Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Denies BNSF Land Use Designation Change –– UPDATED, 5:30 P.M. ET
Written by David C. Lester, Editor-in-Chief
Photo by David C. Lester
PHOENIX, Ariz. –– BNSF has hit some choppy air in its progress toward building a new logistics hub in Arizona.
As mentioned in our original story posted earlier today, we reached out to BNSF for a comment about the situation in Maricopa County regarding rejection of BNSF’s request for re-zoning the area where it wants to build a logistics hub, which would require it be annexed as Mixed Use Employment instead of its current designation as Single Family Rural. BNSF responded to our request for a statement via email a bit ago:
Unfortunately, [the] Maricopa County Board of Supervisors voted [this week] not to approve the Major Comprehensive Plan Amendment to correct the County’s own mapping error. This vote should have been straightforward and administrative in nature; however, the Board of Supervisors ignored the simplicity of our request and chose politics over smart growth.
Our $3.2 billion investment in Logistics Park Phoenix will bring 76,000+ jobs, almost $4 billion in labor income to the economy, and generate $258 million annually in state and local taxes for local infrastructure, including Maricopa County schools, community colleges, flood control, and more.
We remain undeterred and committed to continued dialogue with stakeholders as we move forward. We are confident that LPP is the best way to serve our customers, as well as the Arizona residents and businesses that depend on the goods we transport, while maximizing the benefits of rail.
BNSF
In June of last year, RT&S reported on BNSF’s plan to build a 4,000+ – acre logistics hub in Maricopa County, near Phoenix, Ariz. You can read that story below.
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors announced this week that BNSF’s “Intermodal Comprehensive Plan Amendment,” which would have designated land where the railroad intends to build the logistics hub to Mixed Use Employment from its present designation as Single Family Rural, has been rejected. The vote was unanimous.
This decision from the Board does not, however, scuttle BNSF’s plan to build the hub, but BNSF must make some changes to the plan in order to be consistent with policies contained in the Comprehensive Plan the County has for the area.
Board Chairman Thomas Galvin said “I am a strong supporter of economic development and have no doubt BNSF’s plans for a railway logistics hub in one of the Valley’s fastest-growing areas would bring jobs and economic benefits to our region. However, I believe economic vitality depends on a shared commitment between taxpayers and business to strengthen and expand the community infrastructure needed for growth. Without the necessary infrastructure in place, I cannot support a land use designation change at this time.”
County Supervisor Debbie Lesko, who represents the area where BNSF wants to build the logistics hub, said “I am grateful to the thousands of constituents who have engaged in this process. Their input was vital to my decision. The fundamental reality is that the infrastructure and service framework necessary to support this level of development is not in place.”
The Board of Supervisors adopted a plan in 2023 referred to as the White Tank Grand Avenue Comprehensive Plan, which governs growth and development in the area. Then, BNSF was meeting with the City of Surprise to bring about annexation which would provide services necessary to support a railway logistics hub. However, BNSF’s efforts toward annexation into the City of Surprise failed. After that, BNSF requested a Mixed Use Employment designation within the unincorporated county but service agreements were not in place.
The Board of Supervisors kept the land use designation case going, with several extensions, in order to allow BNSF to coordinate and refine its plans. Meanwhile, the City of Surprise decided to oppose the BNSF project as it currently stands.
Supervisor Lesko said “Our County’s planning framework places a high priority on regional consistency and collaboration. Advancing a large-scale employment land use designation in unincorporated Maricopa without City coordination or service agreements in place risks fragmented growth and duplicative service efforts.”
RT&S has reached out to BNSF for comment and we’ll update this story when we receive it.
