At a Glance
- The Town Council unanimously approved a professional services agreement with Michael Baker International on Feb. 18.
- The firm will draft the town’s first zoning ordinance. The scope includes zoning map development, public outreach, and technical support for formal adoption.
- A typical zoning ordinance takes 12 to 24 months, according to Matt Klyszeiko. San Tan Valley is targeting June.
- Town Manager Brent Billingsley said he wants the code under 100 pages, delivered as a modern e-code accessible from a phone.
- Community workshops are expected to begin in March and continue monthly.
- The first workshop will include a “zoning 101” overview for residents.
- The zoning ordinance is separate from the broader municipal code drafted by Pierce Coleman PLLC.
SAN TAN VALLEY, AZ – The San Tan Valley Town Council on Wednesday approved a professional services agreement with Michael Baker International to create the town’s first zoning ordinance. The scope includes ordinance drafting, zoning map development, public outreach, and technical support for formal adoption. Residents can expect community workshops to begin as early as March, with a target completion date of June.
A Custom Zoning Code for San Tan Valley
Rather than simply adopting Pinal County’s existing zoning rules, San Tan Valley’s staff recommended building a code tailored to the town’s needs. Matthew Klyszeiko, Associate Vice President and Planning Department Manager at Michael Baker International, addressed that recommendation during his presentation to the council.
“What frequently happens when a town is incorporated is they will accept or take the county zoning ordinance and just rephrase that into the municipality zoning ordinance,” Klyszeiko said. He commended the town’s staff of two “for having the foresight to say, ‘That’s not necessarily gonna give us what we need.'”
Developing a custom zoning code, he explained, positions San Tan Valley to “build on that as you move forward and not try to have to slip things or mold things to align with the process that was really developed for a county rather than a municipality.”
Michael Baker International’s Background in the Region
Klyszeiko told the council he has 25 years of planning experience and leads Michael Baker’s planning department from its downtown Phoenix office. He described the firm as a multidisciplinary company offering planning, architecture, engineering, and survey services. Its planning department, he said, works exclusively with public sector clients.
“We’ve had the privilege of being an on-call planner for Pinal County for a number of years,” Klyszeiko told the council. “The most prevalent one, which is the reason that I think I’m standing here, is we assisted with and prepared the San Tan Valley special area plan. I was a project manager for that effort.”
The special area plan guides growth for a 3,239-acre urban core that town leaders have called essential to the town’s financial future.
That experience, he said, gives the firm “a very firm foundation of understanding San Tan Valley.” Klyszeiko added that Michael Baker is currently assisting Queen Creek with its general plan update. The firm also helped Eloy update its zoning code and most recently assisted Maricopa County with its zoning code update, he said.
Mayor Daren Schnepf, who also serves on the Pinal County Planning and Zoning Commission, spoke about his familiarity with the firm. “I’ve been familiar with Michael Baker for a long time, and Matt, working with Pinal County and the planning and zoning, and they do fantastic work,” Schnepf said. “Matt will go into as much detail and depth that we want him to when he presents to us.”
During public comment, fellow Pinal County Planning and Zoning Commission member and Vice Chair Karen Mooney also spoke about Klyszeiko. “I worked with him on the zoning code for Pinal County, he’s amazing,” Mooney said.
Town Manager Brent Billingsley described the agreement’s cost as “a very reasonable price.” Mayor Schnepf similarly called it “not a half bad price for this type of work and for this scope of timeframe.”
Michael Baker International also assisted Pinal County with its Development Services Code Update, which the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to cancel on February 5, 2025. Residents had packed board meetings to voice concerns about restrictions on livestock, agricultural activities, and home-based businesses. Some residents connected the proposed changes to concerns about “15-minute cities.” A citizen-created Facebook group called Pinal Code Watchers grew to over 4,000 members in response to the proposed changes. The county continues to operate under its existing code.
An Accelerated Timeline to June
Klyszeiko noted that a typical zoning ordinance takes 12 to 24 months to complete. San Tan Valley is targeting June, he said.
Town Manager Brent Billingsley outlined his expectations for the finished product. He said the draft Pinal County zoning ordinance has been in development for over a decade and spans 460 pages. Billingsley said he told Klyszeiko he wants a zoning ordinance under 100 pages. He also wants it delivered as an e-code — a modern, electronic format accessible from a phone. It should be less text-intensive and feature more pictures and tables. “I think most consultants would have laughed at me, but we’ve come up with a plan to deliver that,” Billingsley said.
Klyszeiko said the work will be broken into modules. Mayor Schnepf asked whether the council should expect work sessions outside of regular meetings. Klyszeiko confirmed the modular approach, explaining that the team will bring the most critical sections forward first in “bite-sized pieces,” with everything else building from that foundation.
Klyszeiko acknowledged the pace requires trade-offs. “We’re going to have to take some content and accept that for our immediate needs and recognize that we can then come back and revise the zoning ordinance when we have more time,” he said. The council, the new planning commission, and the public will all participate in the process.
Hudgins Questions Public Outreach Plan
Vice Mayor Tyler Hudgins, participating remotely, raised a concern: how the town will keep residents informed given the accelerated timeline and the town’s limited communications infrastructure.
“I did notice in the statement of work here, there’s a few community meetings, I believe four of them,” Hudgins said. “Because we’re doing an accelerated timeline to get this done by June, what considerations are you making with some of those community meetings to make sure the residents know about it? … The town is in [its] infancy when it comes to its communications, getting the public involved, I think it’s really important to have that.”
Klyszeiko responded that community workshops are expected to begin next month. He said the team plans to publish a full schedule of meetings upfront so residents will not have to wait for announcements.
“It won’t be a ‘stay tuned to find out when the next meeting is,'” he said. “We’re going to have to have these all scheduled out for the next four months. So we’ll be able first meeting to say, ‘This is when we’re having meeting one, two, three, and four.'”
To spread the word, Klyszeiko said the team will reach out to HOAs, use periodicals, and coordinate with schools. He also invited council members to share any communication channels unique to the community. The first community workshop will include a “zoning 101” overview to bring residents up to speed on the basics.
Hudgins followed up after Klyszeiko’s response. “I really appreciate that. I just think this is a really important topic the community really cares about, and I want to make sure we give them ample opportunity, given the crunched timeline, to be engaged,” he said. “It’s really a desire of myself — I don’t want to speak for the council, but I believe we would all agree on this — to bring the public along through the process.”
Zoning Ordinance Is Part of a Larger Code Effort
The zoning ordinance is one piece of a broader municipal code the town is building before its July 1 operational independence deadline. The council began discussing that process in November, reviewed the first three articles in December, and reviewed articles on finance, police and courts in February. Attorney Joe Estes of Pierce Coleman PLLC is drafting the municipal code separately from the zoning ordinance. Billingsley has previously noted that certain parts of the code — particularly the zoning code — will involve public outreach because they directly impact residents.
Council Vote
Councilmember Bryan Hunt moved to approve the professional services agreement. Councilmember Daniel Oakes seconded the motion. The council approved it unanimously with no opposition.
Community Workshops Expected in March
The first community workshop is expected in March. Workshops will then continue monthly through the project’s duration. Klyszeiko said the team plans to spread the word through HOAs, local publications, and schools.
