By Jay Taylor | InMaricopa
An enormous development is in the works that could bring more than 6,000 homes and 17,000 residents to the city.
Santa Cruz Ranch, an 1,886-acre, master-planned community planned for the southwest corner of the alignments of Murphy and Val Vista roads south of the Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway, would be almost double the size of Maricopa’s largest existing community, Rancho El Dorado.
Rancho El Dorado has 3,132 homes and about 8,000 residents. Combined with its sister communities, the Lakes and Villages at Rancho El Dorado, Rancho’s nearly 5,000 homes and 13,000 residents is still less than Santa Cruz Ranch’s projections.
The Santa Cruz Ranch project lies within Maricopa’s planning area but south of the city limits, so the site would need to be annexed into the city to provide fire, police, and other essential services. Since the property borders Maricopa’s existing city limit, annexation would be a formality. Lopez said the process typically takes 3-6 months.
