The Apache Junction Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-0 June 24 to recommend that the City Council approve a rezoning by planned development and a major general-plan amendment for roughly 36.6 acres at the northwest corner of Auto Center Drive and Cactus Road.

Nick Leftwich, senior planner for the City of Apache Junction, described the application as a two-part request from Sun Construction to change the site’s general-plan land use designation and rezone it so the company can build a light-manufacturing building and an administrative and training facility to support its construction work. Leftwich said the applicant expects the project to employ about “a 100 people.”

The change would reclassify land currently zoned RS-GR (general rural, low-density single-family) and designated commercial on the 2010 general plan land-use map to a light-industrial/business-park and industrial designation required by the proposed B4/B5 industrial zoning. Leftwich said the property—surrounded by industrial uses to the west and south and commercial parcels to the east—is a long-held parcel that Horn Auto Company has not previously developed and is being sold to Sun Construction as part of the proposal.

Lisa Gage of Ray Law Firm, representing the applicant, reiterated the proposal’s scope and noted that the first of two required public hearings was held June 10. Leftwich said the applicant met enlarged public-notification requirements for an industrial rezoning, held a neighborhood meeting March 19 at Apache Junction High School, and that the one neighbor who attended expressed support. Steven Harshman, a nearby resident who gave public comment, also told commissioners he supported the project, calling it “much needed entry-level jobs for our young folks.”

Leftwich recommended approval, saying the amendment supports the city’s stated goal of increasing employment uses along the U.S. 60 corridor and that the site sits adjacent to the Baseline Industrial Park. After findings of fact and discussion, the commission voted to recommend approval of rezoning case P-25-11-PZ and the major general-plan amendment P-25-10-GPA; both matters will go to city council on July 15 for final action.

The commission’s approval is a recommendation to the City Council; no final permit or building approvals are granted by the commission. Staff noted conditions of approval will be recorded in the staff report dated June 10, 2025 and any development will be subject to those conditions and required permitting.