The 2010 City of Eloy General Plan (including subsequent amendments) identifies an
“Eloy Planning Area” that goes beyond the city limits. The boundaries of the City
planning area extend east beyond I‐10 and encompasses Picacho Peak Stagefield to the
southeast of the city limits. The land use plan map from the Eloy General Plan does not
identify the AZARNG site even though it does identify other key areas such as the Picacho
Peak State Park (the Land Ownership Map in the General Plan does indicate the military
owns the property). Picacho Peak Stagefield and the immediate area surrounding the
site is shown as a light industrial land use. Surrounding the light industrial land use are
residential land uses ranging from low to medium‐high density. The General Plan
includes five planned growth areas, one of which extends slightly beyond the
southeastern border of the City, in the general direction of, but not reaching the Picacho
Peak Stagefield site. The City of Eloy General Plan does not include any provisions for
compatibility with military operations at Picacho Peak Stagefield.
Although there are no current plans for development around the Picacho Peak Stagefield
site, as discussed there are several planning documents that provide a framework for
future land use in the region. None of these planning documents include specific
provisions that would ensure future development is compatible with the military
operations at Picacho Peak Stagefield. In the future Pinal County and the City of Eloy
should coordinate with the AZARNG on proposed or planned development near Picacho
Peak Stagefield to ensure future planning and subsequent development is compatible
with the current helicopter and UAS activities at the site, to help preserve the viability of
the site and future military missions.
The AZARNG owns 320 acres of land at Picacho Peak Stagefield and approximately
235 acres are currently undeveloped. This provides an opportunity for future expansion
at the site to accommodate additional capabilities. The AZARNG has expressed interest
in utilizing some of the vacant land at Picacho Peak Stagefield to construct some
additional facilities, to potentially include adding four new helicopter landing lanes that
mirror the existing four lanes.
Picacho Peak Stagefield’s imaginary surfaces are similar in size to those at SBAH, with the
exception that the merged imaginary surfaces for each of the four parallel landing lanes
are wider. While the imaginary surfaces go outside of the fenced area around the
landing lanes, the majority are contained within the footprint of the installation. The
approach‐departure clearance surface extends roughly 50 feet past the southern
boundary and less than ten feet past the northern boundary. Figure 5‐14 illustrates the
existing imaginary surfaces and an estimation of future imaginary surfaces based on the
addition of four new landing lanes. If the landing lanes are constructed, the imaginary
surfaces would need to be developed based on the actual location and dimensions of the
landing lanes.
5-90
Compatibility Assessment