By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
The Payson Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended approval of a pair of requests that will enable development of a nearly 84-acre master planned development at the NWC of Longhorn Road and Green Valley Parkway.
Developer Capital Investments, LLC has requested a minor General Plan amendment for a 16.25-acre parcel on the site. The overall Longhorn Ranch master plan is made up of four parcels, with sizes and planned uses broken out as:
- Parcel 1: 21.49 gross acres, Single Family Attached,
- Parcel 2: 31.40 gross acres, Single Family Detached,
- Parcel 3: 15.14 gross acres, Single Family Attached and
- Parcel 4: 16.25 gross acres, Mixed-Use.
The overall site is designated Traditional Residential and zoned R1-8-MH, which allows for single-family residential uses with a minimum lot size of 8KSF.
The General Plan amendment request focuses on Parcel 4 and would change its designation to Mixed-Use.
Capital Investments has also requested rezoning of the entire site to Planned Area Development. PAD zoning would establish development standards for a mix of uses on the parcels and include single-family attached, single-family detached, multifamily and the mixed/commercial uses on Parcel 4.
According to the staff report, “The purpose of a PAD is to encourage innovative site planning, a mix of land uses, and integrated design elements such as open space, circulation, and amenities, while still ensuring that development remains consistent with the Town’s overall planning objectives and compatible with surrounding uses.”
The narrative says the General Plan, approved in 2024, “…supports single-family, detached residential development and small pockets of duplexes and townhomes up to a density of 7.0 du/ac,” under the Traditional Residential land use.
Also in 2024, the Town passed Resolution 3377, which declared a housing crisis and encouraged prioritizing new, affordable housing in the community. According to the narrative, “The development of Longhorn Ranch seeks to address and further the goals of Resolution 3377 by providing three parcels with a mix of affordable residential lot sizes and types, which may include single-family attached and single-family detached products. In addition, Longhorn Ranch features a mixed-use parcel located central to the community, which will serve the new and existing residential area with commercial, single-family attached, and multi-family residential uses.”
The materials do not say the development will carry an official “affordable housing” description as related to costs as a percentage of the Area Median Income. It appears the developer is targeting affordability as a comparative term in a market-rate community.
The staff report says, “The mixed-use parcel is proposed to accommodate commercial uses, single-family attached residential, and multi-family residential, and is envisioned as a central gathering area with restaurants, community-focused retail, pedestrian promenades, flexible turf areas, and plaza space.” The central gathering area is later described as a “Village Marketplace.”
The property is currently undeveloped. The only structure is an existing barn along Longhorn Road that will be removed as part of the development. Surrounding uses include residential subdivisions, residentially zoned properties, open space and public lands.
The site features geographic complications that are factored into the plan. Roughly 29% of the site will be used as natural open space, and a minimum of 20% of the landscape area will be established as enhanced amenity areas in the residential sections. The 150-foot natural wash corridor will include a multi-use trail.
The staff analysis found, “The site is large enough to support a master planned approach, and the materials submitted describe an integrated development pattern with circulation, open space, and buffering intended to connect the mixed-use parcel to the surrounding residential areas. The proposed amendment appears intended to create additional flexibility for housing types and community-serving commercial uses in a location that is internal to the overall master plan rather than as a standalone commercial center.”
Staff recommended approval of the requests with standard stipulations. One stipulation in the zoning approval recommendation, however, requires the establishment of a homeowners’ association for the residential sections of the development.
The Arizona Legislature is currently considering Senate Bill 1413, which would place some restrictions on municipalities’ ability to mandate design features and includes language that would bar them from requiring HOAs in new developments. Existing subdivisions would be grandfathered in, but it is unknown at the moment at what point in the planning and approval process those prohibitions would go into effect for developments currently in the pipeline.
The developer is Capital Investments, LLC. EPS Group, Inc. is the planning consultant, landscape architecture consultant and project representative/applicant. The engineering consultant is Ardurra.
