Why residents of this Buckeye community are up in arms over multi-family housing

Buckeye residents of the Copper Falls neighborhood are up in arms over a massive influx of multi-family housing coming to their community. They're worried about the influx of crime and traffic that they say comes with multi-family housing.

Ken Galica, principal planner for the city, presented to the Buckeye City Council in June. Although the council approved the measure, District 1 Councilmember Tony Youngker excused himself from the vote because of a conflict of interest. Youngker lives in an adjacent homestead that was mentioned in the meeting, according to a Buckeye official

Copper Falls is a designated master-planned community in Buckeye. However, the community currently only consists of housing. Copper Falls is about three miles north of downtown Buckeye along South Miller Road.

What changed about Copper Falls' community master plan?

Under the previous master-planned community, the northern 72 acres of the about 275-acre community were designated for commercial use, offices and single-family homes. The plan would have allowed for 53 acres of homes at a total of two to three units per dwelling acre, for a maximum of 159 homes.

But the new amendments to the community master plan could see hundreds of units added to the same planning area. The new amendment axes the single-family homes entirely, making way for multi-family housing.

Under the amendment, Copper Falls could see an extra 720 homes.

23.2 acres of the land would be used for single-story, multi-family homes, with a maximum of 232 total units. That could include bungalow-style single-story homes and build-to-rent homes, which are essentially homes for rent that are on a single lot. Typically, homes for purchase are all on separate lots.

18.5 acres would be used for two-story multi-family housing at a maximum of 15 dwelling units per acre. That would lead to a maximum of 277 units.

About 15 acres would be used for three-story, multi-family housing for a maximum of 370 units. So, the total number of units on the 72 acres would be 879 homes, up from 159 with the previous community master plan.

The office space is axed as a part of the new amendment, and the commercial space is reduced from 21 acres to 16.5 acres.

The number of drive-throughs will be limited under the amendment, Galica said. Thrift stores and dollar stores will also be prohibited in the designated commercial areas.

Galica said the area is soon going to need an influx of housing with downtown Buckeye undergoing a revitalization process, and more jobs and multi-family housing projects in the works.

Several new large employers are coming to the area as well.

The Ross Dress for Less distribution center is expected to hire about 1,300 people. The KOREPlex lithium-ion battery facility is expected to eventually bring about 3,000 jobs to the area.

“There’s going to be a lot of employees coming to Buckeye, and they’re most likely going to need a place to live,” Galica said.

Galica said the city is looking to diversify its housing portfolio, as it currently doesn’t have an abundance of multi-family housing. And not everyone is looking to live in single-family homes, Galica said.

Why are residents complaining?

There will be at least 300 feet between the new housing developments and the nearby Northwood Park Estates neighborhood, and the planned Copper Falls III single-family homes, which would be north of Broadway Road.

But, some residents are concerned about issues that could crop up with multi-family housing. At the June City Council meeting, residents expressed concerns about the traffic on Broadway Road and Miller Road as well as light and noise pollution.

More: Not in my backyard: Metro Phoenix needs housing, but new apartments face angry opposition

But Galica said the developer will be making improvements to the southern part of Broadway Road.

Buckeye Traffic Engineer John Willett said two lanes will be provided in each direction to alleviate the influx of cars that will come with the multi-family housing. Willett said one additional lane in each direction could also be added between Broadway Road and Lower Buckeye Road. The developer would improve their half-street south of Broadway Road.

Residents also expressed concerns about crime, saying that crime is already going up in the area.

But, according to city documents, the developer hasn't found any evidence that more crime is associated with multi-family housing than with single-family housing.

The perception that multi-family housing will cause higher crime rates is an argument commonly used to protest building them. While Buckeye hasn't completed its own study on the matter, few have shown a correlation between the two. In fact, some studies have shown that crime rates actually decrease with multi-family housing.

One study found that the perception comes from more police calls to the same address since there are typically many apartment residents living at the same address.

Find out more: Do apartments bring traffic, crime and low home values? Some Surprise residents think so

Residents have also stated that schools are at or over capacity, and the city doesn't have room to take in any more students. The police and fire departments are already stretched thin, residents argued.

"We only live here and pay all your salaries and all the taxes to make the city run, but then our opinions don't matter," resident Melissa Hamilton said in addressing the City Council.

Some residents also voiced concerns about the city's water supply. Developers of single-family homes need to obtain a Certificate of Assured Water Supply from the Arizona Department of Water Resources if they are building on more than six lots. But because rental communities — including build-to-rent homes — are typically built on one lot, developers don't need to go through that process.

Buckeye Water Resources Director Terry Lowe said the developer is required to provide for the development, which could include the developer buying into existing water infrastructure or paying impact fees for existing infrastructure.

Reach the reporter at ahardle@gannett.com or by phone at 480-259-8545. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @AlexandraHardle .

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Why residents of this Buckeye community are up in arms over multi-family housing