400-Unit Apartment Development Planned in Mesa

By Roland Murphy for AZBEX

Toll Brothers Apartment Living is requesting a site plan approval and special use permit from the City of Mesa to develop Navona – a 400-unit apartment development on 20.24 acres at the SEC of the Williams Field Road and Crismon Road alignments.

The proposal was presented with a staff recommendation for approval to the Mesa Planning and Zoning Board on June 22nd.

The site lies within Phase I of the Avalon Crossing master-planned community and is zoned Planned Community under the Avalon Crossing Community Plan. Single-family developments are planned to the north and east, and improvements to SR 24, Williams Field Road and Regional Drainage Channel are currently in process.

Navona Apartment Homes – also referred to as Avalon in the project submittals – will be a 12-building market-rate multifamily development consisting of 200 one-bedroom, 168 two-bedroom and 32 three-bedroom units, per the project narrative submitted in March. The 12 residential buildings will range from two to three stories.

Planned amenities include a clubhouse/lounge/fitness center, a putting green, pickleball courts, dog parks, and outdoor ramadas and barbeque spaces. The plan includes “a significant amount of active and passive open space, including multi-purpose lawn and courtyard areas within the community as well as open space areas and trails along the community’s perimeter.”

Because the development is 50% one-bedroom units, the developer has requested a parking reduction. City code requires 840 parking spaces, and the request seeks an adjustment to 811. In justifying the request, the submittal notes the Mesa Zoning Ordinance requires 2.1 spaces/unit regardless of unit size. The request claims the requirement would be appropriate if unit sizes were balanced across the development plan, but when the plan consists of a disproportionate volume of smaller units, resulting developments end up with significantly more spaces than are needed.

In discussing the parking reduction, the staff report provides a slightly different unit count than the original narrative. Staff notes 207 one-bedroom, 147 two-bedroom and 45 three-bedroom units, for a total of 399.

Notices were sent to surrounding residents, and hearing notices were posted on the site. As of the June 7th Citizen Participation Report filing, no comments or questions had been submitted.