Navajo County commission approves Starlight Ridge Estates master development plan amendment

The Navajo County Planning Commission voted to approve a master development plan amendment for Starlight Ridge Estates Unit 3, a proposed roughly 53‑acre subdivision that would change an approved plan for about 80 single‑family homes into 49 single‑family lots and 74 townhome units, county planning staff said at the meeting (date not specified).

The commission’s review focused on two items requested by the Board of Supervisors: confirmation of water/sewer “will‑serve” commitments and a revised traffic study for Wagon Wheel Lane. Cody Cooper, planning staff, told commissioners that applicants supplied will‑serve letters and an updated traffic study that Public Works and county engineering have reviewed and accepted.

“The traffic study has been fully reviewed by Public Works, vetted through iterations, and they have accepted the findings of these,” Cody Cooper, planning staff for Navajo County, said. Cooper said the engineering review identified improvements that would be required as development thresholds are met, including adding a dedicated left‑turn lane and additional right‑turn/through lane capacity where warranted.

Cooper said the project site sits just south of Starlight Ridge and about 1.5 miles from State Route 260, off Wagon Wheel Lane, and that the amendment shows single‑family lots to the north and townhomes to the south. He said the single‑family lot widths vary; “approximately a quarter acre on the small ones, and, around an acre on the larger”—and that typical single‑family setbacks would be 10 feet on the sides, 20 feet in front and 15 feet in the rear. Cooper said preliminary flood studies have been prepared and must be finalized with later platting.

Commissioners pressed staff on emergency egress, wildfire risk and insurance implications. “I just don't have a good feeling about how that's gonna look with an evacuation notice going out on all of those people with limited roadways to get out of there,” said Commissioner (unnamed), who asked that the traffic analysis and fire approvals account for peak evacuation scenarios and not only everyday traffic patterns.

Cooper replied that traffic studies measure expected daily trips and current road conditions and that separate fire approvals are required before any ground‑disturbing work: “There is a will‑serve from fire for this…full fire approval is required before any shovel breaks ground, as far as egress, hydrant location, turn radii,” he said. Cooper added that pre‑development meetings will re‑invite all affected parties, including emergency services, Pinetop Lakeside Sanitary District for sewer and the water provider (referred to in the record as Sholoh), to confirm infrastructure plans.

Cooper also explained the sequence of previous reviews: the commission recommended approval when the item first came before it in July; the Board of Supervisors tabled the item in August at the request of Vice Chair Weitzinger so staff could clarify will‑serve letters and the traffic analysis and then returned it to the commission for reconsideration. Cooper said staff finds the amendment compliant with the county comprehensive plan and recommends approval with a standard condition that access improvements be required at the developer’s expense and implemented according to an accepted final traffic impact analysis.

A motion to approve MDP‑A‑24‑001 (Starlight Ridge Estates Unit 3, District 5), with county‑imposed conditions, was made and seconded and carried. The commission approved the master development plan amendment; if the amendment proceeds, a tentative plat must return to the Planning Commission for approval and a final plat would go to the Board of Supervisors.

The record shows 13 original public comments submitted when the project was first circulated; Cooper said most addressed drainage/flood issues and traffic, and that no new public comments were received after the resubmittal. Commissioners were told that the development shares a western boundary with the Fort Apache Indian Reservation and that tribal outreach was conducted but no comments were received.

The commission also approved the minutes of the commission hearing of Dec. 19, 2024 earlier in the meeting.

Next steps: if the Board of Supervisors takes up the amendment and approves it, the applicant must obtain finalized flood and traffic approvals, secure full fire department approvals and submit a tentative plat for subsequent commission review.