Stone Butte East Rezone and Minor GPA Project Narrative

Stone Butte East Southwest of SWC Cave Creek Road & Jomax Road 0

Development Team

Developer/Homebuilder D.R. Horton 20410 N. 19th Ave. Suite 100 Phoenix, AZ 85027

Attorneys/Representative Withey Morris, PLC 2525 E. Arizona Biltmore Cir. Suite A-212 Phoenix, AZ 85016

Planning & Landscape Architect ABLA 310 E. Rio Salado Pkwy.

Tempe, AZ 85281

Engineer Hilgart Wilson 2141 E. Highland Ave. Suite 250 Phoenix, AZ 85016

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Table of Contents Introduction ...................................................................................................... 4 Request and Project Overview ......................................................................... 4 General Plan Core Values ................................................................................ 5 Connect People and Places: Opportunity Sites .................................................................................. 5 Celebrate Our Diverse Communities & Neighborhoods: Certainty & Character............................................................................ 6 Connected Neighborhoods ................................................................... 6 Healthy Neighborhoods......................................................................... 7 Diverse Neighborhoods......................................................................... 7 Development Standards ................................................................................... 8 Traffic Circulation and Parking.......................................................................... 9 Additional Information ..................................................................................... 10

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Exhibits Aerial Map ................................................................................................. Tab 1 General Plan Map ..................................................................................... Tab 2 Zoning Map ............................................................................................... Tab 3 Rezoning Exhibit ....................................................................................... Tab 4 General Plan Amendment Exhibit .............................................................. Tab 5 Conceptual Site Plan ................................................................................. Tab 6 Trails Exhibit.............................................................................................. Tab 7 Conceptual Landscape Plan ...................................................................... Tab 8 Single Family Elevation Examples ............................................................. Tab 9 Casita Elevations..................................................................................... Tab 10 Multi-Family Elevations ........................................................................... Tab 11

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Introduction This application is for Stone Butte East, a proposed D.R. Horton residential community on approximately 418 gross acres located southwest of the southwest corner of Cave Creek Road and Jomax Road in Phoenix, Arizona (the “Property”). See Aerial Map at Tab 1. Stone Butte East will be the continuation of D.R. Horton’s successful Stone Butte single-family residential community to the southwest of the subject site. The Property is located just south of Cave Buttes Dike Dam #2, sandwiched between Cave Creek Road to the east and the Cave Buttes Recreation Area to the west.

To the south/southeast of the Property is the Desert Peak single-family residential community, and to the southwest is the Stone Butte single-family residential community as described above.

Per the City of Phoenix 2015 General Plan Land Use Map, the Property has a mixed land use designation – the vast majority of which is 2-5 du/ac with small areas of Preserves and Parks/Open Space as illustrated in the General Plan Map at Tab 2. The site is currently zoned S-1 as shown on the Zoning Map at Tab 3. The Property is currently vacant, unimproved desert land.

Request and Project Overview In order to develop Stone Butte East, D.R. Horton seeks to rezone the Property from S-1 to R1-10, R3A, and R-2 as illustrated in the Rezoning Exhibit at Tab 4. Additionally, D.R. Horton is requesting to amend the General Plan for approximately 14.38 gross acres from Residential 2-5 du/ac to Residential 10-15 du/ac and approximately 15.08 gross acres from Residential 2-5 du/ac to Residential 15+ du/ac as shown on the General Plan Amendment Exhibit at Tab 5.

In total, Stone Butte East will offer 1,545 residences on approximately 418 gross acres in a spacious, beautifully designed residential community – complementing and building upon the success and accolades that Stone Butte has achieved. See Conceptual Site Plan at Tab 6. Stone Butte East will offer a sprawling system of pedestrian paths and multi-use trails as illustrated in the Trails Exhibit at Tab 7. Stone Butte East’s trail system will connect to existing trails and pathways in the surrounding communities to create a more complete regional network of multi-use trails and pedestrian paths.

Because of the Property’s topography and existing washes, an extraordinary amount of the site will be preserved as open space – approximately 174 acres or 41.6% of the site. The community will be generously landscaped and planted with a lush palette of drought-tolerant, low-water use trees, shrubs, and groundcover that will complement the surrounding desert landscape while providing abundant shade and attractive surroundings for residents and visitors. See Conceptual Landscape Plan at Tab 8.

As illustrated by the conceptual site plan, the vast majority of residences will be detached single-family homes with a variety of lot sizes ranging from 45’ wide to 65’ wide to suit a wide range of lifestyles and needs while maintaining the high standards for quality and design upon which D.R. Horton has built its reputation as the nation’s leading homebuilder. See Single Family Elevation Examples at Tab 9.

