Florence planners recommend approval of Monarch preliminary plat for 2,050-home community

The Town of Florence Planning and Zoning Commission on Feb. 6 voted to recommend approval, with conditions, of the preliminary plat for Monarch, a planned unit development at the southeast corner of Arizona Farms Road and Felix Road (PZ-24-32).

The recommendation was made by Commissioner Lehman and seconded by Commissioner Crow; the motion carried with four ayes and one commissioner absent. The applicant is Community Southwest Inc.; the owner is GM Gabrick Family Limited Partnership.

The preliminary plat covers roughly 513 acres and envisions about 2,050 single-family lots across six phases, with about 24.68 acres (24.31% of net acreage) set aside as open space and community amenities that the developer said will include a pool, playgrounds and at least four pickleball courts. The plan also reserves a 15-acre school site, a fire-station site and space for a regional water campus for EPCOR Water Company.

“Put the brakes on, because I think our developers that are coming our way are well aware of our traffic concerns, and they just keep coming and coming,” said Courtney Ramirez during the meeting’s public-comment period, urging caution on further approvals until traffic and safety improvements keep pace with new homes.

Developer representatives said they had addressed multiple technical issues during the staff review. Mike Kern, president of Community Southwest, told the commission the project will include developer-funded infrastructure work. “We have estimated a hundred and $80,000,000 worth of construction infrastructure we’re gonna have in this project,” Kern said, adding the developer will build streets, utilities and required traffic improvements to meet the town code.

Michelle Yerger, vice president and project manager for Community Southwest, said the team coordinated roundabout designs and emergency access with the fire marshal and the fire chief and presented response-time analyses showing compliance with the town’s specified response standard. “We did not reduce the number of roundabouts. We just worked with them to show that there were no negative impacts to response,” Yerger said, and that response times in modeling were “closer to 3 minutes.”

Commissioners and staff focused much of the discussion on traffic and access. The developer’s traffic study identified a level-of-service D condition at the Arizona Farms–Felix intersection during a specific evening peak movement; staff noted that other movements in the study area were operating above D. Commissioners asked when signals or larger improvements would be installed, and staff and the developer said signals or other measures would be implemented when traffic warrants are met or as required by the town’s code and final engineering for each phase.

Commissioners also pressed for clarity on phasing and secondary access. The developer said phase 1 would include two fire-access gates along Felix to provide emergency egress until the full street network is complete; those gates, the developer said, are designed for all-weather, heavy-vehicle access. John Gray of Bowman Consulting, the project civil engineer, confirmed the team would follow up on technical traffic-engineering questions raised by commissioners.

Water supply and utility coordination were discussed at length. The developer has reserved a site for an EPCOR water campus that the utility requested; EPCOR will determine the facility design, including storage and pump equipment. Yerger said the team had reviewed EPCOR’s water-resource studies and that EPCOR is planning effluent recharge and other measures to serve the area.

Commissioners also questioned the 15-acre school-site reservation and its timing. The developer said the dedication and terms are specified in the existing PAD zoning and development agreement and that the five-year reservation period is part of those prior approvals; staff offered to confirm the exact timing in the development agreement and report back.

Landscape and water-conservation concerns drew comments from commissioners. One commissioner urged limiting turf in narrow or sloped common areas to conserve water and keep open spaces “playable and usable.” The developer replied that the project’s landscape architect had designed a mix of green and hardscape areas and that plans will be refined in final engineering; the commission included a condition requiring turf in common areas to be usable and playable.

The commission’s recommendation is advisory; the preliminary-plat approval with conditions will go to the Florence Town Council for final action. Planning staff also noted a joint session on Feb. 10 that will address transportation planning and PUD issues in greater detail.

Votes at a glance

- Preliminary plat for Monarch (PZ-24-32): Motion to recommend approval with conditions carried 4–0 (one commissioner absent). Motion by Commissioner Lehman; second by Commissioner Crow. The recommendation forwards the item to the Town Council for final consideration.