile and marketable. And, looking out from State Route 85, a light-industrial development of this type looks better, visually.”
The only other agenda action item was postponed until the board’s Oct. 25 meeting at developer request.
CH CRE Ten85 Owner LLC is the listed owner of a 265-acre property across the highway, along the east side of State Route 85. The 265-acre property is along the east side of State Route 85, north of both Baseline Road and the planned KOREplex lithium battery factory site.
The owners want to build a light industrial park and is seeking site plan approval.
The proposed site plan includes four primary buildings, totaling more than 4.2 million square feet, plus local road improvements. Testing has also been planned for four well sites on the property that will be for use by the city of Buckeye to supplement its nearby Farallon Water Campus.
Both properties on Tuesday’s short agenda are within the city’s recently created State Route 85 employment district.
Tuesday afternoon, the board heard a presentation and asked questions about the Buckeye Downtown Specific Area Plan.
Jason W. Brooks is a News editor for the Daily Independent and the Chandler Independent.
He covers the Chandler area for both yourvalley.net and the monthly print edition while writing for and assisting in the production of the Daily Independent.
Brooks is a well-traveled journalist who has documented life in small American communities in nearly all U.S. time zones.
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised there and in suburban Los Angeles, he has covered community news in California, New Mexico, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska and northern Arizona.
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