Key Points
- Planning Commission voted 4–3 to recommend approval.
- 129 individually owned, gated townhomes proposed near Old West Highway.
- Units are for purchase as privately owned homes, not rentals.
- Roughly 16 homes per acre.
- Each unit includes a two-car garage.
- Amenities include a pool, pickleball court, playground, and trail system.
- Site has sat vacant for decades despite a prior development approval.
- About 3.75 acres would convert from commercial to residential use.
- Traffic and road access were the primary commissioner concerns.
- Commission directed staff to explore moving the entrance to Starr Road.
- City Council work session April 6; public hearing April 21, 2026.
APACHE JUNCTION, AZ — The Apache Junction Planning and Zoning Commission voted 4–3 on March 24, 2026, to recommend approval of a 129-unit townhome subdivision near Old West Highway. The vote sends Case P-25-59-PZ — the Acacia by Diamante Homes development — to the Apache Junction City Council for a final decision. If approved, a long-vacant, eight-parcel site would become a gated community of 129 individually platted townhomes available for purchase as privately owned homes.
Location and Surrounding Properties
The site is at the northeast corner of South Acacia Road and East Southern Avenue, near Old West Highway and Starr Road. To the north is a vacant residential lot and, across Old West Highway, a property operating as a wedding and event venue. To the south, across Southern Avenue, are Pinal County residentially zoned properties and the Goldview residential subdivision. To the east is a vacant commercial property across Starr Road. To the west are residential properties, both developed and vacant.
What Is Being Proposed
Diamante Homes Inc. is requesting a rezoning of approximately 8.29 acres total, with 7.96 acres available for development. The company is represented by attorney Brennan Ray of Ray Law Firm. The request would change the site’s zoning to allow high-density residential development. All eight parcels are currently vacant. One previously contained a single-family home that has since been demolished.
The development would place 129 townhomes on 7.96 buildable acres, resulting in roughly 16 homes per acre.
Approximately 3.75 acres of the site are currently designated for commercial use under the city’s General Plan. The applicant is also requesting to change that designation to residential, which would convert land previously set aside for businesses into housing.
Site Amenities and Design
The development is designed as a gated townhome community where garages are accessed from a rear alley rather than the street. All 129 units include two-car garages. On-site amenities proposed by the applicant include a clubhouse and guest house, swimming pool, playground, parks, green space, a trail system, and a pickleball court. The original application proposed primary vehicle access from Acacia Road, with a secondary exit on Southern Avenue. However, the commission added a condition directing staff and the applicant to explore the possible relocation of the primary access point to Starr Road.
Three color schemes and multiple exterior designs are planned throughout the community.
A homeowners association (HOA) will own and maintain all common areas, perimeter walls, fencing, and landscaping.
For-Sale Ownership and the Rental Question
Principal Planner Nick Leftwich stated during his presentation: “These townhomes are home ownership opportunities, as it is going to be a platted subdivision, and that helps add home ownership opportunities to the community.”
Chairman Dave Hantzsche said: “One of the strengths in this, I believe, is that it’s private ownership, versus the number of rentals we’ve had come in.” Vice Chair Robin Barker added: “I think it’s great that it’s going to be privately owned, compared to the rental influx.”
Commissioner Roy Starr asked whether individual owners could lease their units. Ray confirmed that, as with any platted single-family subdivision, homeowners may choose to rent their units. However, he noted that the project is structured as a for-sale community. The community will not be age-restricted per the conditions of approval.
Drainage, the Wash, and Retention
A drainage channel runs through the middle of the site. Commissioner Starr noted that Southern Avenue floods during monsoon season when flow from that wash crosses the road. He also raised concerns that new rooftops and pavement would increase stormwater runoff flowing from north to south.
Ray explained that what appears as green space on the site plan is not simply landscaping. “While it looks like a pretty green space running through the middle, what that really is, is huge amounts of retention — huge volumes of retention with retaining walls — and all of that to take care of that because we are responsible for that on-site flow, and we have to channelize it,” Ray said. “That’s what all that green space improvement is.”
By law, developers must preserve the historic entry and exit points of water flowing through the site. The applicant confirmed that drainage beneath an interior road would be handled through underground retention.
Traffic, Roads, and Access
Traffic was the most extensively discussed topic of the hearing, and multiple commissioners stated concerns on the record before voting.
No traffic study was required for this project. Ray stated his belief, based on professional experience, that the proposed development would generate less traffic than what the current zoning permits. He noted that half the site is already designated for high-density residential use and half for commercial, and that commercial land uses typically generate more traffic than high-density residential development. He acknowledged he could not certify that conclusion as fact.
