KB Home to develop Allred Brothers Ranch - Zoning Hearing

On June 29th, the property owners within 500 feet as well as all registered neighborhoods and HOAs within a half mile of the Allred Brother’s property received a notice at the request of the Mesa Planning Division. This notice was to inform the property owners around the proposed project of the request to rezone the approximate 26.7 acres from its current zoning of AG (Agriculture) to the RSL 4.5 zoning. The proposed development consists of single family homes with over 5 acres  of open space throughout the community. The rezoning was originally scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on July 19, 2017 at the Mesa City Council Chambers. This was rescheduled for Wednesday, August 16, 2017 at 4:00 p.m. in another notice received by the property owners on July 31, 2017.

During the Mesa City Council meeting, the lawyer representing KB Home spoke to the Mesa City Council and addressed some of the changes made to the original site development plans. These changes were made to address some of the concerns of the homeowners who attended the meeting on March 23, 2017. The properties on north property line were made deeper so that any two story homes would have 48 feet minimum to 53 feet maximum distance from the patio to the north fence. This change was to address the concern of privacy for the homes north of the new development. They also added more green space (retention area) to allow for the additional rainwater runoff. They were also going to address the access to the development from the canal on the westside of the project. The lawyer also addressed both entrances/exits to the subdivision, the entrance/exit on Southern Ave allowed 100 feet from the end of the  median at the canal, the other entrance/exit off Los Alamos was made wider. All the changes made to the subdivision reduced the number of properties to a total of 108 in the new subdivision.

There were 4 homeowners who requested to speak to the Mesa City Council to voice their concerns. Two homeowners were concerned with the additional traffic from the new subdivision and from Countryside Park along Los Alamos and the possibility of needing a traffic light at Los Alamos and Southern Ave. They also requested a reduction of the number of homes built in the subdivision. The 2 story homes were still a concern and with the new home properties widths smaller than the homes to the north, the homeowners to the north could have 2 to 3 properties backed up to their properties. One of the homeowners was concerned with the entrance/exit on Southern Ave because the 100 feet from the end of the median at the canal may not be enough space to allow someone entering the subdivision to slow down. The final concern was regarding the runoff from future rains and if the developer had addressed this to prevent flooding of the neighborhood to the north.

After all had a chance to speak to the Mesa City Council, the Council put the rezoning to a vote. There was a unanimous vote to approve the zoning with conditions. 

 The Ehrke Team will post additional updates as this project continues forward.

KB Home to develop Allred Brothers Ranch

The Allred family has decided to sell their horse ranch on the corner of Southern Ave and Lindsay in Mesa. On March 8th, the homeowners north of this one of a kind property in Mesa received a letter saying that KB Home was now under contract to purchase the 26.7+/- acre property. They intend to subdivide it and build 117 single family residences. The current home owners in the area were invited to a neighborhood meeting with the applicant at Porter Elementary School on March 23rd to learn more about the proposed project.

There were several concerns from one homeowner to the north of the project:

The first concern raised was in regard to the congestion on Los Alamos. Visitors of Countryside Park already bring considerable congestion to the neighborhood by parking on Los Alamos. The current homeowner was concerned with how much additional traffic would be added from the future homeowners of the new development. A Mesa police officer advised the neighbors to contact the Mesa City Council to resolve parking issues. Currently the westside of Los Alamos is already a No Parking Zone.

The second concern brought to attention was the possibility that homeowners currently living to the north of the project could have two story homes built behind them leading to lower home values and an invasion of privacy in their backyards.

The third concern presented was the possibility of additional rain runoff from the new subdivision. The Allred property will need to be elevated to avoid flooding from the canal on the northwest corner of the project which may cause rainwater be redirected toward the neighborhood to the north.

A final concern was mentioned at the end of the meeting by one of the homeowners about a proposed greenbelt in the new subdivision that would be accessible by way of the canal. The concern was that allowing access to the greenbelt from the canal may attract visitors to the new subdivision who already utilize Countryside Park for questionable and illegal activity.

After presenting these concerns to the applicant and the lawyers, the neighborhood residents were told they would take all their concerns into consideration.

The Ehrke Team will post additional updates as this project continues forward.