Working group discusses mixed-use possibility for Mercado del Rio site off Oracle Road

Oro Valley planning staff asked the working group to consider recommending a "master planned community" or mixed-use designation for the Mercado del Rio site off Pushview Lane near Oracle Road, where several auto-oriented businesses and vacant parcels sit.

Staff said the site has commercial parcels, built car-service businesses, a doctor's office and a trailhead adjacent to the CDO wash. The proposed master-planned-community (MPC) designation would permit a mix of office, commercial and residential uses and would trigger a special-area policy and additional community engagement if pursued. Melanie, a planning staff member, described the MPC as a tool to signal what the community wants in the location while noting it "doesn't give any specific rights of uses. It just gives here's what the community wants to see in this area."

Multiple speakers raised practical concerns. One participant noted that multiple private owners control parcels in the site and that existing business owners might not agree to a land-use change. Residents raised traffic and visibility constraints, and one said the intersection already operates at a high level of congestion. Hal, a resident who summarized input from the group, said: "I think people are sort of open to making a change here, but my personal concern is that you've got some existing development in there where the property owners may not agree to this change." He recommended staff reach out to property owners before formalizing any map change.

Several working-group members favored pursuing a mixed-use designation in principle because adjacent land uses include apartments, office complexes and town-owned property, giving it potential compatibility for low-rise residential or mixed-use infill. Staff said the next step would be targeted outreach to both vacant parcel owners and business owners to assess interest; no formal map change or rezoning was recorded at the meeting.

Questions also touched on local code tools such as the town's 1% public-art requirement and a previously approved food-truck court code amendment; staff said applicability of those tools would depend on the nature and scale of any future development.