Maricopa County's Planning and Zoning Commission's Sept. 24 agenda led with the biggest case of the week: a plan to rezone about 5,157 acres in Tonopah from rural land to an industrial zone with its own development plan. The Belmont 4 case would allow warehouses, data centers and energy projects north of Indian School Road on both sides of 355th Avenue, with building heights up to 80 feet for industry and 150 feet for energy production. County planners recommend approval with conditions, and two letters of support were filed.

Nearly as big in impact, a general plan amendment covering 182 acres near Mesa would change land west of Alma School Road by Loop 202 from Rural Development Area to heavy industrial; the applicant says the Johnson-Stewart business has operated there since 1946. The matching zone change would set the rules for the site and add four digital billboards north of the freeway. Planners recommend approval on both, and one statement of opposition is on file.

Also on the agenda, a fiber-optic equipment compound would lease 2.1 acres of a 37-acre ranch parcel near Grand Avenue (US 60) northwest of Circle City, holding one small concrete shelter, a fence and a single parking space. All four cases went before the commission on Sept. 24 with a staff recommendation to approve — three of them with conditions. The pattern: a county board working through a stack of industrial and utility land decisions that will shape what can be built on thousands of acres at the county's edges.

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Planning & Zoning Commission — September 24, 2026

  • MMI Wittmann ILA Sept. 24, 2026 Planning and Zoning Commission Agenda Owner: 37 Acres R & G Ranch Properties, LLC WHSC zoning district in the Circle City / Morristown / Surprise area: R & G Ranch Properties owns a 37-acre parcel about 0.6 miles southeast of 251st Avenue and US 60, and Ledcor Group / Middle Mile Infrastructure wants a special use permit to lease 2.1 acres for a 90,000-square-foot fiber-optic utility compound in the Wickenburg Highway Scenic Corridor (WHSC) zone. Plans call for one 24-by-36-foot precast concrete shelter, an 8-foot chain-link fence topped with barbed wire, one parking space and dawn-to-dusk lighting; county planners recommend approval with conditions and no support or opposition was known. View item
  • Belmont 4 Owner: Belmont Infraco LLC the Tonopah area.: Belmont Infraco LLC is asking to rezone about 5,157 acres in the Tonopah area from Rural-43 to the county's IND-2 industrial zone with a unit plan of development, opening the door to warehouses, data centers, energy production and battery storage north of Indian School Road on both sides of 355th Avenue. The plan raises the height limit to 80 feet for industry and 150 feet for energy production, keeps at least a 100-foot no-build buffer adjacent to rural or residential zoning and a quarter-mile buffer from the planned I-11 freeway; two letters of support were filed and county planners recommend approval with conditions. View item
  • Johnson Stewart Material Owners: Johnson Stewart Materials, Johnson Stewart Co, LLC designation from Rural Development Area (RDA) to Heavy Industrial south of the Loop 202 freeway in the Mesa area: Johnson Stewart Materials wants the county's long-term growth plan changed so 182 acres west of Alma School Road, on both sides of Loop 202 near Mesa, are designated heavy industrial instead of Rural Development Area. The land is a county island inside Mesa, and the applicant says the Johnson-Stewart business has operated on the site since 1946; county planners recommend approval of the amendment and one statement of opposition was filed. View item
  • Johnson Stewart Material Owners: Johnson Stewart Materials, Johnson Stewart Co, LLC of the Loop 202 freeway in the Mesa area: The companion zone change for the same 182 acres would move the site from Rural-43 and IND-3 IUPD to IND-3 IUPD with a precise development plan, and would allow four new digital billboards — each 14 feet by 48 feet and up to 120 feet above grade — north of the Loop 202 freeway. County planners recommend approval with conditions; the county published both cases in one combined staff report, so no separate report was filed for this item. View item