Prescott Lakes master plan debate centers on water cap, density transfers and who approves projects

City of Prescott staff and council held an extended discussion on March 11, 2025, about the Prescott Lakes planned-area development (PAD), the 2004 amended and restated development agreement and how the document ties water allocation to dwelling-unit density. The session focused on legal definitions in the development agreement, the city’s committed water, and whether future housing proposals require council review.

City attorney Joe Young opened the discussion by summarizing the contract terms. He said the development agreement defines “approved density” at 3,504 dwelling units and records the city’s committed water at 2,718 units. Young noted that, because portions of required final plats were not recorded on schedule, the agreement reduced the maximum permitted density to 3,154 units under the contract’s terms.

“By definition in the agreement, approved density is 3,504,” Young said while explaining how a failure to convert preliminary-plat units led to a 350‑unit reduction in approved density.

Public works director Gwen Rohich explained how the city tracks the water tied to dwelling units. She said the 2,718 figure was assembled from the preliminary plats submitted to the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) and that the city’s internal tracking treats water as attached to dwelling units; nonresidential uses in Prescott Lakes were…