As a complement to the single-family component, D.R. Horton also seeks to develop approximately 14.38 acres with 140 single-family for-rent casitas – a relatively new product in D.R. Horton’s portfolio that is gaining popularity around the valley and in other D.R. Horton communities. The casitas will be offered in either one-story or a combination of one-story and two-story duplex configurations depending

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on market conditions. The casitas offer residents the privacy and spaciousness of a single-family home with the convenience and lock-and-leave lifestyle of a professionally-managed community. See Casita Elevations at Tab 10.

Finally, in the northeast corner of the site D.R. Horton will develop a luxury multi-family apartment community with approximately 260 dwelling units on 15.08 gross acres. The gated community will be highly amenitized with a residence club, pool and spa area, fitness center, outdoor kitchen and barbeques, recreation lawns, and a dog park. The surface-parked, three-story walk-up residences will offer private balconies for each unit and a series of garages on the ground level available for residents to rent. See Multi-Family Elevations at Tab 11.

Stone Butte East is a seamless continuation of the Stone Butte community to the southwest, utilizing a large, unique site to offer a balanced mix of housing types and lot sizes in a single, beautifully-designed community. The proposed community will provide unmatched value to future homeowners and residents through quality construction and design that will stand the test of time, and provide a considerable boost to the City of Phoenix’s housing inventory – satisfying several important City policy plans and land use goals.

General Plan Core Values Core Value: Connect People and Places Opportunity Sites: To promote development of vacant parcels or redevelopment of underutilized parcels within the developed area of the city that are consistent with the character of the area or with the area’s transitional objectives.

Land Use: Promote and encourage compatible development and redevelopment with a mix of housing types in neighborhoods close to employment centers, commercial areas, and where transit or transportation alternatives exist.

As described above, Stone Butte East will offer high-quality residential options for a broad spectrum of lifestyles and housing needs, from large floor plan single-family homes to garden-style apartments. The community’s location – adjacent to Cave Creek Road with quick access to Loop 101 and SR-51 – provides an excellent option for individuals and families seeking to enjoy a more suburban lifestyle outside of the city center without sacrificing the conveniences or relatively short commutes of urban living.

It is relatively uncommon for a single homebuilder to design and construct such a broad range of housing products, particularly in single community. This is due to the considerable differences in site development, design, and construction for single-family detached, single-family rental, and multi-family development. With its considerable resources and dedicated divisions for all residential product types, D.R. Horton is able to build multi-faceted communities that maintain a level of cohesiveness and thematic consistency that is unachievable in master-planned communities with multiple builders.

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Core Value: Celebrate Our Diverse Communities & Neighborhoods Certainty & Character: Every neighborhood and community should have a level of certainty. Ensure that development, redevelopment, and infrastructure supports and reinforces the character and identity of each unique community and neighborhood.

Land Use: New development and expansion or redevelopment of existing development in or near residential areas should be compatible with existing uses and consistent with adopted plans.

Design: Protect and enhance the character of each neighborhood and its various housing lifestyles through new development that is compatible in scale, design, and appearance.

Design: Protect the neighborhood’s views of open space, mountains, and man-made or natural landmarks.

Stone Butte East is an ideal use of the undeveloped 418 gross acres that comprises the Property. The proposed site plan preserves and extends the suburban residential character of the area established by Stone Butte to the southwest and Desert Peak to the south and southeast. The site layout is driven by the existing and established land uses to ensure the entirety of the proposed community is contextually appropriate. Lots of comparable size and with have been placed adjacent to the existing Stone Butte and Desert Peak communities to ensure compatibility and a seamless transition.

The highest-density elements of the project – the casitas and multi-family apartments – are appropriately located in the northeast corner of the Property, nearest to the major arterial intersection of Cave Creek Road and Jomax Road. Similarly, the largest lots and lowest densities in the Stone Butte East are located along the western edge of the development adjacent to the mountain preserve open space, creating a natural transition to the undeveloped desert terrain.

In order to preserve existing views of the mountains in the Cave Buttes Recreation Area, nearly all of the hillside terrain on the western end of the Property will be preserved. Approximately 81.73 acres of the hillside area, nearly 20% of the overall site, will remain undisturbed and undeveloped. Finally, approximately 9.53 acres will be dedicated to the Cave Creek Road Scenic Corridor with a landscaped, 140-foot-wide tract along Cave Creek Road containing a 10-foot-wide multi-use trail.

Connected Neighborhoods: Ensure connectivity to resources and services for neighborhoods and communities.

Ensure a cohesive, connected community through adequate venues for community interaction, community building activities and events, and the sharing of information about community issues and services.

Design: Design and locate new neighborhoods to promote access (both physical and visual) to parks and open space. New developments should also provide convenient pedestrian and bicycle access to transit stops, schools and other neighborhood amenities.

