A vast stretch of state trust land east of San Tan Valley is now zoned for industry, setting it up to be sold at auction, after the Pinal County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to rezone it at a special session on Oct. 1.
The 4,695-acre site sits north of Skyline Drive Road along Highway 79, which cuts through it, according to an Arizona Builder's Exchange report on the application.
The Arizona State Land Department, which owns the land, asked the county to change it from general rural zoning to heavy industrial (I-3) with a planned area development overlay, and to give it a Special District designation in the county's comprehensive plan.
That designation can be used only on state trust land. It is a tool for lining up zoning approvals on that land ahead of an auction, the Phoenix Business Journal reported in a story KTAR News republished Friday.
What could and could not go there
No future user has been identified. The new zoning rules out utility-scale solar farms and data centers built as standalone projects, according to the Business Journal. The land department's application also struck several uses that heavy industrial zoning would normally allow, among them adult businesses, impound and tow yards, junkyards, landfills, waste transfer stations and prisons, the Builder's Exchange reported.
The county's Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval in September on a 7-2 vote. Neither the county nor the land department commented in time for the Business Journal's story.
The case the state made
In its application, the land department described the tract as vacant land that has only been used for state grazing leases, made up of 11 contiguous parcels from 32 to 650 acres. The Magma Arizona Railroad line runs along its western edge, and the department argued that rail and highway access make it suited to an employment-focused industrial campus.
