December 02, 2005

2 Maricopa-area projects are delayed over access concerns

FLORENCE - The Pinal County Board of Supervisors approved 13 requests for land-use amendments Wednesday affecting nearly 39,000 acres outside city limits. The majority of the parcels were upgraded from rural to transitional, which is a broad designation allowing for a variety of development.

The largest single parcel was the BHP San Manuel Project, which consists of 23,234 acres surrounding San Manuel. The Pinal County Comprehensive Plan land-use matrix had the property labeled as rural mining and rural community, and the supervisors approved a change to "development sensitive" with a riparian overlay, natural resources, rural, rural community, transitional and urban.

Two amendment requests that involved projects in the Maricopa area were continued to Dec. 21 at the request of Supervisor David Snider, who cited transportation issues that he felt had not been resolved. Both cases had run into some minor problems during the Oct. 27 meeting of the Pinal County Planning and Zoning Commission but were given unanimous approval by the panel.

The two parcels lie along the Cowtown industrial corridor with frontage on Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway. One is the 283-acre Maricopa Weber 283 parcel, and the other is the 595-acre Anderson East property, both located east of Anderson Road and both looking to go from industrial to rural community.

The problem, as Snider indicated, was the fact that both communities would be using Anderson Road to gain access to Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway and crossing the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. "The railroad is planning on double-tracking this portion of the line in the very near future," he said, and says it will be running 100 trains a day through there. "And that would present a real hazardous situation for the hundreds of folks driving to and from these communities. I don't see any specific suggestions to remedy the situation, except the promise that 'we'll take care of it.' We'll take care of it just isn't good enough."

Representatives of both developers said they did have specific suggestions, such as creating access points to the east and west, which would avoid having to use Anderson Road. Both parties agreed to the continuance and to meet with Snider to go over alternatives to the use of Anderson Road.

Amendment requests approved by the supervisors included:

- A change from rural to urban by Boa Sorte LP on a 229-acre parcel in the Arizona Farms Road area.

- A change from rural to rural community by Picacho 930 LLC on a 1,111-acre parcel two miles northeast of Picacho.

- A change from rural to transitional by Viel Gluck LTD on a 592-acre parcel one mile northeast of Eloy.

A change from rural to transitional by Jorde Hacienda Inc. on a 2,093-acre parcel immediately south of Interstate 8 at Russell Road.

- A change from rural to transitional by Bevnorm Olive LLC on a 111-acre parcel immediately south of Interstate 8 between Fuqua Road and White and Parker Road.

- A change from rural to rural community by Casa Grande Montgomery 240 LLC on a 290-acre parcel immediately west of Casa Grande along Montgomery Road.

- A change from rural to transitional by KSK Land Ventures on an 877-acre parcel at the northwest corner of Teel and White roads.

- A change from natural resources to transitional by the State Land Department on a 485-acre parcel at the northwest corner of Papago and Hidden Valley roads.

- A change from foothills to transitional by Del Mar Development Inc. on a 320-acre parcel at the southwest corner of Sage Street and Amigos Road.

- A change from rural and foothills to transitional and foothills by Arie DeJong Family Trust on a 2,085-acre parcel at the northwest corner of Farrell and Ralston roads.

- A change from rural, industrial and foothills to transitional by Palmco Properties LLC on a 282-acre parcel south of Smith-Enke from Ralston Road to the Table Top Road alignment.

- A change from mining to urban and rural community by CHI Construction Company on a 7,080-acre parcel on the former Asarco property west of Casa Grande.

- The supervisors also approved an amendment request to add the goals and objectives from the Arizona City Area Plan and an amendment to the Transportation Element of the Pinal County Comprehensive Plan to incorporate the Pinal County Trails Plan.

Other agenda items approved by the supervisors included:

- A resolution from the Industrial Development Authority of Pinal County issuing up to $49 million in Correctional Facilities Contract Revenue Bonds (for Florence West Prison Expansion LLC Project), to finance the acquisition and maintenance of a new secure private correctional facility.

- A resolution for up to $4 million in IDA bonds (for Three C Eloy LLC Project) to be used to finance the acquisition, construction and equipping of solid waste disposal facilities at a new dairy to be located south of Eloy.

- A petition to establish as a county highway Ocotillo Road from Gantzel Road to Kenworthy Road.

- A petition to establish as a county highway Edwin Road from Eagle Crest Ranch Boulevard eastward for 1.3 miles.

- A petition to establish as a county highway Eleven Mile Corner Road from Arica Road to Selma Highway.

- Deed of an easement to Salt River Project.

- Sitting as the Pinal County Municipal Property Corporation board, the supervisors approved a review of the board's financial status.

- Sitting as the board of the 387 Wastewater Improvement and Domestic Water Improvement districts, the board agreed to vacate the public hearing to determine whether Sonoran Utility Services LLC has performed its contractual obligations under management agreements with the district. In his report to the board as superintendent of the district, Deputy County Manager Terry Doolittle said that service was being provided to more than 2,000 district residents and that he would be appearing before the Arizona Corporation Commission next week regarding the status of the district.
 
©Casa Grande Valley Newspapers Inc. 2005