County approves change to allow solar farm near Casa Grande airport
by Heather Smathers | Casa Grande Dispatch
The proposed location of a solar production facility, in blue, is near the Casa Grande Municipal Airport, outlined in red. The red represents the current and future expansion of the airport./Pinal County
County officials have approved amending the planned use of a land parcel near Casa Grande that could pave the way for a solar farm.
On Wednesday, the Pinal County Board of Supervisors approved a change to the county’s comprehensive plan, the document that guides county planners, to allow zoning of a 265-acre site to an “employment” designation; the parcel currently is zoned “low density residential.”
The site is owned by the State Land Trust, which would lease the land to Energy One LLC to build a photo-voltaic solar energy production facility. The entire project would encompass 438 acres. The project would be located between Rodeo and McCartney roads and west of Thornton Road. The closed ASARCO mine property is to the northwest of the proposed plant and the Casa Grande Municipal Airport is to the northeast.
