The Eloy Enterprise
By Lora Neu
ELOY — In a regular Eloy City Council meeting on Monday, staff proposed to the council that the city annex 160 acres of land located about one mile from PhoenixMart, a planned global commerce center that broke ground in November.
The council meeting also included a public hearing on the proposal, though there were no comments or questions from the public or anyone in the audience on the issue.
The property, located at the southeast corner of Florence Boulevard and Toltec Buttes Road, is owned solely by Robson Communities. The land is within the city’s planning area, but also within Casa Grande’s planning area.
When questioned by council members, interim city manager and Community Development Director Harvey Krauss said that Casa Grande would not legally be able to initiate an annexation on the property since Eloy has already begun the process.
After Monday’s public hearing, the city has one year to obtain the signature of the property owner. According to Krauss, Robson Communities is in favor of annexation of the property into Eloy. In addition, Robson hopes to enter into a pre-annexation development agreement with the city.
Krauss said city staff will be negotiating the terms of the pre-annexation agreement with Robson over a period of several months. He pointed out in his report, however, that although the blank petition and map have been filed, and the council has held a public hearing, “there is no obligation on the part of the city to annex the property.”
Currently the site is zoned as residential by Pinal County. Council member Micah Powell asked if the property could be rezoned. Krauss said the zoning could be changed to a more dense designation. Once the property is annexed it will be zoned by the city.
The zoning change can occur at the same time the annexation ordinance is put in place, Krauss said. “That’s when we’ll do the rezoning,” he added.
