Johnson Ranch developers now face impact fees

Since the start of Johnson Ranch, its developers have not paid development fees for road or infrastructure improvements — but will soon start.

A 10-year development agreement between Johnson Ranch and Pinal County has expired, and last week the county Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to reject a renewal of the plan.

A renewal would have prevented the developer from paying an estimated $11.3 million in development impact fees for another 10 years.

Johnson Ranch is among more than 30 developments, a majority along Pinal County’s traffic-choked Hunt Highway corridor, that have similar development agreements in place. Those other agreements begin to expire in 2009, said Ken Buchanan, assistant county manager for development services.

“A majority of (the development agreements) are in the Hunt Highway area because that was the first growth area,” he said.

The agreements were put in place before the county adopted development fees in 2006.

The Johnson Ranch agreement was in place for 10 years beginning in 1997 and was set to expire this month. Scottsdale-based Sunbelt Holdings, the developer of Johnson Ranch, requested renewal of the agreement for another 10 years.

“The agreement at the time, when there were different circumstances, did not require the developer to pay into the Superstition Valley Subregional Transportation Fund for transportation as that was not adopted at the time,” Buchanan said. “The agreement also exempted any and all development fees. At the time there were no impact fees.”

In the agreement, Johnson Ranch was required to provide a school site, establish water and wastewater capacities, and construct portions of Bella Vista Road and Hunt Highway, which were largely dirt roads.

The planned area development was for 6,600 homes. With about 1,300 lots left to develop and the agreement not being renewed, Pinal County stands to gain about $11.3 million in development fees.

Representatives of Sunbelt Holdings said they had no comment on the board’s decision.

Buchanan said he couldn’t estimate how much money the county has lost through the Johnson Ranch agreement.

“You can’t use today’s dollars on what was done then,” he said. “Things have vastly changed in the area.”

Pinal County’s Hunt Highway and Ironwood Drive areas need more than $359 million in road improvements, Buchanan said.

The $11.3 million will be “a piece of the funding equation,” he said.

“In light of the growth and the exponential growth that’s occurred, circumstances have changed,” Buchanan said. “The circumstances facing the board are vastly different than in 1997.”