By Raquel Hendrickson | InMaricopa
“We are going to run into some problems in the future.”
Maricopa Development Services Director Martin Scribner was talking to the Planning & Zoning Commission last month after a presentation on development patterns. The report by planner Ryan Wozniak, “Maricopa: The Living Experiment,” red-flagged problems in land-use productivity and heavy reliance on vehicles.
“Residents spend 61 percent on housing and transportation,” Wozniak said. “That’s higher than the rest of the county.”
He said explosive growth comes with explosive cost. “There is nothing magical about infrastructure.”
With streets currently “too wide” to create pedestrian-friendly business areas and ongoing development sprawl across several acres, Maricopa may need course correction, Wozniak said. “The more you accommodate vehicles, the more you spread out,” Wozniak said. “The less you accommodate, the more people are accepting.”
