The Peoria Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of initial zoning for approximately 173 acres of Arizona State Land Department property identified as Parcel C, to enable impending annexation and subsequent master-planning work.

Staff presented the city-initiated rezoning request as a statutorily required step that assigns Peoria's equivalent zoning to land being considered for annexation. The parcel is proposed to receive Peoria Suburban Ranch 43 zoning, which staff described as functionally equivalent to Maricopa County's current RU‑43 designation.

Laurie Deaver, planning staff, said Parcel C is one of several strategic state-land parcels the city has targeted for annexation to preserve river and wash corridors and expand trails and recreation along the Agua Fria River corridor. Parcel C was described as an "unintentional remnant" of earlier annexations and is located near the Loop 303 and the Hundredth Avenue alignment. Deaver said the city submitted selection requests to the State Land Department in 2017 and received state selection board approval to proceed in 2019.

Deaver outlined that annexation of state land follows a different process than private annexation, including review and approval by the State Selection Board and additional state requirements. She said state law requires initial zoning be assigned within six months after annexation and that the city cannot assign zoning that exceeds the intensity/density of the county designation. "State law says day in and day out, you got to pick and allow, densities and uses that are no more intense than what the county has," she told commissioners.

Staff said the request is being processed now so the parcel can be incorporated into Peoria's broader Peoria Innovation Corps master-planning effort, a 6,700-acre planning area that staff said will require stakeholder engagement and community touchpoints as detailed plans are developed. Deaver described the goal as creating a flexible zoning approach and establishing specialized development standards as the master plan is prepared.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about the process and noted there was no neighborhood meeting required for initial zoning of state land. No public comments were submitted at the hearing. Commissioner Aguirre moved to recommend approval of initial zoning case Z 205-11; Commissioner Emilio Gaynor seconded, and the motion passed.

Staff said the annexation request will proceed to City Council (with a no-action hearing already held in June and a decision hearing scheduled for Aug. 5). If annexation is approved by council, the parcel will be formally incorporated into the city's master-planning area and subject to subsequent rezoning/review as part of the planned community district process.