The property currently known as Rio 1900, contains approximately 1,940 acres of land and generally extends east to west from Estrella Parkway across Cotton Lane to approximately the alignment of 187th Avenue, and north to south from Gila River to the northern edge of Estrella (the “Property”). The Property is located within the King Ranch PAD, for which a Final PAD was approved on August 22, 2005, under Case No. Z-05-05. The King Ranch PAD zoning authorized a mix of uses for the Property, including single-family residential (Custom, Estate, and Conventional), multi-family residential (Townhome/Condo), commercial uses, a research park, a community center, public facilities (including two fire stations and two school sites), and open space. A stipulation of the King Ranch PAD capped the total number of units in the project at 3,900, with no secondary cap on multi-family units.
On September 25, 2006, an amendment to the King Ranch PAD was approved under Case No. 06-200-00002. The amendment reconfigured commercial parcels as they related to the Gila River and Cotton Lane, adjusted the residential land use types adjacent to the reconfigured commercial areas, realigned Estrella Parkway as it entered King Ranch, added one 12.6-acre parcel with a new multi-family zoning district (Medium-High Density Residential) to the east side of the realigned Estrella Parkway, and allowed commercial parcels to contain residential dwelling units above the first floor. Application materials submitted for this amendment requested an increase in the unit cap from 3,900 to 4,250 (again with no secondary cap on multi-family units). This unit increase was not documented in the stipulations of approval for the amendment.
Approximately eighty (80) acres of the Property are owned by the State of Arizona Land Department. The applicant has initiated the process of purchasing this land from the State via auction.
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Current Policy:
A rezoning request requires public review and approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council. The proposed rezone must be in conformance with the General Plan and should not adversely impact the surrounding area as outlined in the Zoning Ordinance.
Summary of the Rezoning Request:
The applicant seeks approval to remove approximately 1,940 acres from the King Ranch PAD and rezone the property to the Rio 1900 PAD. The proposal establishes a flexible Land Use Character (LUCA) framework to organize permitted uses and guide future zoning applications. Seven LUCAs are proposed:
· Open Space (OS): Includes steep hillsides, natural open spaces, drainage corridors, community parks, trails, passive and active open spaces, and developed landscape areas. All zoning districts are permitted when uses are analogous to open space.
· Civic Use (CU): Includes schools, community centers, fire stations, churches, utilities and infrastructure facilities, and other public and private uses that benefit the community. Permits the PFD PAD zoning district.
· Estate Residential (ER): Accommodates low-density residential, such as larger-lot single-family residential and executive housing. Permitted zoning districts include R1-10 PAD and AU PAD.
· Village Neighborhood (VN): Accommodates a variety of low- to medium-density residential development, including single-family detached or attached homes, court homes, and two-family homes. Permitted zoning districts include R1-7 PAD, R1-6 PAD, R1-4 PAD, R1-C PAD, R1-A PAD, and R-2 PAD.
· Urban Neighborhood (UN): Accommodates higher-density residential of up to 24 units per acre. Permitted zoning districts include MF-12 PAD, MF-18 PAD, and MF-24 PAD.
· Commercial Activity Center (CAC): Accommodates a variety of commercial and retail services, office uses, and medical facilities. Permits the C-O PAD, C-1 PAD, and C-2 PAD zoning districts.
· Resort (RO): Accommodates a resort hotel. Permits the C-2 PAD zoning district, though a limited and customized list of C-2 uses (compatible with a resort development) are permitted as described in the regulatory document.
The LUCA boundaries are conceptual and may overlap. Within this context each LUCA is layered atop any preceding LUCA allowing multiple zoning districts within a given portion of the Property. All development proposals will require preliminary plat or site plan approval, during which the applicant will select a zoning district compatible with the assigned LUCA.
Proposed Development Program
· Residential: The project narrative indicates that approximately 5,762 residential units could be developed on the Property. However, the applicants have declined to identify a specific cap in the regulatory document, as they are proposing to allow the project’s water allocation to determine their unit count.
· Open Space: A minimum of 30% of the gross project area shall be designated as open space. Additionally, for all single-family residential districts except AU-PAD, a minimum of 17% of net area shall be in open space, and half of that (8.5% of the net area) shall be usable open space as defined in the regulatory document. The development will include an approximately five (5)-acre community park, a linear park with multi-use trail along the south side of the Gila River (the El Rio Regional Trail), and a system of additional multi-use trails throughout the community (the Central Spine Trail, the Sarival Trail, and various community and local trails).
· Phasing: Open space is calculated sitewide, allowing flexibility in individual developments while maintaining the overall requirement.
Modified Development Standards
Instead of creating a unique set of standards, this PAD largely implements the use permissions and development standards from the City's zoning ordinance with limited exceptions that are appropriate for the character of this large master planned community.
