By Kelly O’Sullivan
Twitter: @AzNewsmedia

Goodyear’s long-awaited Civic Square at Estrella Falls will come one step closer to fruition Wednesday, Sept. 16 if the city Planning and Zoning Commission votes to recommend that the City Council approve the preliminary plat for project’s proposed City Hall building and two-acre park.

The commission will meet at 6 p.m. in virtual regular session live-streamed at facebook.com/goodyearazgov. Questions and comments up to 380 words may be emailed to publiccomments@goodyearaz.gov. Include the agenda item number, contact information and whether you are a Goodyear resident.

For more information before the meeting, email gycdev@goodyearaz.gov.

Civic Square, at the northwest corner of McDowell Road and 150th Drive, will serve as a destination hub for city administration and services and community events.

RELATED STORY: Council gets first look at Civic Square designs

Phase I will feature a four-story, 125,000-square-foot City Hall building with a two-story, 20,000-square-foot public library in addition to council chambers and city offices.

The project also will feature key partner Globe Corp.’s three-story, 100,000-square-foot office building; a parking structure that can accommodate up to 1,100 vehicles; and Civic Square Park, a two-acre greenspace where the city can hold activities and special events.

Groundbreaking for Phase I is planned for April 2021, with completion expected by mid-2022. The city hopes to have the park completed in time for Goodyear’s 75th anniversary celebration on Nov. 21, 2021.

Subsequent phases at Civic Square will see the addition of an office building and parking structure similar to the Globe Corp. building, and two additional buildings for retail and/or office use. The office buildings will face one another across the park, and the retail/office buildings will face City Hall across the park.

The preliminary plat calls for subdividing 47.75 acres between McDowell Road and Monte Vista Drive and between 150th Drive and the Bullard Wash into eight lots. City Hall will be developed on Lot 3 and the park on Lot 4. A mixed-use office building in proposed for Lot 6 and an adjoining parking garage on Lot 7.

On Friday, Sept. 11, the city posted a video showing what Civic Square will look like. The park is expected to be the site of festivals and other community events, as well as a place where residents can enjoy the outdoors.

For more information about the project, visit goodyearaz.gov/about-us/major-projects/goodyear-civic-square-at-estrella-falls.

In other action, the commission will:

• Conduct a public hearing on a request to rezone 224 acres of Van Buren Street between the Loop 303 and Citrus Road from Planned Area Development and Agricultural) to Planned Area Development to facilitate development of a light industrial-commercial use project known as the Innovation Centre.

Staff is recommending the commission vote to recommend that the City Council deny the request for the property, which was developed in the 1960s as a trotting park because of its proximity to homes. The portion of the property zoned PAD is part of the Cotton Lane RV Resort, a 55-plus community at 17506 W. Van Buren St. The Canyon Trails community is across the street from the RV resort.

Commissioners also will have the option to recommend approval of the rezoning or continue the public hearing to a future commission meeting.

• Consider a request to recommend that the City Council approve a preliminary plat Estrella parcel 9.28, subdividing approximately 20.64 acres into 67 residential lots and 15 tracts north of Willis Road and Mountain Vista Drive, within the Montecito Planned Area Development.

Kelly O’Sullivan can be reached at kosullivan@newszap.com or 760-963-1697.