This map shows where 107 homes are set to be built on the former Bashas’ grocery warehouse and farm site on Basha Road, near Snedigar Park. Council approved the plan Dec. 11.
Emotional testimony, complaints about design and potential added traffic and three lengthy public discussions led up to the Chandler City Council approving a large infill residential development.
By approving its consent agenda at its Dec. 11 meeting, council greenlighted four items for Havenwood Manor. That’s a plan for 107 single-family homes on the former Bashas’ grocery facility and corporate headquarters site; the company relocated to a more-modern facility in west Chandler in 2023.
Council approved an area plan amendment, rezoning, preliminary development plan and preliminary plat for the 18.64-acre site, wedged along Basha Road, south of Ocotillo Road and next to the eastern third of Snedigar Park.
Opposition over traffic and to what a few residents felt was destroying the historic legacy of the former Goodyear community and south Chandler were the prevalent concerns voiced at a Nov. 19 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, at a Dec. 8 Council study session and at Council’s Dec. 11 regular meeting.
The buildings on the Bashas’ site will be torn down. It wasn’t clear if the Bashas’ water tower will remain; the canal and palm trees along Basha Road are protected historical items, according to staff reports.
One resident tearfully spoke of the help Eddie Basha himself provided for her family, as one of the many historical ties to the property and area.
“When my aunt, Kathy, passed away as a young mom, Eddie catered the funeral and refused to allow my grandparents to pay him for that,” Monique Bogle Fullmer said at the Dec. 11 meeting. She listed other positive characteristics of Eddie Basha and ended with “$800,000 homes does not honor Chandler’s agricultural, or the Basha family, legacies.”
The design was discussed at the Planning Commission meeting, though one board member disagreed with a resident’s impression the design for the 107 homes was “uncreative.”
Pricing and affordability of $700,000-plus homes was brought up as well. Planning Commission Chair Rick Huemann said, yes, that’s beyond what most Chandler-area residents can afford, but developments are being sold out quickly at those prices.
Traffic was discussed at all three meetings. Chandler traffic engineer Dana Alvidrez said Dec. 11 a traffic “study” wasn’t done, but staff included a “traffic statement” in the development plan.
The statement uses the estimate of 114 additional vehicle trips daily along Basha Road as its projection. Despite being only one lane in each direction, Basha Road is classified as a “collector street,” the statement reads, that’s only a 1.2% daily increase in traffic, so no adjustments are needed.
“As this development goes in, and people move in, we’ll keep an eye on what that does to the surrounding traffic network,” Alvidrez said.
Jason W. Brooks News Editor | Chandler Independent
Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.
Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.
Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.
Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.
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