Buckeye staff seek council input on draft Housing Action Plan to guide growth

City of Buckeye staff and their consultants presented a draft Housing Action Plan at the Sept. 16 council workshop and asked the City Council for feedback on the policy directions and implementation priorities that will guide housing decisions as the city continues to grow.

The plan, which staff said is required by the state and was funded with a Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) grant, pairs a quantitative housing needs assessment with a community engagement effort and an implementation roadmap. “We are working on the housing action plan, which is our road map for how Buckeye will be addressing the housing needs now and into the future,” Andrea Marquez, senior finalist development services, told the council.

The draft identifies Buckeye as one of the nation’s fastest-growing communities and notes the city’s current housing stock is dominated by detached single-family homes; staff and consultants said the plan is intended to expand the policy tools the city can use to encourage a broader mix of housing types and support long-term livability. “This is grant funded through MAG,” Lainie Corey, planner with Matrix, said, describing the project’s funding and regional coordination. Council members and staff emphasized the plan is advisory and will not itself change zoning or directly rezone properties; staff said the final plan will return to council for formal adoption.

Key takeaways and discussion points presented to council included:

- Attainability vs. affordability: The consultants distinguished “attainable” housing — which varies by household goals and income — from subsidized “affordable” housing programs, and said the plan is aimed at policy options to increase attainable housing choices without mandating neighborhood changes.

- Senior housing gap: Consultants said Buckeye’s population is trending younger overall but that there is a continuing need to serve an aging cohort that wishes to remain in Buckeye. The presentation said senior housing is split between publicly funded and private options and that the city lacks a middle tier for residents who do not qualify for subsidies but cannot afford high-cost private care.

- Community engagement: Staff described an outreach program that included more than 600 survey responses, two community meetings (May 12 at City Hall East at The Landing and May 28 at the Senior Center), and stakeholder outreach. Staff said a meeting summary and a full appendix of survey results will be published with the plan so residents can review the responses.

- Identified shortfall and projections: Staff reported that the housing needs assessment identified a current shortage of units and projected that shortfall will grow as Buckeye expands; staff said the assessment quantified gaps for specific income groups and that those details will be available in the report appendices.

- Policy toolbox and implementation: The draft contains a range of potential actions, including density bonuses within planned area developments and community master plans, standardized accessory dwelling unit (ADU) plans, consideration of down-payment assistance, development incentives such as expedited review or fee waivers, and partnerships with nonprofit funders. Staff framed the plan as a “toolbox” from which council can select priorities.

Council members asked for more of the underlying demographic and market data used to shape the recommendations and pressed staff to clarify how the plan’s recommendations map to identified gaps. Councilman Goode asked specifically for data-driven “ahas” from the quantitative analysis; staff and Matrix said the housing needs assessment (phase 1) contains the data and that the team can highlight the most relevant metrics and post the assessment materials online. Councilman Haynes questioned the role of the city versus the private market in shaping housing types; Matrix and staff responded that state law requires the city to understand housing challenges and that the plan is intended to expand the city’s ability to attract funding and partnerships rather than requiring staff to build housing directly.

Staff outlined the next steps: collect remaining comments, present the draft to the Planning and Zoning Commission, incorporate stakeholder feedback (including from Buckeye Main Street Coalition), and return to council with a final draft for adoption. Andrea Marquez told council staff will continue to revise the consultant draft and bring the final document back to council when ready.

The presentation included examples of actions Buckeye has taken previously — reduced downtown fees, development-code updates and exploration of Community Development Block Grant entitlement — and urged the council to identify which implementation priorities it wishes to advance so staff can focus resources and pursue funding partnerships.

A number of council members asked staff to emphasize clarity in the plan’s recommended priorities, to show how each recommendation addresses a specific gap identified by the needs assessment, and to include practical, fundable implementation steps rather than only aspirational language. Staff agreed to refine the implementation schedule and to provide the full underlying data and appendices to the public.

The council did not take formal action on the plan at the workshop; staff said they will return with a final draft for formal adoption after additional public and commission review.