By Richard Smith|Independent Newsmedia
The changes NexMetro Communities made to its proposed Avila community full of one-story rental properties impressed a plurality of residents in neighboring Sanalina and a majority of the Surprise Planning and Zoning Commission.
By a 4-2 margin, the commission recommended approval of a zoning change to the 11-acre parcel on the northeast corner of Reems and Waddell roads from commercial to residential, and the plan with 127 detached single-family homes for rent.
Commissioners Dennis Bash, Eric Cultum, Gisele Norberg and Mitchell Rosenbaum voted in favor of both measures June 1 while Ken Chapman and Dennis Smith voted against. Commissioner Matthew Keating was absent.
