October 23, 2006

Location of 2 storage areas seen as problem

FLORENCE - Of the 12 cases heard by the Pinal County Planning and Zoning Commission Thursday, half were forwarded to the Board of Supervisors with recommendations for denial. Particularly hard-hit were a pair of requests to build self-storage facilities, one that would have frontage on the busy Hunt Highway in the Queen Creek area and the other in a residential area just south of Florence.

A request for zone change and overlay district by KEJE Group LLC on a project slated for an area south of Arizona 84 was recommended for denial because the commissioners deemed it to be too speculative.

A request for a zone change and planned area development overlay district by Nyssa Land Development Company for the 150-lot The Manors at Castlegate east of Queen Creek was so flawed and lacking in detail that the commissioners voted for a continuance to Dec. 21. Three other cases that had been listed on the agenda had been pulled prior to the meeting and rescheduled for Dec. 21.

KEJE Group LLC's zoning and PAD request to develop the 263-lot Rubicon on an 80-acre parcel listed as being south of Maricopa but actually 17 miles south, between Hidden Valley and Stanfield, was largely recommended for denial because it was so far from the path of development.

Necessity lacking

Commissioner Scott Riggins quoted one of the criteria by which the commission must judge any development: "Is it needed and necessary at this time and place?" Commissioner Philip "McD" Hartman agreed and added that he was very troubled by the lack of access to the property.

A motion was made to forward the requests with a favorable recommendation, but it failed by a 4-3 vote, with one abstention, so another motion was made to recommend denial, and it passed by a 4-3 vote.

Mohammad Ashraf was requesting a zone change and PAD overlay district to develop a self-storage facility and a manager's office with living quarters on a 4-acre parcel just south of Florence, but he was facing some stiff opposition from folks living in the area.

The commissioners questioned the efficacy of locating that kind of facility in that location and further wondered where the applicant planned to draw renters. A spokesman for Ashraf admitted that other mini storage facilities in the area were less than full. The commissioners voted unanimously to recommend denial.

The proposed self-storage facility slated for the Queen Creek area was also recommended for denial. It consisted of a request for a zone change and PAD overlay district by T2 Architecture Group LLC to develop a self-storage facility with recreational vehicle and boat parking and manager's office with living quarters on a 6-acre parcel, which would be accessible off Hunt Highway.

Safety was the commissioners' main concern as they envisioned problems with moving recreational vehicles and trailers with boats in and out of the facility off a high-speed, high-volume highway. The original motion was for approval, but it was voted down by a 5-4 vote. A motion for denial passed by a 6-3 vote.

The commissioners forwarded the following requests with favorable recommendations:

-- A zone change and PAD overlay district by Ham Maricopa LLC to develop the 502-lot Venida on a 160-acre parcel south of Maricopa.

-- A zone change by All State Associates of Pinal XIII to develop the 90-lot Shreeve 110 on a 110-acre parcel in the Eloy area.

-- A tentative PAD plat by Robson Ranch Mountains LLC for SaddleBrooke Ranch Units 4 and 6, 482 lots on a 197-acre parcel in the SaddleBrooke Ranch area.

-- A tentative PAD plat by Robson Ranch Mountains LLC for SaddleBrooke Ranch Unit 8, 84 lots on a 49-acre parcel in the SaddleBrooke Ranch area.

-- A tentative PAD plat by Trilogy Johnson Farms Construction LLC for Shea Homes at Johnson Farms, 2,452 lots on a 745-acre parcel in the Queen Creek area.

The following requests were continued to Dec. 21:

-- A zone change and PAD overlay district by The WLB Group to develop the 6,311-lot Thude on a 1,922-acre parcel northeast of Stanfield.

-- A tentative plat by 10 McCartney CG LLC for Black Mountain Preserve, 122 lots on a 78-acre parcel east of Casa Grande.

A work/study session was conducted on requests for Pinal County Comprehensive Plan major amendments scheduled for a special meeting this Thursday.

©Casa Grande Valley Newspapers Inc. 2006