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As illustrated by the Trails Exhibit at Tab 7, Stone Butte East will offer an extensive multi-use trail and pedestrian path system that connects to existing paths and trails in the surrounding communities and along Cave Creek Road and Desert Peak Parkway. These trail connections will provide a critical link to the larger regional trail system that will allow residents access to desert preserves, regional parks, and other amenities.

Healthy Neighborhoods: Ensure all communities and neighborhoods are designed and have the necessary infrastructure to allow residents to enjoy a healthy lifestyle.

Design: Plan and design communities and neighborhoods to be pedestrian friendly and walkable.

As noted above, facilitating alternative modes of transportation and convenient access to multi-use trail systems is a critical component of Stone Butte East. The proposed trail network throughout the site provides multiple options to traverse the community and surrounding area on foot or by bike.

Diverse Neighborhoods: Encourage communities and neighborhoods to be a mix of ages, incomes and ethnicities and provide housing suitable to residents with special needs.

A diverse range of housing choices, densities, and prices in each village should be encouraged.

Land Use: Include a mix of housing types and densities where appropriate within each village that support a broad range of lifestyles.

There is a persistent, growing need for a diverse mix of high-quality housing options in the City of Phoenix and the larger Phoenix Metropolitan Area. The Valley continues to experience record growth as new residents flock to Phoenix from neighboring states at an unprecedented rate. Consequently, the housing supply across all market sectors and product types simply cannot keep up with demand. The Housing Phoenix plan, adopted by the City Council in 2020, calls for an additional 50,000 housing units by 2030 to address the housing shortage.

To date, the City has added approximately 19,318 residential units since the plan’s adoption. Multi-product, master-planned residential communities like Stone Butte East serve an important role in the housing inventory – providing a range of housing options to suit a variety of individuals and families in a single, cohesive community. Stone Butte East’s proposed 1,545 residential units represent 5% of the remaining 30,690 residences that must be constructed or preserved to meet the Housing Phoenix plan goals in the next eight years – a massive contribution to the housing supply by any measure.

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Development Standards R1-10 Standards Standards Development Option Gross Acreage Maximum Total Units Density Minimum Lot Width Building Height Maximum Building Setbacks

Open Space

Requirements for R1-10

Provisions on Site Plan

Conventional or PRD

PRD

N/A

386.87

1,741

1,145

4.5 du/ac

2.95 du/ac

45’

45’

2 stories/30 feet

2 stories/30 feet

Street (front, rear or side): 15' (in addition to landscape setback)

Street (front, rear or side): 15' (in addition to landscape setback)

Property line (rear):

Property line (rear):

15' (1-story)

15' (1-story)

20' (2-story)

20' (2-story)

Property line (side):

Property line (side):

10' (1-story)

10' (1-story)

15' (2-story)

15' (2-story)

N/A

41.59%

R-2 Standards Standards

Requirements for R-3A

Provisions on Site Plan

Conventional or PRD

PRD

Gross Acreage

N/A

14.38

Maximum Total Units

172

140

12 du/ac (PRD w/bonus)

9.74 du/ac

Development Option

Density

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Lot Coverage

45% Maximum

45% Maximum

Building Height Maximum

2 stories/30 feet

2 stories/30 feet

20' adjacent to a public street; this area to be in common ownership unless lots front on the perimeter public street;

20' adjacent to a public street; this area to be in common ownership unless lots front on the perimeter public street;

10' adjacent to property line

10' adjacent to property line

Minimum 5% Gross Area

Minimum 5% Gross Area

Per Section 702

Per Section 702

Perimeter Standards

Common Areas Parking

R-3A Standards Standards

Requirements for R-3A

Provisions on Site Plan

Conventional or PRD

PRD

Gross Acreage

N/A

15.08

Maximum Total Units

398

260

26.4 du/ac (PRD w/bonus)

17.24 du/ac

Lot Coverage

45% Maximum

45% Maximum

Building Height Maximum

3 stories/40 feet

3 stories/40 feet

20' adjacent to a public street; this area to be in common ownership unless lots front on the perimeter public street;

20' adjacent to a public street; this area to be in common ownership unless lots front on the perimeter public street;

15' adjacent to property line

15' adjacent to property line

Minimum 5% Gross Area

Minimum 5% Gross Area

Per Section 702

Per Section 702

Development Option

Density

Perimeter Standards

Common Areas Parking

Traffic Circulation and Parking A traffic impact analysis prepared by CivTech has been submitted with this application.

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Additional Information Are there any unusual physical characteristics of the site that may restrict or affect development? If so, explain. What improvements and uses currently exist on the property?