Chairman Hantzsche expressed concern about traffic impacts on Acacia Road, which runs along the western edge of the site, particularly the segment heading north toward Old West Highway.
The applicant is responsible for street improvements along the portions of Southern Avenue and Acacia Road adjacent to the project. The city, through a previously awarded grant, will fund and construct sidewalk improvements along Old West Highway’s south frontage. The applicant will provide landscaping in that area. Starr Road improvements would be determined as part of the condition to relocate the primary entrance to that road.
Hantzsche and Barker expressed concern that residents would use Acacia Road north toward Old West Highway to access the freeway. That concern, combined with unresolved easement issues on that segment of Acacia Road, led the commission to add a condition directing staff and the applicant to explore the possible relocation of the primary access point from Acacia Road to Starr Road. Ray confirmed after consulting with his client that the applicant preferred the Starr Road option.
Standards Debate: Road Width
Commissioner Jesse Gage raised a concern about the project’s request to narrow interior private street widths from the city’s standard 28 feet to 26 feet. Gage argued that reducing the standard to accommodate more units gave the developer additional profit while putting future residents into a tighter environment. “Over and over again, we’ve been relaxing the city standards in order to basically be able to put more units onto a piece of property,” Gage said. “If we compromise them with every development that comes up, we’re not going to be able to call them standards anymore.”
Staff noted that the narrower width is tied to the rear-alley garage design, which eliminates the need for front-facing sidewalks along the interior roads. That design consideration was part of the basis for staff’s support of the deviation.
Deputy Director Urias responded that the 26-to-28-foot range is generally typical compared to other municipalities. He noted that some newer Apache Junction subdivisions feature interior roads as narrow as 24 feet. Staff and the fire district reviewed the proposed width and confirmed it provides adequate emergency vehicle access. Urias further noted that the city’s Public Works department is currently rewriting its engineering standards.
Commissioner Starr noted that the standard 28-foot measurement is typically taken curb to curb, but the site plan shows no curbs. In this project, the 26 feet is measured garage to garage.
At 26 feet wide, on-street parking is not permitted on the interior roads. Because the roads are private, city police would not routinely patrol them. The HOA will be responsible for enforcing parking rules, and the fire marshal retains independent enforcement authority.
Gage said: “I’m just having trouble with always compromising on our standards,” and voted no primarily because of the standards issue.
Water Supply
Commissioner Gage asked about the 100-year water supply requirement. Principal Planner Leftwich confirmed the site falls within the Apache Junction Water District service area, which has reviewed the project. “Water has not indicated there’s any issues with water supply going through the subdivision process,” Leftwich said.
Access Road Complications
A section of Acacia Road along the western boundary of the site, north of the project entrance, has unresolved ownership complications that could allow a private property owner to block access to that road. Leftwich explained: “Because it involves private property ownership, we would have to trigger quite an extensive legal process — and not even with the applicant, but with the private property owners — in order to resolve or to work that out.” That concern contributed to the commission’s decision to add a condition directing staff and the applicant to explore the possible relocation of the primary entrance to Starr Road.
Separately, one of the eight parcels along Starr Road had never formally dedicated a strip of land as public right-of-way. A condition of approval requires the applicant to do so. Leftwich noted the applicant had agreed to the dedication, saying they “would make that 33-foot easement dedication as right of way.”
Commission Vote and Staff Recommendation
Staff recommended approval, finding the development consistent with general plan goals to diversify housing stock and promote infill development along the Old West Highway corridor.
Vice Chair Barker said the project responds to the community’s need for housing serving different demographic and income levels, and expressed support for the ownership model over rentals.
Commissioner Sandra Mykland voted yes, stating: “I’m confident they’ll work well with the city in the changes.”
Chairman Hantzsche voted yes while noting traffic concerns on the record. Vice Chair Barker also voted yes while stating she had concerns about traffic.
Commissioner Gage voted no, citing the road width standards issue. Commissioners Starr and Kalan also voted no.
Public Comment
A neighborhood meeting was held on September 2, 2025, at Apache Junction High School. Five residents attended and raised questions about traffic, water, landscaping, construction dust, and price point. No members of the public spoke at the March 24 hearing. The staff report noted no written comments had been received at the time of writing, though one email was later received from a resident requesting that bike lane and trail connectivity be planned for as part of the street improvements.
City Council Hearing Scheduled for April 21
The commission’s recommendation moves to the Apache Junction City Council. A work session is scheduled for Monday, April 6, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. The city council public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, April 21, 2026, at which the council will make a final decision on the rezoning, the minor general plan amendment, and all conditions of approval — including the condition directing staff and the applicant to explore the possible relocation of the primary access point to Starr Road.
