It’s been very difficult for the town and for the developer --- for both --- but I think we have made some real progress in resolving most of the issues.”

Vice Chairman Jack Sellers, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors

By Richard Dyer
Twitter: @RHDyer

A rezoning for commercial development at the southwest corner of Riggs and Hawes roads --- one Queen Creek officials opposed --- has been approved by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

The request from owner/applicant Godfrey Romero from rural to commercial zoning for 0.69 acres was approved April 22 in a unanimous vote, with Chairman Clint Hickman, Vice Chairman Jack Sellers and Supervisor Steve Chucri in attendance; and Supervisors Bill Gates and Steve Gallardo by phone.

The proposed use and conceptual design is inconsistent with the Town of Queen Creek General Plan and design standards, and as such the town is opposed to the proposal, Erik Swanson, interim planning administrator in the town’s Development Services Department, said in a letter to Mr. Sellers.

“As you are aware in working with many municipalities throughout the county, each municipality has a number of design standards that are adopted for the overall betterment of the community creating both a safe community and an aesthetically pleasing community. In the case of the subject site there are a number of concerns that are inconsistent with the town’s design standards relating to safety and aesthetics,” Mr. Swanson said in the letter.

Jen Pokorski, director of Maricopa County’s Department of Planning and Development, told the board of supervisors that it is an appropriate zoning change.

“This item ... is a request to rezone a rural property to a commercial C-2 CUPD overlay. This is at the corner of Riggs Road and Hawes Road near Queen Creek and this is an appropriate zoning change for this corner since it’s located at the junction of two arterial streets,” Ms. Pokorski said by phone of a Commercial Unit Plan of Development.

The county’s planning commission had voted unanimously to recommend approval of the request, she said.

“The C-2 CUPD overlay limits the property to rezone for an auto-repair shop, so the uses on the property will be limited,” Ms. Pokorski said.

A restaurant on the site plan has been removed, she said.

“The only known opposition that we’ve received is from the Town of Queen Creek. They had several concerns regarding how this site will be accessed, screening and landscaping, and how materials will be stored on site, as well as parking,” she said.

“We worked with the applicant to address most of Queen Creek’s concerns and added several stipulations to the case including limiting site access so it’s just a right-in, right-out along Riggs and Hawes roads; the site will be screened by an 8-foot solid wall along the property lines where it is adjacent to homes and rural zoning; and then there’s also going to be a 10-foot-wide landscape buffer along Riggs and Hawes roads,” Ms. Pokorski said.

A letter was received from the Town of Queen Creek April 21 requesting additional screening --- up to a 30-foot landscape buffer along the roads, she said.

“Staff is of the opinion [the municipality] would render the property undevelopable. And, based on the 10-foot landscape screening, we feel that it addressed the intent of Queen Creek’s concerns to make sure that this property is adequately buffered from the adjacent uses and will actually be an asset to the area. So based on that, staff is still recommending approval consistent with the planning and zoning commission’s recommendation for approval,” she said.

Mr. Sellers said the rezoning had been continued from a previous meeting. He thanked the Town of Queen Creek and the developer for working through some of the issues.

“It’s been very difficult for the town and for the developer --- for both --- but I think we have made some real progress in resolving most of the issues. The town was concerned that the letter they sent yesterday got into the record and I’m glad to hear that that was read into the record today,” Mr. Sellers said.

“I really feel that we’ve done everything we can to make this as usable a site as possible for this particular location and because of that I’m going to move for approval,” he said.

Richard Dyer
Managing Editor | East Valley
@RHDyer

rdyer@iniusa.org

Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia, Inc.. USA, since 1987. 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. He also is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows