By Richard Dyer
Twitter: @RHDyer

Rezoning 190.4 acres at the northwest corner of Chandler Heights and Ellsworth roads for a Taylor Morrison housing subdivision was recently approved by the Queen Creek Town Council.

Hundreds of home owners to the west, in the Montelena subdivision, were in favor of the rezoning, while hundreds living in the Pecans subdivision to the south were against it.

“(T)his is one of those tough ones because there’s good arguments on both sides. There’s going to be people disappointed, whichever way the vote is; there’s going to be people upset, whichever way the vote is,” Mayor Gail Barney said prior to the vote.

“And as a council we have to do what we think is best for the whole community at times and not necessarily what’s best for one specific neighborhood or the other. And it’s not an easy decision when you read 600 to 700 e-mails and look at signatures and talk to people and really get down and think about it. You sometimes wish you didn’t have the responsibility,” he said.

The Town Council on July 15 voted 5-1 to approve the rezoning with Councilmember Jake Hoffman voting no and Councilmember Emilena Turley absent.

On the dais were Mayor Barney and Councilmembers Hoffman and Robin Benning. Meeting by WebEx were Vice Mayor Julia Wheatley and Councilmembers Jeff Brown and Dawn Oliphant.

Ellsworth Ranch rezone

Shaine Alleman of Tiffany and Bosco, on behalf of Taylor Morrison, requested the Planned Area Development rezoning to allow for the future Ellsworth Ranch residential development.

“What we’re bringing to you tonight is the culmination of what’s happened over the last year in really crafting a plan that we feel makes sense for this area and also is way better from where we started out with,” Mr. Alleman said to the council.

The property is an infill piece surrounded by existing neighborhood developments of comparable density and character to the east and west. It is to be developed with a mix of single-family detached homes --- a maximum of 452 lots with a gross density of 2.37 dwelling units per acre, Development Services Director Brett Burningham, Interim Planning Administrator Erik Swanson and Senior Planner Kyle Barichello said in a memo to the council.

“The subject property has a prominent history as a local ranch and farmland operated by the Ellsworth family for decades as the surrounding properties evolved into quality neighborhoods consistent with the General Plan’s intent for the area,” they wrote in the memo. “According to the applicant, the proposed Ellsworth Ranch development provides a distinctive single-family residential community that is designed to preserve the Ellsworth family heritage and implement the town’s rich heritage through the design character of the community.”

The new housing subdivision would have two entrances --- a connector roadway extending from Ellsworth Road to Chandler Heights Road. The Via del Jardin roadway in the Montelena subdivision would not to be extended into Ellsworth Ranch, according to development maps.

Planning commission

The Queen Creek Planning and Zoning Commission on June 10 voted 5-2 to recommend the council approve the rezoning, with Chairman Alex Matheson and Commissioner Troy Young opposed.

Comments from the public included:

• 33 letters of opposition read into the record.
• 22 comment cards in opposition of the project from people who did not wish to speak.
• 24 letters of support read into the record.
• 14 comments sent by e-mail to be read into the record.

A total of 18 members of the public spoke during the online meeting. Among the most debated topics at the meeting was traffic and density. Residents from the Pecans subdivision felt that added density would cause traffic problems in the immediate area. The residents in opposition did not believe traffic studies that were conducted by the applicant and the town adequately reflected the current conditions of the area, according to town records.

At the council meeting

Neighbors from 365 unique addresses in the Montelena subdivision --- and against the Via del Jardin roadway going through --- were in support of the project. Those against the project --- from 110 unique addresses in the Pecans subdivision --- live south of Chandler Heights Road, according to a map shown to the council.

Town officials reviewed the developer’s traffic-impact analysis and had one done by a third-party consultant, Public Works Director Troy White said to the council.

“As the developer submitted their traffic-impact study analysis for the configuration of the streets that they have and as we reviewed that, from a transportation perspective we don’t have any concerns with what the developer wants to do based on the TIA that they submitted,” he said. “However, with the opposition that we’ve heard from this about Via Del Jardin going through or not going through, the town decided to do its own analysis on this, hired a third-party consultant that didn’t have any bias on the way the data comes back.”

The study showed a traffic count of 3,894 daily vehicle trips at Via Del Jardin and Ellsworth Road at build-out for the Montelena subdivision if it did not connect; 2,583 at the Ellsworth Ranch subdivision collector street at Ellsworth Road; and 2,930 trips daily on Chandler Heights Road between Ellsworth and Hawes roads from the Montelena and Ellsworth Ranch subdivisions, according to a map shown to the council.

“So these are the numbers you are going to have on these sections of roadway if Via Del Jardin does not connect,” Mr. White said.

If Via Del Jardin connected from Hawes to Ellsworth roads, taking Montelena and Ellsworth Ranch traffic, 3,216 vehicle trips would be expected at Hawes Road, 3,583 at Ellsworth Road and 1,758 on Chandler Heights Road between Ellsworth and Hawes roads from the Montelena and Ellsworth Ranch subdivisions, another map showed.

“With all things weighed, from a transportation perspective we have no concerns with the way that the developer has submitted it and what they submitted for their road network with this subdivision and how it plays to our arterial network,” Mr. White said.

A traffic consultant was also hired by local home owners.

“He’s found some significant --- in a very short period of time, I’ll say --- flaws in the traffic-engineer reports, and those negatively impact residential safety --- first-responders’ travel time to thousands of residents and literally many other factors. Importantly, many of these safety and health-effects impact Montelena directly,” Lonnie Mccleve of the Pecans Homeowners Association said to the council.

A representative from the Montelena Homeowners Association told the council that residents there approve of the Taylor Morrison plan.

“The reasons why we do accept Taylor Morrison’s project plan is they --- when they first came in --- had a plan that we didn’t find suitable. The homes were smaller, the lots were smaller. They worked with us -- they were willing to work with us on that. We met many times and they came back and every time they came back they increased the size of the lots, the homes, the setbacks,” Anthony Del Corsano, president of Montelena HOA, said to the council. “The traffic analysis report supports their project --- (that) the town did. They have beautiful parks, beautiful pool area and a clubhouse and most importantly, their roadways as well as retention areas are well-designed.”

Richard Dyer
Managing Editor | East Valley
@RHDyer

rdyer@iniusa.org

Meet Richard
Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.  

Community: 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. 

Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.

Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.

Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.