· Single-Family Residential: Reduced lot size, lot width, lot depth, lot coverage, and setbacks for certain districts. The Village Neighborhood LUCA is required to provide a minimum number of lot sizes/widths to promote housing diversity, and the Estate Residential LUCA is required to develop at least one hundred (100) acres of its area with AU-PAD and R1-10 zoning districts, ensuring that large-lot housing will be provided within the community. Open space for most districts to be provided at a rate of 17% of the net area of the residential development, with half of that area (8.5%) designated as usable open space.
· Multi-Family Residential: Height flexibility in MF-12 for developments with pitched roofs; setback reductions for MF-12 (for rear setback and setbacks from single-family residential); and an increase in minimum lot width requirement for MF-24.
· Commercial & Public Facility Districts: A minimum of 25 acres within the Commercial Activity Center LUCA must be developed using the C-O PAD, C-1 PAD, or C-2 PAD zoning districts. The Resort LUCA shall utilize the C-2 PAD zoning district, with a limited and customized list of uses as per the regulatory document.
The PAD also includes guidelines for dark sky preservation, hillside development, and the design of the El Rio Trail, as follows:
· Dark sky preservation guidelines discourage continuous street lighting and require street lighting along arterial and collector roadways at intersections only. Article 10 in the Zoning Ordinance (Outdoor Lighting Standards) is also applicable to the project.
· Hillside development guidelines are applicable to areas where slopes exceed twenty (20) percent. Among other measures, the hillside development guidelines require at least fifty (50) percent of the total hillside areas to be preserved as open space. Where practical, the preserved open space should prioritize features such as pitched hilltops and prominent ridges, severe slopes, washes and natural drainage courses, boulder outcrops, and significant vegetation areas.
· The El Rio Trail design guidelines largely follow the “El Rio Design Guidelines and Planning Standards”, signed by the cities of Goodyear, Avondale, and Buckeye, as well as Maricopa County, in 2016.
Key Outcomes
The Rio 1900 PAD is designed to:
· Provide a flexible land use framework that can respond to changing market conditions while protecting community character.
· Locate commercial uses near arterial roads and major intersections, with the highest-intensity residential uses near these commercial nodes.
· Ensure meaningful open space and community connectivity through parks, trails, and amenities, to include a new community park and river trail to be open to the public.
Additional details of the request can be found within the Planned Area Development which is an exhibit to the Ordinance (Attachment A), Aerial Exhibit (Attachment B), Details of the Request (Attachment C), and the Project Narrative (Attachment D).
Summary of Compliance with Rezoning Evaluation Criteria:
The proposed rezone of 1,940 acres from King Ranch PAD to Rio 1900 PAD is consistent with the General Plan designations for Open Space, Neighborhoods, Scenic Neighborhoods, Business & Commerce, Aggregate Mining Overlay, and Farm Focus Area, as discussed in Attachment E- Detailed Evaluation Criteria. The plan supports a mix of residential, commercial, civic, and open space uses, with commercial nodes located on Cotton Lane and Estrella Parkway.
The property’s physical features are suitable for the proposed uses and compatible with surrounding residential neighborhoods, schools, and open space. The layered Land Use Character Area approach allows appropriate placement of higher-intensity uses along arterials and near major intersections, while maintaining lower-density residential, community commercial, and open space in the rest of the site.
The updated PAD provides a blueprint for a variety of residential products, commercial uses, public facilities (including a new fire station), open space amenities (including some public amenities, to include a community park and river trail), and potentially a resort, to respond to market conditions that have changed since the original King Ranch PAD was approved twenty years ago. It addresses population growth, diversifies housing choices, and adds commercial services in an underserved area.
Public services, including fire, police, schools, and utilities, can serve the site, with school site planning coordinated with the districts. Transportation connections are planned, with traffic impacts addressed through approved master and future site-specific studies. The proposal promotes orderly growth by extending development adjacent to existing infrastructure and will meet all City standards at subsequent approval stages.
A neighborhood meeting was held at City Hall on July 8, 2025. Twenty-three (23) people attended the meeting and asked questions about density; water; emergency access; types of housing and commercial expected (including the likelihood of a resort); transportation issues (including the timing of Cotton Lane widening and separation of bicycle lanes from roadway corridors for safety); protections for hillside areas, drainageways, and habitat; and timing or phasing of development. Due to the open-house format of the meeting, the applicant addressed these questions on a person-to-person basis instead of as a formal presentation.
Staff have also received calls and emails about the proposed rezone from residents of the neighboring Estrella residential community. Many of these calls and emails came in shortly before the neighborhood meeting and were information-seeking requests for development plans, construction timing estimates, and similar topics. One resident expressed concerns about impacts to wildlife habitat, air quality, noise pollution, and other environmental concerns, as well as traffic and congestion, crime, and the proliferation of data centers and industrial buildings in the city. An additional resident echoed the concerns about air quality (mostly as it pertains to construction activities), the potential for a resort hotel near her neighborhood, and the loss of open space and views in the area.
Additional details on the city Evaluation Criteria are found within the Detailed Evaluation Criteria (Attachment E).
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