Board approves guidelines for Pinal County metropolis

A plan to guide Pinal County's growth over the next decade now includes a roadmap to transform about 275 square miles of state land into a sustainable desert community near the Superstition Mountains. In a 2 to 1 vote last week, the Board of Supervisors adopted a major amendment to the county's comprehensive plan that includes nearly 30 new policies for the future development of an area called Superstition Vistas, a desert metropolis that planners envision will offer major employment centers, ample recreation and a wide variety of housing. "The list really sets in stone, at least for the time being, what a potential buyer or developer in that area will have to do to make the development a reality," said Steve Abraham, Pinal County planning manager, adding that a north-south freeway and a passenger-rail corridor were also earmarked in the amendment. The Superstition Vistas project area skims Apache Junction and Queen Creek and stretches toward Florence. It is nearly the size of Mesa, Chandler, Tempe and Gilbert combined, and could one day be home to a million people, planners say.

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