By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
Developers Saunders & Amos LLC and current property owners Russell and Michael True have proposed a new master-planned development featuring Build-to-Rent multifamily, resort rental casitas, a Western heritage center, single-family equestrian-centered homes, and a commercial area to be built in Marana.
The proposal would require three concurrent actions from the Town to proceed: Annexation of the 218-acre site, a minor general plan amendment to Master Plan Area, and rezoning to the Specific Plan Zone. The White Stallion Specific Plan would take 218 acres from the True’s White Stallion Ranch – a resort guest ranch (also known as a “dude ranch”) on West Twin Peaks Road in unincorporated Pima County.
The ranch has been in operation in various forms since the early 1900s and has been owned and operated by the True Family since 1965, according to the submittal. White Stallion Ranch will continue operating and will remain in unincorporated Pima County.
The White Stallion Plan
The proposal breaks the site into six land use components:
- Equestrian-oriented single-family residential: 82.23 acres;
- Western Heritage Center: 18.9 acres;
- Commercial: 6.37 acres;
- Multifamily rental and Resort units: 39.47 acres;
- A Conservation subdivision: 14.8 acres, and
- A Wildlife Corridor and open space: 55.06 acres.
The 147-lot single-family development would feature common boarding stables for horses and a riding area, as well as equestrian trails through the interior and connections to the shared facilities and the larger White Stallion Ranch trail network.
The heritage center is planned as an event space that could feature a rodeo arena, a polo facility and a wedding/special event area that would display memorabilia from the ranch and other educational materials about the ranch and ranch life.
The commercial area would provide space for residents to buy goods and services. At full build-out, the commercial space would include a gas station/convenience store, a commercial strip with a drive-thru, and a preschool.
The multifamily portion will be Build-to-Rent casitas designed and built in a “modern ranch farmhouse” style, according to the project description. The unit mix presented in the exhibits shows single-story units with 74 one-bedroom, 93 two-bedroom and 58 three-bedroom units. There are also two-story units planned with 70 three-bedroom and 48 four-bedroom offerings. Twenty casitas to the southwest of the multifamily district will be built for the guest ranch’s exclusive use to provide additional lodging capacity for the resort.
Possible amenities in the multifamily component include a swimming pool and spa, ramada, event lawn, covered amenity area, a 2.5KSF leasing and fitness center, and a dog park that may also be used for drainage.
Saunders & Amos has been making a name for itself in the Greater Tucson area with Build-to-Rent developments created under its Casita Village brand. In addition to the White Stallion proposal, the developer has the 179-unit Casita Village at La Mariposa in design/plan review and the two-phase Casita Village on Catalina development – with 126 units in Phase I under construction and 68 Phase II units in design – in Tucson.
In the northwest portion of the site, the plan calls for a 55-lot “conservation subdivision” using a more compact housing design that “incorporates the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection’s input for promoting wildlife movement, thereby formalizing and protecting the wildlife corridor along the property’s eastern boundary and supporting the adjacent conservation land held by Pima County and the Archaeological Conservancy.”
Town Council Expresses Hesitation
The proposal was presented to the Marana Town Council in a study session Sept. 13. While most on the Council praised various components of the plan to varying degrees, nearly all members expressed reservations about its approval and execution.
Town development services staff and representatives from Saunders & Amos and The Planning Center all presented on the plan, followed by a side presentation on water resource issues and possible solutions from Bill Carroll, president of Engineering and Environmental Consultants, Inc., and took questions and comments from the Mayor and Council.
The general sentiment was: This is an interesting project, but due to timing and resources, it might not be right for Marana.
According to the meeting minutes, Vice Mayor Jon Post said he did not think the project was a good fit at the moment, or possibly ever, because of existing strains on the Town’s resources, particularly in regard to water. Council Member Roxanne Ziegler lauded the project’s housing diversity, its upscale nature and the focus on area heritage but with agreed Post’s concerns about water resources and adding burden to the water and wastewater systems for a major development outside the existing Town area.
Member Herb Kai agreed and emphasized the Town has full buildout water commitments to the Saguaro Bloom single-family subdivision to the north of the development inside the Town limits. Kai also raised concerns about the project’s potential traffic impacts.
While The Planning Center’s representative, Linda Morales, said the project should be in Marana, “Because it feels like Marana,” Post, Ziegler and others on the Council suggested a better idea might be to approach Pima County, although Mayor Ed Honea suggested it might encounter difficulties gaining approval there as well for issues similar to those raised by Council members.
The study session lasted approximately an hour, and no future actions have yet been scheduled.
