Wedding, events center planned in Apache Junction

By Richard Dyer
Mail | X: @RHDyer

A 4,927-square-foot event center is to be constructed at the southeast corner of Lost Dutchman Boulevard and Apache Trail in Apache Junction.

The Apache Junction Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously June 24 to recommend the city council approve a conditional-use permit for the venue on 5 acres with eight conditions. Commissioner Ari Kalan was absent.

The property is presently used for RV and boat storage. The west half will be replaced with the Apache Trail Superstition Events Center, Senior Planner Nicholas Leftwich told the commission.

It is adjacent to commercial property on the north and residential on the south, west and east, he said.

“Right now there (are) landscaping improvements proposed along the street front of Apache Trail as well, some of it will involve the neighboring parcel. And some shared parking is involved with the facilities that are already existing on-site,” Leftwich said.

“It is a building with facilities to be able to accommodate events like weddings, so you have things like the bridal room and prep rooms, but ultimately it can be a multipurpose event venue and center for different opportunities,” he said.

The indoor occupancy will be about 100 people, Miles Roberts of Edifice Architecture told the commission.

“If you are having a function — say it’s a wedding — you’d have the indoor event and then you go and have the outdoor event for dining or something for the dance floor,” he said.

“I wouldn’t anticipate a concert happening there. There’s not the equipment for that,” Roberts said later. “If anything it would be like an acoustic situation.”

Dane Astle of Edifice Architecture is the applicant. Mohiuddin Mehmood Trust is the owner.

In addition to the building, an outdoor event patio is planned for open-air events, Astle wrote in a project narrative,

“The design of the event center will complement the surrounding area by maintaining a single-story design and by using materials matching the adjacent buildings. Apache Junction has a Western, agricultural and desert heritage, making the barn style an intentional nod to the local history,” it states

The primary duties of the planning and zoning commission include community contact regarding items including a zoning change request, to an application from a developer for a shopping center development or housing project. Also included are conditional use permits with the final decision being handled at the planning and zoning commission level, according to the city’s website.

Richard H. Dyer can be reached at rdyer@iniusa.org, or on X @rhdyer. To voice your opinion on this story, connect with us at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.

Richard Dyer
Managing Editor | East Valley

rdyer@iniusa.org

Meet Richard
Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.  

Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions. 

Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.

Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.

Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.