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Land Use Change Process
Development and Land Use Change Process For: Zoning Changes, Planned Area Developments (PAD), PAD Amendments, Special Use Permits, Industrial Use Permits, Comprehensive Plan Amendments
Concept Review Meeting
You have a choice for the first step of your Development and Land Use Change Process. If you are in the early stages of the process and are seeking staff consultation, you may schedule a Concept Review Meeting. Concept Review is an informal meeting with the staff from Planning, Public Works, Building Safety, Air Quality and Environmental Health. Concept Review is voluntary and is not required to submit a development application. Concept Reviews are held on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month only and last 45 minutes.
To schedule a Concept Review, you must submit a Concept Review Application and pay a fee of $140. The fee is non-refundable. When submitting a request for a Concept Review, be sure to fill out the application completely. You may either mail (P.O. Box 2973 Florence, AZ 85132) in your application and fee, payable to Pinal County, or you may bring it to the Florence office.
Pre-Application Meeting
If you are ready to apply, you will need to schedule a Pre-Application Meeting. Pre-Application is a more formal meeting with the staff from Planning, Public Works, Building Safety, Air Quality and Environmental Health. Your development application will not be accepted unless you have attended a Pre-Application Meeting.
The materials submitted for Pre-Application allows staff to understand the project and to give you substantial and focused feedback. Once you go over your plan with the staff, they may give you the application you will need and any further instructions necessary. Pre-application meetings are held the second and fourth Tuesday of every month only and last 1 hour.
To schedule a Pre-Application Meeting, you must submit a Pre-Application Application and pay a fee of $490. The fee is non-refundable. When submitting a request for a pre-application meeting, be sure to fill out the application completely. You may either mail (P.O. Box 2973 Florence, AZ 85132) in your application and fee, payable to Pinal County or you may bring it to the Florence office.
Planning & Zoning Commission & Board of Supervisors
When you have completed the application for your Zoning Changes, Planned Area Developments (PAD), PAD Amendments, Special Use Permits, Industrial Use Permits, and/or Comprehensive Plan Amendments and returned it with all required documents, the Planning staff will review the information. If the application is complete, your request will be assigned a case number and placed on the next available agenda for the Planning and Zoning Commission.
The Commission holds public meetings in which anyone from the public may attend and speak to support or oppose a request. You or your representative will make a formal presentation to the Commission and respond to any questions. The Commission can take any one of the three actions: continue the case to a future hearing, recommend approval to the Board of Supervisors or recommend denial to the Board. If the Commission makes a recommendation, your case will then be placed on the next available agenda for the Board of Supervisors.
The Board of Supervisors will review your case and vote to approve or deny your request. The Board of Supervisors is the only governing body that has legal authority to approve or deny your request.
Preparations
Please note that as you are considering rezoning, you should research the Development Services Code. Title 2 of the Development Services Code contains information regarding zoning, and will help you identify your current land use regulations and the land use regulations of the zone you are requesting; then you should research the Comprehensive Plan to be sure your land use fits within the Comprehensive Plan land use designation. If it does not, you would first need to request a Comprehensive Plan Amendment. This process also begins with a Concept Review. Once this process is complete, you may then begin the rezoning process. They may not run concurrently.
Further Notes
The average processing time for any of the above is five to six months. Please review the application fee amounts as well. The fee for Concept Review does not apply toward the application fee amounts. For the application fee amounts, please refer to the Services Fee Schedule.
If your project will be of a commercial nature - business, recreation vehicle (RV) Parks, 4-Plex, school or church site - contact this department to request a Site Plan Review.
Once you have successfully completed your Land Use Change or Site Plan Review and you wish to obtain building permits, please contact the Building Safety Department.