Many residents expected a slowdown in residential home growth in Oro Valley after the 2018 election
One of the things readers have said to us is that Oro Valley home growth has been rapid at a time when they expected home growth to slow down given that a new council was elected to do just that when it took office in November of 2018.Indeed, the opposite has happened
Rather than seeing a decrease in residential construction, the town has seen an increase in the number of residential building permits issued in 2020 and 2021. (See chart at right, below)
Where did this increase in homebuilding growth come from?
According to Town of Oro Valley Planning Manager Bayer Vella speaking to the Planning and Zoning Commission on March 1, the increase came from actions taken by Mayor Hiremath led councils. Those councils passed several general plan amendments and rezoning changes that created this substantial growth.
It is a "pipeline" of residential home building growth, according to Vella, spearheaded by two major developments."
These two projects "...are really the more dramatic areas of change.”
Capella Project
Perhaps the biggest area of concentration is at LaCholla and Naranja. It is known as Capella. That development will have as many as 600 homes. A Hiremath council led the approval of a general plan amendment for Capella in 2015. They followed with a rezoning of the property in May, 2018. "We are just starting to see ground broken there in terms of subdividing subdivision development and I certainly expect it to accelerate." 
Vella also pointed to a second development project. In December of 2017, the Hiremath Council approved a general plan amendment and zoning changes for the Tranquilo project. That's 227 units which are being built on the edge of Big Wash. "They are grading now and prepping the site that's across the street from Sun City, right under or near the bridge…a bridge across Big Wash." (See our editorial on this)
Vella: Town is no longer building a “pipeline”
Things changed in 2018 with a new council. “Right now, Oro Valley is not building a pipeline. There have not been, ... residential rezoning ... of size to create a bump like that in the future.”
LOVE Fact check: There have been no general plan amendment or rezoning to accommodate large residential developments under the Winfield Council. In fact, there have been no general plan amendments at all.
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