Opposition vocal on Chandler county-island apartments

By Jason W. Brooks
Mail | X: @JasonWBrooks2

Thursday is set to be a major turning point in the process of determining how a 25-acre county island in the south Chandler area will be used.

Dominium has scaled back and modified what’s now a multiuse plan for an infill site along Ocotillo Road in South Chandler. The site is vacant and is north-south-shaped, between a railroad line — which runs directly behind a Target-anchored shopping center — and the Chandler Unified School District Transportation Center and bus yard.

Thursday’s 9:30 a.m. Maricopa County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting includes a handful of action items. Those include case No. Z240019. It’s a zoning change application that would change the zoning from a industrial use to one that could accomodate mulitfamily housing.

In Arizona, planning and zoning commissions make recommendations to governing bodies. In Maricopa County’s case, the commission will vote at Thursday’s meeting on whether to recommend approval of Dominium’s zoning application to the county’s Board of Supervisors.

The Board of Supervisors will have the final vote on the application at its Wednesday, Dec. 11, meeting.

Planning and Zoning meetings are held online using the Nov. 21 agenda items viewed by clicking here. The case number for Sonoran Landings is Z240019.

There was significant 2022 public opposition to Dominium’s plan to place 518 apartments on the site, with some designated as senior housing. The plan, then called The Landings at Ocotillo, listed 938 parking places, with neighbors testifying to the Chandler City Council about their concerns.

Concerns focused heavily on how such a development would create big traffic problems in the area, which includes several housing developments, a Target-anchored shopping center, two other shopping centers and Hamilton High School.

The council passed a symbolic resolution opposing the project publicly, though it isn’t in the city, so there isn’t a formal Chandler hearing process and acceptance or rejection. But the site does fall within Chandler’s general plan area and within its water planning area.

Derek Horn, who was Chandler’s development services director in January 2023, sent a letter to the Maricopa County Planning and Development Department, saying the city could only provide enough water to meet about one-fourth of the then-proposed apartment complex’s expected needs.

Mayor Kevin Hartke said the reason the previous proposal was for land on a county island is that it “wouldn’t pass the sniff test” of more stringent Chandler requirements.

Dominium came back this year with the Sonoran Landings plan. The revised plan, according to a new release, calls for 11.7 acres for senior housing and 12.9 acres industrial, with the residential units cut about in half, from 518 to 272.

Not surprisingly, the number of proposed parking spaces has been cut as well, from 938 to 399.

The residential part of the multiuse plan, which formerly had only a small portion devoted to seniors, is not exclusively for adults age 55 and older, in the latest proposal.

The news release says the scaling was a result of feedback during the past year from neighbors, development staff, elected leaders and advocates for affordable housing.

The news release says by reducing the number of units and keeping the complex 55-and-older, these changes will reduce the potential impact on local traffic, especially during peak hours.

Also, 55-and-older residents tend to not have school-age children who would attend local schools, the release states.

The industrial areas also typically generate less traffic during peak residential commuting times, according to the release.

Dominium states its changes are created to be in compliance with the county’s general plan and to align with the employment and growth general plan designations.

The Facebook group Voice of Chandler features significant opposition to the project, even in its scaled-back Sonoran Landings form. But most of the quoted feedback from city officials seems to regard the more-intense 2022 plan.

With Hamilton High School across Arizona Avenue from Target, two other large shopping centers on other corners and dozens of homes in the vicinity, opposition to the scaled-back plan is still high.

Two people spoke at Chandler Council’s Nov. 7 meeting in opposition to the county zoning proposal. Derek Logan said he’s received more than one mailer from an out-of-state company or organization in support of the project, which made him suspicious about the profit overshadowing the affordable senior housing aspect.

We invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this topic.  Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.   Email Jason W. Brooks at jbrooks@iniusa.org.

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.

Community: He supports animal shelters.