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Flagstaff staff: city and region have buildable land but many parcels need infrastructure and rezoning
Summary
City staff told a public workshop that the land-availability and suitability study identified thousands of acres that could yield housing, but most opportunity parcels are undeveloped, will require new utilities or rezonings and face environmental or cost constraints.
City of Flagstaff staff presented the findings of a multi‑year land‑availability and suitability study and told residents the region has buildable acreage but that most of it is not ‘shovel‑ready.’ Michelle McNulty, the city’s planning director and interim community development director, said the study examined vacant and underutilized parcels across the metropolitan planning area to identify 50 “opportunity sites” and to test infrastructure, environmental and zoning constraints.
The study found roughly 10,500 acres in the study area that were potentially billable for development; about 8,100 acres are inside land‑use categories that allow residential development. McNulty said much of that acreage is zoned at low densities (one unit per acre in the rural and estate residential zones) or will require subdivision, utility extensions, flood/drainage mitigation, or rezonings to yield higher densities.
City staff and the consulting team described the most common constraints: steep slopes, 100‑year floodplain or Rio de Flag drainage corridors, railroad noise for some downtown parcels, aging or missing water and sewer pipes, and tree/resource‑protection overlays that could limit buildable footprints. Staff noted those constraints are not absolute barriers but raise costs and can limit the number of units a parcel can deliver without public investment or code changes.
Sarah Darr, the city’s housing director, said several city‑owned parcels are under active review and the housing office will be bringing recommendations to city council this fall about how to use selected city lands for housing. She also said many state trust lands adjacent to the city have recently moved into private ownership and are now “in play,” which increases the chance of near‑term development decisions.
Why it matters: the land study was prepared to answer a basic question—does Flagstaff have enough land to meet the city’s housing and climate goals—and to identify where code or infrastructure changes would unlock housing. Staff said the inventory shows capacity if the city and its partners address infrastructure and zoning barriers, but the timing matters: parcels that are rezoned or sold can be built under current rules before code changes take effect.
What to watch next: staff said the city will use the study to prioritize parcels for public investment, to refine corridor and infill opportunities, and to inform the “code concepts” the city is testing with stakeholders. Several developers and landowners who attended the workshop asked staff about targeted rezonings and about municipal participation in infrastructure costs.
Ending: staff emphasized that the study is a snapshot in time and that parcels and ownership are changing; they asked the community to continue the dialogue as the city moves from study to proposed code changes and infrastructure planning.
