Jun. 20, 2005 12:00 AM

Maricopa is hurtling along as one of the nation's fastest-growing cities, and the last thing officials want to become is another Valley suburban "bedroom community."

With that in mind, city planners are developing a General Plan that encourages growth of jobs as well as rooftops through 2025.

Three growth options were originally proposed, ranging from 54,000 homes or apartments and 150,000 people to a plan that pushed the city to 178,000 dwelling units and 500,000 people. Planners are now leaning toward a compromise draft plan that calls for about 125,000 homes and 350,000 people, a population nearing Mesa's.

"We want to be a city of balance," said Jim Chaston, a General Plan advisory team member and Maricopa Unified School District No. 20 board member. "Ultimately, we're trying to back away from being a bedroom community."

With the preferred plan, more focus on local jobs will mean a reduced need for transportation infrastructure and less spending on roads, less traffic congestion, less pollution, more city money for parks and other amenities, and a better quality of life, said David Williams, a General Plan consultant hired by the city.

The City Council is expected to approve a final General Plan late this year, and then it will go to Maricopa voters for approval. The plan will act as a guide over the next 20 years for zoning, annexations, residential and commercial development, and job growth within current city limits. It will also include the city's projected annexation areas.

"It's a blueprint for your city and a starting point for what citizens want for their city," said Maricopa City Manager Rick Buss.

City officials hope to turn the state's second-youngest city, currently with about 11,000 residents, into a living and working destination. The city incorporated with about 1,500 residents and a limited job and tax base in October 2003. But the effort to develop a General Plan is raising rooftops, as the youthful town is on a sizzling pace to issue 6,071 single-family building permits in 2005.

"The growth is so rapid that it's a challenge to do a plan for them," Williams said.

Medium-density neighborhoods will make up 70 percent of the projected housing stock, according to the draft. Rural, low-density and high-density areas will each make up 10 percent of the housing stock.

The draft also includes goals of 187,000 new jobs within the city, based on a projected formula of 1.5 jobs per home. According to a city development impact fee study, there are currently about 3,394 jobs within city boundaries, with 39 percent of those in retail operations and another 30 percent industrial-related, including agriculture, construction and manufacturing. Six percent of the job base is office-related.

Officials say they hope to attract more and better-paying jobs than the new retail opportunities they're getting now. The plan will identify tax and other incentives to attract employers. A University of Arizona center already within the city, which conducts crop and livestock research, could be used as a base to attract biotech-oriented companies and employers, Williams said.

The plan will require developers to set aside acres for open space and parks to assure that there is a park within a half-mile of every new home, Williams said. A transportation element likely will include expansion of the four-lane Arizona 347 and two-lane Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway, a direct connection to Interstate 10. The draft also calls for a university campus, airport expansion, a stadium or arena and a theme park or resort.

*Please see the General Plan map on the Maps page of AZacreage.com