By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
In its July 16 meeting, the Eloy Planning and Zoning Commission heard requests from project owner Eloy 170, LLC for rezoning and General Plan amendments for a pair of sites at Milligan Road and Sunshine Blvd. that will be developed as Eloy Commons.
Eloy Commons North
The first property, referred to as Eloy Commons North, is currently 33.86 acres of Community Commercial-designated land. The minor GPA would change its land use to 21.54 acres of Light Industrial and 12.32 acres of Medium Density Residential.
According to the submitted project documents, “Most of the property is vacant/agricultural land, with a small portion on the east side being in an alluvial plain. It is flat, undeveloped, and unimproved. This property has about half a mile of frontage along the Interstate 10 Highway, just north of the Sunshine Blvd. on and off ramps. The western side of the property is adjacent to undeveloped vacant land with Light Industrial zoning. On the eastern side, across Sunshine Blvd., there is Flying J truck stop and Gas Station with a convenience store.”
The rezoning request would establish a planned area development overlay to allow for the two planned uses. The current zoning is General Commercial. According to the updated zoning map attached to the rezoning narrative, the planned Light Industrial use would comprise 64% of the site, with Small Lot Residential making up the remaining 36%. Residential density would be set at six-to-12 units/acre.
The stated intent for Eloy Commons North is the establishment of “a mixed-use community that caters to the commercial traffic exiting off Interstate 10 and integrate already existing uses, including a truck wash, and a potential gas station. This area has become an attractive development area for national and international companies selecting sites along the Interstate 10 corridor between Phoenix and Tucson.”
The development is planned to attract commercial and industrial uses, as well as associated retail, as Eloy continues to expand. The residential component will allow accommodation for the workforce to serve the industrial and commercial portions.
The potential residential uses could be single-family, townhomes or apartments, the narrative says. The specifics will be determined during the design review process. Access will be via a gated entrance off Milligan Road, as well as through a second point for emergency vehicles only.
The two portions will have a total of 5.05 acres of open space, which would comply with the City requirement of 15% of the total area. The small-lot residential portion will have open turf for play, “tot-lots” and two small parks.
Eloy Commons South
The second set of rezoning and minor General Plan amendment requests dealt with Eloy Commons South, a 111.1-acre site immediately south of the other component.
The minor GPA will change the site’s current Light Industrial designation to 15.6 acres of Community Commercial and 95.5 acres of Medium High Density Residential with slightly fewer than 18 acres of open space.
The accompanying rezoning request will rezone 37.19 acres of Light Industrial, 12.71 acres of Neighborhood Commercial and 61.2 acres of General Commercial to 15.6 acres of General Commercial and 95.5 acres of Single-Family Residential with a planned area development overlay.
The 95.5 acres of planned single-family development make up 86% of the total site. Specifics of the development process for the single-family component will be determined during the design review process, according to the rezoning narrative.
“Access to this site will be provided via existing road access along Milligan Road and Sunshine Blvd.,” the narrative stated. “Pedestrian access will be provided at all access points to the site.”
The amenities plan is the same for both residential components.
The agenda names the owner as Eloy 170, LLC. The project applicant is LBG Development, LLC, and the project materials were prepared by XCL Engineering, LLC. The traffic impact analysis was prepared by Greenlight Traffic Engineering.
The Eloy Planning and Zoning Commission heard the requests in its July 16 meeting. As of the morning of July 31, results were not yet posted to the City of Eloy website. Voice messages for the Community Development and City Planner’s representative were not returned by press time.
