Queen Creek council to decide on proposed industrial site

A developer is proposing an office/industrial site at the northeast corner of Rittenhouse and Germann roads, but it will require an amendment to the town’s general plan and a rezoning.

The Queen Creek Town Council will hold a public meeting on the issue and possibly take action during its Wednesday meeting.

Currently, the land-use designation for the 10-acre site is neighborhood and the developer, Evergreen Investment Company LLC, is requesting that it be changed to industrial to allow for the proposed Depot at Rittenhouse.

The site will also require a zoning change from medium-density residential to employment-A, according to a council staff report.

While there is a residential subdivision near the site, the rest is bordered by industrial land. The site is bound by Rittenhouse Road to the west, Germann Road to the south with the Cortina residential neighborhood south of Germann Road, and the Union Pacific Railroad to the northeast. There is also vacant land zoned for general industrial north of the railroad within Mesa.

Further to the east is Sossaman Road, and light industrial development within Mesa.

“With the current conditions of the vacant property, the property is significantly impacted by utility easements, including a 100-foot-wide high voltage easement running the length of the rear property boundary. Consequently, about 34% of the property is undevelopable,” the staff report states.

The proposed Depot at Rittenhouse is a 112,319-square-foot building “that offers flex-office, medical, industrial and business park type-uses.”

“Understanding the town’s desire to capture new employment growth, and to compete with the employment demand occurring immediately next door in Mesa, it’s imperative to have a property that differentiates from the others and pushes Queen Creek to the top,” according to the developer’s narrative report.

The Queen Creek Planning & Zoning Commission recommended approval of the general plan amendment and the rezoning at its Jan. 7 meeting. No members of the public spoke at the commission meeting regarding the proposed change. Additionally, the developer held a neighborhood meeting on Sept. 30, and no members of the public attended.

Because the proposed project is within the Mesa Gateway Airport’s overflight area, the plan was reviewed for compatibility by the airport authority.

In a letter to the Queen Creek Development Services department, a planner at Mesa Gateway Airport wrote that industrial development within the overflight area “is generally considered a compatible land use in proximity to the airport.”

“Any development at this location, due to its proximity to (Mesa Gateway Airport) will be subject to frequent aircraft overflights and will be affected by noise. Occupants will hear and see aircraft landing and taking off from the airport and may experience aircraft overflights that generate noise levels considered by many to be ‘annoying,’” Airport Planner Ksenia Kerentseva wrote.

The Queen Creek Town Council meeting starts at 6:30 p.m., Feb. 5 at Community Chambers, 20727 E. Civic Parkway.

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