Council to hold public hearing on Estancia

The public will get to air their opinions of a 3,700-acre master planned community on the mesa before the Yuma City Council during a public hearing this week.

The hearing regarding a requested land use change to pave the way for Estancia will be held during the council meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the council chambers at Yuma City Hall, One City Plaza.

A consortium of owners of the land, much of which is now in citrus and alfalfa production, is seeking a new land use designation for their property to permit residential and commercial development.

Their eventual plans are to sell their property to a developer to bring in mixed residential from suburban single-family homes to apartments along with restaurants, shopping, schools, parks and services. The planned development could result in 20,000 dwellings with an estimated population of 50,000 people.

Estancia was precipitated by the declining citrus industry as growers face disease, rising costs and increasing competition from imports, said Mark Spencer.

By establishing a master planned community on the mesa, where the farmland is marginal, the hope is to protect the more productive Yuma and Gila valleys for agriculture, he said.

The consortium's request for a general land use plan amendment was rejected earlier by the city's Planning and Zoning Commission after two public hearings during which several speakers opposed the project.

David Koopman, commission chairman, said the main concerns were the feared encroachment on Marine Corps Air Station Yuma and the Barry M. Goldwater Range as well as the lack of infrastructure for the area. Other concerns voiced were the threat to the rural lifestyle now enjoyed by current residents and the possibility development of the farmland could pose a threat to the area's water rights.

He noted that Estancia would bring urban development within a mile of the range along the Area Service Highway.

"We're trying to keep the density to one home per two acres in that area," Koopman said of the commission.

Furthermore, he said, there is considerable open space now available for development that already has infrastructure.

"This is a huge area and there would be a tremendous cost to bring in infrastructure," he said. "We're talking about a city. I think it's too early (for the project)."

Charles Saltzer, who has been an outspoken opponent of Estancia, echoed that sentiment.

"There's no pressing reason to make the decision Wednesday," he said. "I don't see the need now for additional urban development. The property owners said it'll probably be 10 or 15 years before it's developed. Let's wait a few years to address land use plans. Let's defer it until we know the full impact of the F-35."

Now under development, the F-35 fighter jet is slated to replace to aging Harriers at MCAS, perhaps as early as late next year.

Howard Gwynn, another member of the Estancia consortium, told the Yuma Sun that every effort was made to avoid impacting the military.

"Extreme care was taken to not impact MCAS," he said. "We had numerous meetings with the Marines and the city."

COUNCIL MEETINGS
• Roundtable at 3 p.m. Tuesday in Conference Room 190
• Work session at 5 p.m. Tuesday in council chambers
• Regular council meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in council chambers

Joyce Lobeck can be reached at jlobeck@yumasun.com or 539-6853.