P&Z approves zoning change for Hogenes Farms

A 528-acre property was rezoned Monday night to allow for the development of a residential community of as many as 2,000 homes.

A request to change the zoning of the land formerly owned by Hogenes Dairy from Industrial (CI-2) to Planned Area Development (PAD) was approved, 6-0, by the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission. The action paves the way for the initial phases of construction at the Hogenes Farms community at the northwest corner of Green and McDavid roads.

RELATED: P&Z to review Hogenes Farms proposal

The PAD calls for a mixed-use, master planned community with two initial phases of single-family homes for sale. Those two phases, which will cover 232 acres and include six parcels along the southern and western borders of the property, will include 800 homes of medium density.

As part of the development agreement, Scottsdale-based Marbella Homes has agreed to extend and improve Green Road and build an overpass over the Union Pacific railroad tracks before starting a third phase of home construction.

That element of the plan appealed greatly to P&Z member Ted Yocum.

“We as a Planning & Zoning Commission are almost always talking about transportation and traffic issues,” Yocum said. “I think the presentation we had tonight addressing these issues was well-thought and in-depth, and I like what you’re recommending.”

Yocum added his satisfaction that Marbella would bear the cost of constructing the overpass. The Green Road railroad overpass would not be as elaborate the one on John Wayne Parkway, which cost more than $30 million, he noted.

“I think it’s going to be a big difference in elevation from the overpass we just built,” he said. “I think it would be a relatively conservative construction approach.”

More will be known at the next P&Z meeting, when Marbella is scheduled to present a preliminary plat for the project. No amendments to the city’s general plan are required for the development because its mixed-use designation meets the needs outlined in the city’s general plan. But since other developments in the area will require additional road infrastructure, the city will require a major transportation plan as that growth progresses.

Byron Easton, the city’s senior planner who presented the staff recommendations to the P&Z commission, said the city would ask Marbella Homes to improve and maintain McDavid Road along the development’s southern border all the way to Green Road at the southeast corner of the property. It was also recommended that the access easement on the east side of the property be retained.

In addition, the city is recommending that Marbella construct an access road from the  community to land west of the development at the northwest corner of the property.

Jim Bell, a partner in the Phoenix law firm Spiess & Bell that represents several landowners west of the proposed Hogenes Farms development, told commissioners that his clients had concerns about how the project might affect access to their land, but indicated they were happy with solutions offered by the city.