By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
Developer IndiCap Inc. is proposing a change to the Copper Falls Community Master Plan in Buckeye that would allow for the creation of a residential and commercial development with open space on 72.29 acres of the overall 275-acre area.
The planned location for Copper Falls III sits southwest of the corner of Miller and Broadway roads. According to the staff report prepared for the Buckeye Planning and Zoning Commission, the amendment “will revise permitted land uses and establish development standards to accommodate development of a combination of commercial and multi-family residential uses on the 72.3-acre subject property. The Amendment also designates a location for potential future development of a Buckeye fire station facility.”
Copper Falls is currently designated in the Buckeye General Plan as a Community Master Plan and carries an obsolete zoning designation of Planned Community. Most of the surrounding area is vacant agricultural land except for a single-family community to the north. Pulte Homes has an adjacent parcel to the south on which it plans to build additional traditional single-family homes.
The amendment request will allow development of single-story, two-story and multi-story multifamily uses across four parcels, designated parcels 6-9, and additional commercial on a fourth, called Parcel 10.
Parcel 6 is 9.28 acres and Parcel 7 is 13.9 acres. Both would be developed with a maximum density of 15 units/acre with single-story homes of no more than 24 feet in height. Both parcels include open spaces and pedestrian trails for walkability and interconnectivity. Parcel 7 could also be the site of an eventual fire station, which would follow separate design standards.
In the southwest portion of the amendment area, the 18.47-acre Parcel 8 would also have a maximum density of 15 residences/acre but would be built with two-story homes. The proposal includes a 60-foot landscape buffer to separate the property from the Pulte parcel to the south.
Multistory multifamily with a maximum density of 30 units/acre is planned for Parcel 9’s 14.79 acres. This site also features a 60-foot landscape buffer from the Pulte parcel, with building heights ranging from 40 feet near the buffer area to 50 feet toward the center of the location.
If all four parcels are developed to their maximum allowed densities, a total of 1,067 units could be built.
Parcel 10 sits at the SWC of Miller and Broadway and is planned as the development’s commercial area. According to the submitted narrative, “Parcel 10 will be restricted to no more than six drive-in restaurants and zero thrift or ‘dollar’ stores. The multi-family uses and the commercial uses will be interconnected with pedestrian friendly walking paths which allow for ease of accessibility.”
As of Nov. 9, three residents had submitted statements in opposition to the planned amendment. Among the concerns listed were traffic, water supplies/drought, school capacity, public safety service impacts, overall density and worries about potential low-income housing uses.
The Planning and Zoning Commission will hear the request this week.
IndiCap Inc. is the developer. The design firm is Ware Malcomb. CVL Consultants is the engineer, and the project is represented by Tiffany & Bosco, P.A.
