Board approves Goldhawk rezoning despite tribal and neighbor objections

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a major comprehensive-plan amendment and a rezoning for a development called Goldhawk at the Preserve, allowing up to 696 dwelling units on roughly 1,900 acres and imposing extensive conditions aimed at limiting impacts and protecting cultural resources.

Planning staff told supervisors the requests were a combination of a major general-plan amendment and a rezone. Tom Ellsworth, director of planning and development, said the comprehensive-plan change would modify the Goldfield Area Plan for about 1,728 acres and the rezoning applies to about 1,940 acres. He said the new request caps the project at 696 dwelling units, down from earlier entitlements that could have allowed as many as roughly 996 units. "This new request is a maximum of 696 dwelling units on the site," Ellsworth said.

Supporters and opponents said the vote matters because the site lies near tribal lands and the Verde River watershed and has a long entitlement history dating to the 1990s. Opponents — including attorneys and representatives of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation and the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community — objected to water availability, the plan to use hundreds of on‑lot septic systems, wildfire protection and the risk of sedimentation affecting downstream resources. Larry Lazarus, representing the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, told the board "we cannot support the application as it's being presented today," citing water and septic contamination risks and asking for a dedicated replacement/inspection fund for septic systems.

The applicant, represented by attorney Wendy Bridal of the Barry Riddell law firm, said the proposal is a downzoning compared with entitlements from the 2000s and emphasized negotiated commitments. Bridal said the project will preserve about 70% of the land as natural desert open space, limit turf and average building envelopes of about 25,000 square feet. She described an assured‑water‑supply analysis for 731 acre‑feet, and outlined a homeowners‑association (HOA) structure she said would inspect and maintain septic systems with required inspections for the first 20 years and regular maintenance afterward. "I am essentially bringing you the most controversial downzoning that you're probably going to hear this year," Bridal said.

County staff noted the rezone includes a Rural‑43 RUPD (Reduced Urban Planned Development) designation but that the conditions require that any pre‑plat lot splits be built to Rural‑190 standards; the RUPD density limit will be enforceable through platting and conditions. Ellsworth told the board that a certificate of 100‑year water supply from the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) will be required at platting and that final plat approvals — which include traffic, drainage and water reviews — must be met before building begins.

Supervisors and technical speakers pressed applicants and staff on specific mitigations. The developer agreed to a condition that if previously undocumented archaeological or funerary items are discovered during construction, work within 100 feet must stop and the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation and the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community must be notified and given an opportunity to consult; that revised condition was read into the record by planning staff. Traffic and emergency‑access concerns prompted commitments to meet with Goldfield Ranch Fire District and to provide sufficient fire flow and storage; the applicant committed to sprinklering homes and installing hydrants near the entrance.

Opponents urged stronger protections. The Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation asked the board to require a centralized wastewater treatment plant rather than up to 700 septic systems; its counsel requested a $2.27 million inspection/replacement fund for septic systems if the board approved the zoning. Several nearby homeowners warned that HOAs historically can underfund infrastructure and said transferring lifelong septic‑system responsibility to an HOA could leave long‑term risks.

After public comment and questions, the board considered revised conditions provided in a staff memo and moved to approve both the comprehensive‑plan amendment and the rezoning with the updated conditions. The board chair and multiple supervisors said the decision reflected a legal choice to reduce likely density and to place enforceable conditions rather than leave the land open to uncontrolled split‑lot development under older entitlements.

The vote carried unanimously. The approvals include numerous conditions of approval (A through X in staff’s revised memo), requirements for final platting and ADWR certification of water supply, archaeological protections, septic‑system oversight by an HOA with inspection schedules and record‑sharing with the tribes, and a stipulation that any lot splits outside the approved plat must meet Rural‑190 standards.

Why it matters: The decision resolves a long, contentious entitlement process that neighbors and tribal nations said could affect groundwater, cultural sites and wildfire risk. Approving the rezone with detailed conditions has been presented by proponents as a legal path to lower density and greater protections than what opponents feared would occur under older entitlements.