Queen Creek council approves annexation, rezoning for parking lot

The Queen Creek Town Council has approved the annexation of a small parcel of Maricopa County land that will allow a local real estate development firm to expand its parking lot.

The council approved the matter, along with a concurrent rezoning request, at its Wednesday meeting on a vote of 5-0. Council Members Dawn Oliphant and Travis Padilla were absent.

In 2025 and 2026, Carder Development received entitlements and building permits from the town to build a 17,070-square-foot, one-story commercial office building on approximately 1.79 acres at 26214 S. Ellsworth Road. The proposed parking site is immediately north of the building.

At its Sept. 9 meeting, the Queen Creek Planning & Zoning Commission voted to recommend the council approve the owner’s request to rezone the parcel from residential to light commercial.

The Carder family had been hoping to acquire the 0.72-acre parcel in 2024 but was unsuccessful until about a year ago, Carder Development’s representative, Chris Webb of the Rose Law Group, told the commission.

The property is north of the northwest corner of Ellsworth and Happy roads in Maricopa County and will have 50 parking spaces.

The site is bordered by rural-residential uses in unincorporated Maricopa County to the west, the Carder development to the south, future office uses within town limits to the north, and vacant commercially zoned property east of Ellsworth Road, which is planned for future commercial and auto-oriented uses, according to a staff report.

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.