By Joey Chenoweth | Coolidge Examiner
A vast subdivision that would be located on the west side of Coolidge was once again up for discussion, as a new amendment to the planned area development (PAD) renewed some old fears over what its construction could do to the area.
The Vista Del Monte Community PAD consists of 800 acres located south of McCartney Road, north of Randolph Road, east of Evans Road and west of Lora Lee Road. It was originally approved by city council in 2007, but once the economy took a downturn, the project never really got started. The land has since been sold to Walton International Group. With prospects for construction looking up, the developers are reassessing the project and have requested amendments to make it more financially viable. The amendment was passed by city council on March 25.
The main change to the PAD is the addition of more diverse housing options than the original plan, which only included traditional single-family homes. There will now be non-traditional single-family unites such as townhomes. But more importantly, there will also be multi-family apartment complexes.
“Coolidge in the future is going to need to provide housing products for a variety of different people,” said Carolyn Oberholtzer from Rose Law Group, the firm representing Vista Del Monte. “Single-family homes are what most people buy, but there is a chunk of the population that does not buy single-family homes. We want to provide for that. For example, with the proximity to [Central Arizona College], we want the students there to have these housing options.”
