A split Queen Creek Town Council voted against a rezoning that would have put 150 single-family detached and attached rental units on 16.8 acres near the northeast corner of Germann and Power roads.
The council voted 3-2 to deny a request by landowner Graystar to rezone the property from commercial to medium density residential/planned unit development for its proposed Summerwell Residences.
Mayor Julia Wheatley and Council Members Robin Benning and Jeff Brown voted no, while Vice Mayor Bryan McClure and Council Member Leah Martineau voted yes. Council Members Dawn Oliphant and Travis Padilla were absent from the meeting.
A previous attempt to build a 340-unit multifamily development was halted in 2024, after public opposition caused the developers of that project to withdraw their application.
While the dissenting members of the council said they recognized the proposed project was an improvement over the 2024 plan and that traffic would be lighter than with commercial property, the town’s general plan had to be honored.
The general plan has the site designated as commercial as part of the larger Power Marketplace and Power Marketplace Business Park.
“It’s pretty clear to me that the residents are not supportive of the number of rezones we’ve done in general and more specifically the number of rezones that we’ve done to rental product,” Brown said before the vote. “We’re really setting ourselves up for the pitchfork-type town council meetings where the chambers will be packed with people that say, ‘Apparently, you didn’t hear me.’”
Wheatley said the town’s efforts at securing an independent water supply didn’t square with approving a project that was not subject to the 100-year water assurance certificate state mandate because it is a rental property.
“It’s a struggle I have where we’re coming to our water customers and saying we have secured this great water deal that we don’t have to worry about water for 110 years, but we’re going to approve this development, and they don’t have to guarantee that,” Wheatley said before the vote. “There are pros … less traffic, better project overall, but there are some bigger things that we just can’t lose sight of … specifically water, specifically our general plan, and just recognizing that the town is doing what it can to help these parcels be marketable whatever the zoning is.”
While there has been interest in developing the site over the past five years, inquiries have been “exclusively for residential development,” according to a staff report.
“It appears that due to restrictions and other conditions the lot has a long history of no market viability. So, without sufficient evidence of a project causing harm to the community, we should give property owners the freedom to decide what to build on their land. I feel like voting ‘no’ on this project would be government overreach,” McClure said.
The site is bounded by the Power Marketplace commercial center to the north and west, Germann Road to the south with the Cortina single-family residential community beyond Germann Road, and the Power Marketplace Business Park directly east.
The Queen Creek Planning & Zoning Commission recommended approval of the requests at its Sept. 9 meeting.
Janet Perez can be reached at jperez@iniusa.org. Please send your comments about this article to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
Janet Perez News Editor | Queen Creek &
San Tan Valley
Meet Janet Janet Perez joined Independent Newsmedia as editor of the Queen Creek Independent and Florence Independent in 2020. She started her career in 1989 with the Gannett-owned El Paso Times. In 1992, she moved to Tempe and has worked in newspapers, magazines, radio and television. She left Arizona for three years to work at New Mexico State University and Baylor University before returning to work at Arizona State University. Missing the business, she went back to journalism in 2017.
Community: A long-time pet owner, she supports animal welfare causes.
Education: University of Texas at El Paso with a BA in journalism and a minor in political science.
Random Fact: She had a head full of random facts.
Hobbies: Reading, watching documentaries, cooking and playing with her dogs.
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