The Planning Division Work Plan for the 16/17 and 17/18 fiscal years was developed in early 2017. The Work Plan identified a number of items that could be undertaken by the Planning Division to implement the Town's 2017 Strategic Plan and the Your Voice, Our Future General Plan. Included in the Work Plan was a potential amendment to the Economic Expansion Zone (EEZ), as noted in Attachment 1. The Work Plan was recommended for approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission on May 2, 2017. The Town Council then formally approved the Work Plan on June 21, 2017.
The EEZ was adopted in 2012 with the purpose of encouraging economic development in Innovation Park by reducing public meeting and hearing time required to establish new or expand existing businesses within the EEZ. This action was balanced by maintaining the use of Town design standards and the ability to appeal staff decisions to/by Town Council. In the past, an open house style meeting has been hosted for projects utilizing the EEZ..
This proposed code amendment would expand the boundaries of the EEZ in Innovation Park and to include other business and technology park areas. This would specifically apply to Innovation Park, Foothills Business Park, the Miller Ranch technology park area and all other technology park zoned land in the Town limits, see Attachments 2 and 3. Currently, the EEZ does not abut residential areas located to the north of Innovation Park. The proposed amendment would apply the EEZ to all non-residential land in the Innovation Park area and remove the 600' buffer currently in place. The EEZ only applies to permitted uses within the zones, not conditional uses. This is not proposed to be changed with this amendment.
Since 2012 there have been several projects developed under the EEZ, including:
- Securaplane Technologies
- Innovation Park Drive, Verizon Wireless Communication Facility (Cell Tower)
- Tucson Orthopedic Institute
- Ventana Roche Medical Systems expansion
- All Seasons Senior Care
A goal of this code amendment is to amplify the potential of such businesses locating in Oro Valley.
A market study was recently completed evaluating the residential, office and retail market conditions in the Town of Oro Valley. One of the findings of the study was that the community is approaching build out and that there is limited land remaining for office and employment related uses. The proposed expansion of the EEZ will serve to maximize the potential of increasingly restricted development in the Town. Additionally, the expansion would offer all property owners in business and technology park areas the same competitive advantage in the market.
Employment users are increasingly looking for easy to develop sites that allow a building to be fully-functional within approximately 12 months. Sun Corridor, Inc. is the region's regional economic development authority. Joe Snell serves as the President and CEO and offered this diagnosis of the importance of a simplified development process.
“Over the past three years, we have seen commercial and industrial inventory shrink by three percentage points. As existing space becomes less available, companies will gravitate to build-to-suit options and developers will start to construct speculative space in anticipation of the new demand. It is of utmost importance that communities within our region simplify and make more certain the development process. Roadblocks and complications in the process will turn prospective companies away and make our region less competitive.”
General Plan Conformance
The proposed code amendment is in direct conformance with the Your Voice, Our Future General Plan and specifically relates the following two actions (abbreviated version shown).
- Action 3: Develop strategies to promote economic development that:
- Promote and support Oro Valley core industries including tourism, technology, healthcare, bioscience and suppliers, clean, light manufacturing and business services.
- Attract commercial, industrial and business park employment centers.
- Action 4: Evaluate and increase the community's economic opportunities while balancing community needs and desires through planning and analysis measures that:
- Modify land use regulation as needed to encourage new business opportunities in industrial, commercial and mixed use areas.
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