Queen Creek council opposes proposed apartments in Pinal County

A move by a developer to have land rezoned in Pinal County to make way for a three-story, 240-unit apartment complex is getting pushback from Queen Creek officials.

Wolff Enterprises has applied to Pinal County to rezone 12.5 acres at the northeast corner of Gantzel Road and Algarve Place from commercial to mixed use.

The site is adjacent to the Queen Creek master-planned community, Encanterra.

As the rezoning request makes its way through the Pinal County Development Services Department, the Queen Creek Town Council is asking the Pinal Country Board of Supervisors to deny the application.

At its April 16 meeting, the council approved a letter to send to the board of supervisors opposing the proposal.

“The town council has concerns that a (three-)story multifamily development would be out of character for this area. The Encanterra development (to the east) is predominantly (one-) story in height and the Meadows development (to the west) is (one-two) stories in height,” the letter stated. “Typically, multifamily developments are better suited at the intersection of major arterial intersections and not a mid-mile point that has been planned for commercial development.”

The letter also stated council has received “an extensive number of emails expressing opposition” to the rezoning application from Queen Creek residents who live east of the property.

Residents are concerned about “the impact that it will have on the surrounding neighborhoods,” the letter stated.

In its project narrative, Wolff Enterprises stated that in 2000, the site was originally zoned mixed use, allowing for multifamily residential and commercial development.

In 2006, the site’s zoning was changed to commercial to allow for the development of medical offices on the north parcel, now called Pinal Professional Village.

“The 2006 amendment only showed development plans on the north parcel and the subject site was shown vacant with a note on the plan for future retail commercial. Since then, the subject site has remained empty with no interest in commercial development for the past 19 years,” the project narrative continued.

According to the developer narrative, the site is not large enough nor at a major intersection to interest big-box store retailers, “therefore the smaller commercial users who generally follow those large tenants are also not interested.”

In its report, Wolff Enterprises made the case San Tan Valley needs affordable housing options.

“In addition, single family home value appreciations and the sudden rise in interest rates on mortgages has put homeownership out of reach for many working-class individuals and families,” the report continued. “This proposed multifamily development would provide a much-needed housing choice that can serve those who wish to set roots in this community as they save money for a single-family home.”

The proposed rezoning would allow for smaller commercial enterprises.

“The applicant has already been in discussions with an interested local business owner, WonderWise, who would love to operate on the smaller commercial corner,” the narrative stated.

WonderWise is a child-care provider.

In its letter, the town council countered that through its San Tan Valley Urban Core-Large Master Plan Community, Pinal County has recently designated areas — including one about 1 mile south of the site in question — as high-density residential/mixed use “in an effort to accommodate a development similar to what is being proposed.”

The letter was approved as part of the council's consent agenda in which all matters are decided on one motion and vote. It passed on a 7-0 vote.

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 can be reached at jperez@iniusa.org.