Litchfield Park residents to vote on sale of parcels

By Madeline Ackley Salazar
Mail | Twitter: @Mkayackley

Between 2014 and 2017 the city of Litchfield Park purchased roughly 30 acres of land on the southeast corner of Litchfield Road and Village Parkway.

Those pieces of land — once privately owned, but now in the hands of the city — are part of the long-awaited Litchfield Square development. City leadership seeks to sell about 12 acres of that land to developers, but before the city can move forward on sales that exceed $1.5 million, it’ll need a stamp of approval from voters in an election scheduled for Tuesday, May 17.

So far, just one parcel has sold at an amount of $600,000, but city leaders expect some of the larger parcels could go for much more in the future, especially if developers are purchasing more than one parcel.

“We’re getting the approval ahead of time,” Mayor Thomas Schoaf told The Independent, “so we don’t have to come back and try to do it later.”

The ballot-by-mail election means that all eligible voters should automatically receive a ballot in the mail, even if you’re not on the Permanent Early Voting List. If you don’t get a ballot in the mail, or it has been lost or damaged, you can request one from the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office at 602-506-1511 or email evreq@risc.maricopa.gov.

Only registered voters who are residents of Litchfield Park proper will have an opportunity to vote in the election. Those not registered to vote have until Monday, April 18 to do so.

Litchfield Square, formerly known as ‘City Center,’ is a $52 million mix-use development project, and the city’s attempt at building out a downtown core. Plans for the 400,000 square-foot space include multi-story restaurants, retail, offices and possibly residential space surrounding a 2.5-acre park.

The project, first conceived in the mid-1990s, was controversial and stalled several times over the years for reasons Schoaf has called “totally unfounded.”

The project remained dormant for many years, but plans were renewed back in 2018. The project is expected to be completed by 2028.
Madeline Ackley Salazar can be reached at mackley@iniusa.org or found on Twitter @Mkayackley.