Council approves development agreement requiring off-site roads and multiple wastewater options for Surprise 295 project

The Surprise City Council on June 3 unanimously approved Resolution 2025-62, adopting a development agreement for the Surprise 295 project that lays out the developer's obligations for water, wastewater and off-site road improvements.

The agreement requires the developer to provide one of several wastewater and water options — including dedicating a well and transmission lines to connect to the Surprise Foothills supply, establishing an emergency interconnect with Buckeye, or acquiring capacity in or participating in expansion of the SPA 2 / SPA 3 wastewater treatment facilities — and to construct a roadway tie-in from the project parcel to Sun Valley Parkway plus a secondary point of access before the first home can be sold or occupied.

Lloyd, planning staff, explained the options in the agreement and said the city may assist with acquiring any needed rights-of-way but that improvements would be paid for by the developer. "So again, development paying for itself," Lloyd said during his presentation to the council.

Councilman Haney said he appreciated having the obligations documented and asked a clarifying question about timing. "We're just looking at, basically, what is the developer responsible for if this zoning case proceeds. Is that correct?" Haney asked. Lloyd confirmed that the primary access (referred to in the agreement as "250") must be installed immediately and that the selected secondary access must be in place before allowing an individual to take ownership of a home on the site.

The agreement describes three secondary-access options: a local-street connection routing through Buckeye to Beardsley Road; a connection using Beardsley Road across to local streets into Buckeye; or a route using Deer Valley Road to tie into future development at Surprise Foothills (the presentation noted that the latter is the most likely option). The agreement also sets out wastewater choices that include dedicating a well and transmission lines to connect to Surprise Foothills, establishing an emergency interconnect with Buckeye, or securing capacity at the SPA 2 / SPA 3 wastewater plants or participating in their expansion.

Mayor Sarter opened the floor for a motion. The council moved, seconded and voted to approve Resolution 2025-62; the clerk recorded the vote as a unanimous pass.

The development agreement will be part of the public record associated with the project's rezoning and forthcoming agenda items; Lloyd said additional development agreements will appear on upcoming agendas so council can review obligations before rezoning requests are considered.

Council discussion focused on transparency and documenting that developers pay for required infrastructure; no amendments to the agreement were reported during the meeting.