Islamic cemetery expansion approved west of Maricopa
By Mark Cowling | Casa Grande Dispatch
FLORENCE — The Pinal County Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of a five-acre expansion of the Islamic Cultural Center of Tempe’s cemetery west of Maricopa.
Pinal County Planning Manager Steve Abraham said the county received no letters for or against the cemetery, and no citizens spoke at the commission’s public hearing last week. The property is located on San Rafael Road, a quarter-mile north of State Route 238. The request, which must go before the Board of Supervisors for final approval, is for a special use permit in a General Rural zone for a cemetery.
The five acres will be an expansion to the west of a cemetery that has been operating since the early 1990s. The expanded cemetery could eventually have up to 7,500 burials, which could lead to increased traffic in the area, Abraham told the commission. He said the project must still go through a site plan review and a traffic impact analysis.
