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The Buckeye City Council approved rezoning plans for light industrial and multifamily housing on Tuesday night.
Two agenda items involve the same project, the Westpark development that uses a master plan including 79 acres with a five-phase plan.
The first Westpark public hearing and rezoning request was presented by Ken Galcia, principal planner representing property developer KEMF Westwind East LLC.
The developer requested a rezoning of approximately 79 acres at the southeast corner of Lower Buckeye and Turner roads from planned residential to light industrial. Adjustments to development and design standards for the light industrial zoning will be handled by the Community Master Plan.
According to Galcia, the rezoning would help to bring more jobs to the Buckeye area as well as improve economic development to the city.
A second public hearing requested a minor general plan amendment for Westpark that was a separate, companion requests apart of the rezoning 79 acres and include it within an expanded Westpark Community Master Plan.
These areas are calculated from the city of Buckeye General Plan for Phases 2.3 and 3 will incorporate the 24-acre community park and include two neighborhood parks with a minimum of three acres each, and five pocket parks a minimum of half acre each.
Councilwoman Jeanine Guy expressed concern about the proposed community park that is part of the master plan and questioned why it never came to fruition.
“Council member Guy, if you can where my mouse is moving this is labeled as pod five, that would be the future park location that is very similar in size, shape and location to the original” Galcia responded.
Westpark is comprehensive master plan that includes several hundred acres, spanning onto both sides of State Route 85, with a five-phase buildout.
In June, council unanimously approved the major general plan amendment changing the land use designation of more than 2,600 acres in the area along Route 85 corridor to employment, creating a new vision for the corridor as Buckeye’s light industrial. Approval of the city’s amendment has encouraged the owner of the undeveloped portions of Westpark to reexamine development scenarios such as employment opportunities from light industrial uses.
This is why the developer KEMF Westwind East proposed their plans to use the area to help generate job opportunities in the area as well as provide further developments such as roads and parks for the area.
These agenda items were approved by the city council.
Agenda item No. 29-22, Lanai Living Rezoning is the subject site which is located within the Historic Downtown Activity Center at the northeast corner of Apache Road and Monroe, and proposes the advance one of the many goals to bring additional housing options to downtown Buckeye.
The proposed rezoning of approximately 27.5 acres, from single-family and planned residential into multifamily zoning district.
Randy Proch, a senior planner with the city, said Tucson-based Holualoa Cos. is requesting the rezoning of the area to multifamily housing as the downtown area already provides amenities such as pools, recreation center, library, and City Hall within walking distance along with retail and restaurants.
The current site proposed is being used for agricultural.
The council asked no questions as well as from the public and was thus approved unanimous.
Frank Espinoza is a recent graduate of Northern Arizona University from the beginning of 2022. He prides himself on covering topics that give a spotlight to individuals or groups who give back to the community. He has covered local sports, community events, and important issues that impact the state. In his spare time, he loves to watch Street League Skateboarding and hang out at Cowtown Skateboards in Goodyear.
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