PHOENIX — A rezoning request that would potentially bring 1,100 homes to a county island within the city of Phoenix could be approved Wednesday.
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has a planning and zoning consent agenda for Wednesday’s 9:30 a.m. meeting. That agenda includes a rezoning request for 114 acres owned by Ashley Zimmerman-Marsh, Gammage & Burnham, PLC and Broadway 42 LLC.
Developers want rezoning for property on the southeast and southwest corners of Broadway Road and 83rd Avenue.
The Maricopa County Planning and Zoning Commission recommended the rezone by a 5-0 vote last month.
The preliminary plat application must indicate the realignment of 83rd Avenue to its section line alignment to remove the offset at Broadway Road.
The applicant is advised that coordination between County Real Estate, the Bureau of Reclamation and Salt River Project will be required related to the irrigation facilities crossing 83rd Avenue as part of any improvements.
The development must include a 10-foot non-vehicular multiuse trail within an open space tract along the north perimeter, abutting Broadway Road.
County staff recommends approval of commission-recommended conditions, with a list of further modifications.
The property is currently zoned as a mix of residential and commercial. The residential rezoning would be capped at 1,100 units for a density of 10.55 duplex units per acre.
There are three types of homes to be included in the development: traditional single-family homes, neo-traditional homes, or detached and attached multifamily homes. The project includes about 16 acres of open space.
The developers’ plan compares it to Valley developments Marbella Ranch, Verrado, Desert Ridge and Tuscano in terms of having more than one type of home within it. Tuscano is directly north of the acreage, on the northeast corner of Broadway and 83rd.
Kristine Morris, superintendent of the Union Elementary School District in Tolleson, which includes this land, wrote perhaps the most detailed of six letters of opposition to the rezoning request. Her letter, which mentions streets too narrow for school buses as one of her general concerns about recent development in the area, is included in a staff report.
“We all understand the need for increased and diverse housing options,” Morris said. “However, the density of residents to public school services in our community will soon be too high. Adding additional residential without the offsetting land for schools is poor planning. Additionally, planning without consideration of future annexation creates challenges that may not be able to be overcome ... Union ESD looks forward to collaboratively planning for the future growth of our community.”
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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