Town Council to discuss housing and development, Saturday at Town Hall

The Sahuarita Town Council will discuss affordable housing; green technology in building and a town economic development strategy at a public study session tomorrow at 8 a.m. at the Town Council chambers in Town Hall.

In a closed session to start some time after lunch, the council will discuss a possible tax incentive for a new Rancho Sahuarita commercial area and pre-annexation agreements for the proposed Mission Peaks development west of town and 16 square miles of State Trust land east of town.

The study session is the council’s annual retreat, generally aimed at developing a long-term strategy for the town.

The council will discuss possibly joining Pima County as a partner in establishing a work force housing program to assist qualifying home buyers.

The green building session will cover alternative energy sources, reduction of vehicle use, recycling, water conservation, and other matters aimed at reducing energy and water use.

The council also will hear a presentation on the town’s strategic plan for economic development, which may be formally adopted at a future council meeting. It will include an overview of economic development tools, how they can be used to stimulate development and the criteria for evaluating these tools.

During a lunch break, council members and staff will discuss information gleaned from the annual conference of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns.

After lunch, the council will go into a (closed) executive session to receive legal advice and to give direction to staff on a proposal by Rancho Sahuarita for a $38 million tax break for a new commercial area. The town this week received a detailed economic analysis supporting the proposal and this will be the council’s first opportunity to discuss the proposal with staff and with town lawyers. The town has hired lawyer Andrew McGuire of the firm of Gust Rosenfeld to help analyze the proposal and advise the council.

The proposed Rancho Sahuarita economic development agreement does not need to go through any town commissions, but must be approved by the council.

Also on the executive session agenda, in case council members want to discuss the matters, are a pre-annexation and development agreement with American Nevada Co. for the proposed 15,000-unit Mission Peaks project west of town, and a pre-annexation agreement with the Arizona State Land Department.

The Town Planning and Zoning Commission on Wednesday recommended General Plan Amendments (GPA) for both the Mission Peaks and state land properties. Both projects must receive Town Council approval for GPAs, and if approved must come back through both the plan commission and the Town Council for rezonings and annexation.

pfranchine@sahuaritasun.com | 547-9738