Large housing development proposed for Gateway area

After years of inactivity, the potential developers of a large tract of land near Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport have submitted a proposal that could possibly place residential development south of Williams Field Road. The proposal could conflict with a 2006 agreement that prevents housing in the area to protect test-flight paths for Boeing's Apache attack helicopters, which are produced in Mesa. Boeing negotiated the agreement covering the southern half of the General Motors Desert Proving Ground with the city and William Levine, the property owner. Now, Levine is planning to sell part of his 1,800-acre tract to a Canadian development firm, which is seeking zoning for a master-planned residential community after years of inactivity during the recession. Paul Gilbert, a Scottsdale zoning attorney, said he helped negotiate the agreement barring residential development while he represented Levine in 2006. But he said the agreement would allow the Hill Companies of Canada, operating as Harvard Investments, to "revisit the issue" of residential development south of Williams Field Road if the circumstances change. "We have not made a final decision on that yet," Gilbert said. "We don't want to hurt Boeing either." Boeing is one of Mesa's few large employers, a fact that is not lost on Mesa Mayor Scott Smith, who has been working to attract more development to the Gateway area.

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