The Property has several geographical and structural characteristics that restrict development. The westernmost 81.73 acres of the Property are in a hillside area that will remain undeveloped due to the steep grade. Additionally, an existing drainage wash runs north to south along the western third of the site, encompassing approximately 10.74 acres that will be preserved and remain undeveloped. Finally, a 230-foot-wide overhead power line easement traverses the southern end of the Property from east to west and must remain undeveloped to allow perpetual access to the power lines.

What impact will the proposed project have on current or future surrounding land use and zoning patterns?

The proposed project will have no meaningful impact on current or future surrounding land use patterns.

The Property was previously awarded to D.R. Horton via auction from the Arizona State Land Department and was zoned S-1 as a placeholder until development was ready to occur. The developable portion of the Property has a General Plan land use designation of Residential 2-5 du/ac.

Although multiple zoning districts and a Minor General Plan Amendment are being requested in this application, the overall proposed density of 3.7 du/ac of the entire project fits squarely within current Residential 2-5 du/ac land use designation.

Are there unique design considerations proposed, beyond Zoning Ordinance requirements, that reduce development impacts or would further compatibility with adjacent properties? If so, explain.

The preservation of the undeveloped hillside area and existing wash, totaling over 91 acres, will help retain the natural desert feel of the area and views of the Cave Buttes Recreation Area mountains for existing residents.

Why is the subject property not suitable for development as currently zoned?

The Property is currently zoned S-1, which would allow for no more than one residence per acre. The S1 zoning district is typically a placeholder for future zoning – as indicated by the current General Plan land use designation of Residential 2-5 du/ac.

Other than the development review process, what other approval processes are required to accomplish the development proposed, i.e., abandonments, variances, use permits, state or county licenses or permits, etc.?

No.

10 | S t o n e B u t t e E a s t

TAB 1

Aerial Map

Southwest of SWC Jomax Road & Cave Creek Road – Phoenix, AZ

N

TAB 2

General Plan Map

Southwest of SWC Cave Creek Road & Jomax Road – Phoenix, AZ

N

TAB 3

Zoning Map

Southwest of SWC Cave Creek Road & Jomax Road – Phoenix, AZ

N

TAB 4

EXISTING ZONING S-1

CAVE BUTTES DIKE DAM #2 EXISTING ZONING S-1

LEGEND PROPOSED R-3A PRD ZONING TABLE B - MULTI-FAMILY 23.1 DU/AC 26.4 DU/AC WITH BONUS PROPOSED R-2 PRD ZONING TABLE B - MULTI-FAMILY 6.5 DU/AC 12.0 DU/AC WITH BONUS

GARDEN 15.08 AC PROPOSED R-3A PRD ZONING

PROPOSED R1-10 PRD ZONING TABLE A - SINGLE-FAMILY 3.5 DU/AC 4.5 DU/AC WITH BONUS

CASITAS 14.38 AC PROPOSED R-2 PRD ZONING

EXISTING ZONING S-1

consultant team

planner / landscape architect: ABLA 310 e. rio salado parkway tempe, arizona 85281 p. 480.530.0077 contact: alex fish

SINGLE-FAMILY PROPOSED R1-10 PRD ZONING 386.87 AC

client:

EXISTING ZONING S-1

EE KR

OA

D

D.R. Horton 20410 n. 19th avenue, suite 100 phoenix, arizona 85027 o. 480.368.1081 c. 480.266.9211 contact: dan bonow

VE

CR

site data located north and south of the happy valley alignment and west of cave creek road in phoenix, arizona applicant: ABLA contact: alex fish existing zoning: S-1 proposed zoning: R1-10 PRD, R-3A PRD, R-2 PRD gross acreage: 416.33 ac.

CA

address:

STONE BUTTE EXISTING ZONING R1-18 DESERT

PEA K

PA

PROJECT SITE

RK

STONE BUTTE EXISTING ZONING R1-6

DESERT PEAK EXISTING ZONING R1-8

EXISTING ZONING S-1 DEER VALLEY DR

EXISTING ZONING R1-6

EXISTING ZONING R1-8

VICINITY MAP

CAVE CREEK ROAD & HAPPY VALLEY ROAD Pre-App Zoning Plan

N

300'

Plan Scale 1:300'

600'

900'

Date: 01-28-2022 ABLASTUDIO.COM

W ESTRELLA DR BLACK MOUNTAIN BOULEVARD

NC

AV E

CR

EE

KR

D

W AY

TAB 5

General Plan Amendment Exhibit

15+ du/ac 10-15 du/ac

Southwest of SWC Cave Creek Road & Jomax Road – Phoenix, AZ

N

TAB 6

TAB 7

TAB 8

TAB 9

TAB 10

TAB 11