San Tan Valley Charts Its Path as Arizona's Newest Town
San Tan Valley became Arizona's 92nd municipality last August, when voters approved Proposition 495 with roughly two-thirds support after several earlier incorporation efforts had failed over the prior two decades. The move shifted San Tan Valley, a community of more than 100,000 residents, from an unincorporated part of Pinal County into a town with the authority to form its own government, pass local legislation, and provide public works and other civic functions.
What Changes for San Tan Valley
Joel Millman, director of workforce and economic development for Pinal County, told AZRE magazine that the county was previously responsible for San Tan Valley's economic growth strategies. Now that the town has incorporated, Millman said Pinal County is coordinating with San Tan Valley's town leadership on their own vision for the community rather than directing it.
According to Millman, it will take time for San Tan Valley to hire its own economic development director and stand up a planning and zoning department. In the meantime, Pinal County says it will continue supporting the town's efforts to attract new business. Millman also noted that a number of people now working for the town previously worked for Pinal County, bringing that institutional experience with them into the new town government.
The Partnership Going Forward
Millman described the relationship as an ongoing partnership: San Tan Valley now has greater control over its own development decisions, whether that means continuing county-era plans or setting new priorities, while Pinal County continues to offer support as the town builds out its own departments and staff.
From Brian
Now that San Tan Valley is officially a town, it's in the process of building its own foundation of government — working through a transition period with Pinal County to establish solid footing rather than continuing to operate under county direction. For buyers and sellers in the area, that shift is worth paying attention to: local decisions about zoning, planning, and what gets built where are increasingly being made by San Tan Valley itself, based on what the town actually needs rather than county-wide priorities. It's early in that transition, and one I'll keep watching as the town builds out its own departments and leadership.