Buckeye’s Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to consider a staff-recommended rezoning Tuesday for approximately 138 acres south of the southwest corner of Baseline and Turner roads.
The application, called Merit Buckeye Cotton Gin, would change the property from Rural Residential to Light Industrial. City staff says the zoning could support manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, research and development, storage and other employment uses near State Route 85 and the Union Pacific Railroad corridor.
The Nov. 10 hearing is one step in the city’s review. The commission can make a recommendation to the mayor and City Council, but it cannot give final approval. Buckeye’s staff report anticipates a council hearing Dec. 15.
No tenant, building plan, investment amount, job count or construction schedule has been submitted. The case would establish an industrial zoning framework, not authorize a particular warehouse or confirm that construction is beginning.
What the rezoning would change
Merit Partners Inc. and Withey Morris Baugh filed the application on behalf of property owner Wade Accomazzo. The site consists of three parcels that were annexed into Buckeye in 2008 and retained rural-residential zoning.
Buckeye’s current General Plan designates the land for employment uses. The staff report says surrounding properties also carry the Employment designation, while much of the nearby zoning is General Commerce. Existing industrial development lies east of Turner Road.
Part of the site falls within an Employment Transition Area because it is near land planned for neighborhoods. That designation would require additional review of setbacks, landscaping, screening and building design during a later site-plan process.
If the council ultimately approves the rezoning, the applicant would still need to consolidate the parcels through a minor subdivision and obtain site-plan approval before development could proceed.
Traffic and infrastructure conditions
The recommended conditions would require a traffic impact analysis before approval of a site plan or preliminary plat. The property owner or developer would also pay a proportional share toward as many as nine future traffic signals in the surrounding section.
Signals needed specifically for the project would have to be built before a certificate of occupancy. The conditions also call for access-control medians where required and telecommunications conduit along Turner Road.
City staff says the property is within Buckeye’s water and sewer service areas and would receive city police and fire service. Those statements identify the responsible service providers; they do not confirm final utility capacity for a specific development plan.
Hearing and next decision
The Planning and Zoning Commission meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, at Buckeye City Hall, 530 E. Monroe Ave. The city’s official agenda packet lists the case as PLZZ-26-0019 and recommends approval subject to 10 conditions.
The applicant held a neighborhood meeting Sept. 29. According to the staff report, two residents attended and asked about timing, potential users, infrastructure and surrounding development. Staff reported no opposition at that meeting and no other written or verbal feedback as of the report’s preparation on Nov. 5.
A favorable commission vote would send the case forward with a recommendation. The City Council could approve, modify or reject the rezoning at a later public hearing.
Track this project and other major Buckeye land-use decisions in the West Valley Post Buckeye Development Tracker.
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