Homebuilder Toll Brothers has put plans in motion toward developing a once-planned residential community on roughly 74 acres near the northwest corner of 7th Avenue and Desert Hills Drive.
Roughly 16 years ago, Desert Hills Equestrian Estates was proposed as a gated community with amenities for horse owners. Plans included construction of 56 single-family homes with casitas and a community equestrian center for residents. The property was re-zoned Rural-43, RUPD in 2008 to accommodate the never-built development, and today the zoning remains intact, requiring minimum lot sizes of 35,000 square feet.
Now, Toll Brothers is proposing to build a similar, 56-unit, detached, single-family residential home community with casitas, named Cadora Desert Hills. The developer is not requesting any change to the current zoning, only to remove the equestrian amenity, according to the builder’s narrative report submitted to Maricopa County.
Two gated access points are proposed to the neighborhood—the main one from Desert Hills Drive and another from 7th Avenue. The builder will be required to submit a traffic impact study with its preliminary application and work with the county on right-of-way land dedications for the intersection.
Residents would receive EPCOR water, and would be served by the Deer Valley Unified School District.
As of this writing, no public hearings have been scheduled to date, but the county stated that the property signs on the site will be updated when a hearing date is set. The case is also required to be heard by both the Maricopa County Planning & Zoning Commission, and the County Board of Supervisors.
By Karen Goveia