Council approves Maricopa Town Center PAD and minor general plan amendment for 184‑acre site

The Maricopa City Council on June 17 unanimously approved Resolution 25‑22 and Ordinance 25‑08 to change the future land‑use designation and rezone about 184 acres near West Farrell Road and North John Wayne Parkway to a new Maricopa Town Center planned area development.

The measure, filed as planning cases GPA 23‑05 and PAD 23‑04, rewrites the site’s future land use to “mixed use” and replaces the existing Aveleya PAD overlay with a flexible Maricopa Town Center PAD that allows a mixture of nonresidential and residential products, city planning staff said. “The applicant is proposing to change this designation to a mixed use for the entire 184 acres,” Derek Shear, planning division, Development Services Department, told the council.

The PAD establishes an overall cap of 2,113 residential units across the 184‑acre site (a city staff figure), with a maximum average density of about 11.4 units per acre across the entire area while permitting developers flexibility on where and what types of housing are built within the PAD. The PAD book included illustrative product designs and allowed lot sizes down to about 2,500 square feet, supporting configurations such as townhouses, condominiums and zero‑lot‑line layouts.

John Gillespie of the Rose Law Group, representing the applicant and the project’s development partner, told the council the team has been working with city staff for years to set design guidelines and development standards and that national retail and mixed‑use developer Vestar is tied to the project. “Vestar is recognized as one of the preeminent commercial developers here in the Western United States,” Gillespie said, urging the council that the PAD provides a framework for retail, office and a range of housing types.

Members of the public asked questions during the public hearing about zero‑lot‑line homes and setbacks. William (Bill) Haskell, who spoke from the public, said he preferred seeing setback layouts before a zoning approval and raised concerns about fire access and maintenance when buildings abut lot lines. Shear and staff described subsequent permitting steps: site layouts, preliminary plats and final plats will be reviewed later and that easements commonly address access and maintenance where zero‑lot lines are used. “We will review them through a preliminary plat and a final plat,” Shear said.

The planning and zoning commission recommended approval at its May 12 meeting, and city staff said the applicant conducted neighborhood outreach that included mailed notices, posted signs and an April 10 neighborhood meeting at Copper Sky. The council took separate motions to approve the resolution (GPA 23‑05) and the ordinance (PAD 23‑04); Councilmember Manfredi moved the general plan amendment and Councilmember Marsh seconded; the ordinance was moved and seconded separately and both measures passed with unanimous council approval.

Next steps for the applicant and the development team are submission of specific plats, design review and building permits under the new PAD standards. Staff told the council the PAD is designed to allow the mix of housing and commercial uses to respond to market conditions while staying within the overall unit cap and design controls approved by the council.