MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. — Maricopa County's leaders have delayed approving requests from developers to build a large residential project in the West Valley after several nearby residents objected to the development potentially urbanizing their small, rural community.
Earlier this month, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors voted to remand a land-use redesignation case for the Santa Barbara Ranch project back to the county's Planning and Zoning Commission for further review.
Santa Barbara Ranch encompasses 1,000 acres near Morristown that could potentially be redeveloped into a new housing community with up to 5,000 homes.
The developers say more homes will be needed in this region to accommodate an influx of new residents projected to come to the Valley in the near future. BNSF Railway has recently announced plans to buy land near the Santa Barbara site to build a new industrial facility, potentially generating a flood of new jobs.
But residents in the surrounding area have misgivings about how Santa Barbara could affect their natural resources.
"To rezone this area is so wrong for so many reasons that it must not be allowed to take place," one Morristown resident told the county. "The sewage and water problem alone for permitting such a high-density population would contaminate our wells as well as lower the water table."
Dozens of letters and petitions were submitted to the county, urging elected officials to not approve a project with so many lots for housing. Some residents were worried about how desert vegetation and Arizona's drought conditions will be affected by Santa Barbara's development.
"It has really no redeeming value," Sheryl Hamlin, another resident, told the Board of Supervisors during their meeting on May 18.
Bill Lally, an attorney representing the project's developers, said the redesignation request is only the first step in a lengthy process that will involve addressing concerns about natural resources.
"Water is a big issue," Lally said. "We cannot go through the process without evaluating what our needs are, what the city of Surprise can provide for us, and how that impacts everybody else in the area."
Surprise has already agreed to work with developers to potentially help provide infrastructure and resources to Santa Barbara, records show.
Last November, the county's Planning and Zoning Commission recommended a denial of the developers' application. The county's staff initially had reservations about the project before developers made some adjustments to their proposal.
Santa Barbara's developers agreed to set aside a certain amount of their acreage for recreational and commercial uses.
But rather than approve the developers' application, the Board of Supervisors opted to send the case back to the planning commission for another review.
"The West Valley, including this area, is growing -- smart planning needs to happen," said Supervisor Clint Hickman.
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