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Supervisors approve Hayyampa Ranch industrial rezoning after residents warn of water, habitat impacts
Summary
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an I2 IUPD rezoning for the 1,687-acre Hayyampa Ranch on April 8, 2026, after the applicant described buffer zones and a solar-exclusion area and neighbors warned of long-term water, wildlife and heat-island harms.
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously April 8 to approve a rezoning request that would allow industrial uses on a 1,687-acre site in the Tonapa Arlington area.
Wendy Redal, an attorney representing Arizona Land Consulting, told the board the proposal conforms with the county’s comprehensive plan and with an earlier decision to designate the site for industrial uses. Redal said the team negotiated multiple protections with nearby residents, including primary access limited to 339th Avenue, two buffer zones (she described a 22-acre buffer with no structures, parking or storage), enhanced building design standards and a solar- exclusion band that prohibits solar installations within 500 feet of adjacent homes. Wind generation is also prohibited across the project site, she said.
“Those were hard-fought commitments and we were grateful to have letters of support from the most impacted neighbors,” Redal said in presenting the request.
Residents who testified opposed the rezoning. Shereice Campbell, who said she owns several parcels near the site, urged the supervisors to weigh the region’s water constraints and ecological sensitivity. Campbell cited peer-reviewed warnings about long-term drought and argued that large industrial projects, including data centers, could severely increase water and electrical demand and worsen local heat effects.
“Arizona is already in a 32-year drought,” Campbell said. “The proposed project would drive habitat loss and fragmentation for species protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.”
County staff told the board the rezoning aligns with prior comprehensive-plan approvals. Tom Ellsworth, director of planning and development, said the application and the conditions approved by the planning commission were designed to allow lower-intensity industrial employment uses while preserving desert landscaping and limiting incompatible activities near homes.
Ellsworth also said that environmental and utility reviews are part of later permitting stages. “We know that we have to work with Arizona Department of Water Resources,” he told the board, adding that preliminary conversations have already taken place and that any necessary environmental studies will be completed in subsequent permitting.
After discussion the board voted to approve the item “in accordance with the commission recommendations as printed in the agenda.” The roll call recorded unanimous support.
What happens next: acreage and design details approved in the rezoning establish allowable land uses; future site-level permits and utility reviews will examine water, wastewater, grading and other technical thresholds before construction can proceed.
