Small Town News

Clear zoning and voter approval go-ahead sought by school district for sale of some sites if buyer appears

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From the point of view of the Superior Unified School District, action taken Sept. 24 by the Superior Planning and Zoning Commission may eventually lighten the load for the district financially. It could help with a sale if a buyer is found for its Main Street property, the old Harding School.

Harding is located at 901 W. Main Street, on the south side of Main. Once a school that served generations of Superior children, the building and grounds are currently being used as a "bus bam" and warehouse type facility. The district uses it to service and store its school bus fleet.

The Harding structure itself, the school district has explained to the public on a number of occasions, is in a deteriorating condition. A small office building for the transportation department administration to use has been built on the grounds opposite the historic but worrisome old school itself.

The district is worried about Harding because no state school funding can be used to repair it since there are no students in the building. "The school district is forbidden to put out any money for the upkeep of that building," Superior School Superintendent Pete Guzman told the P&Z commissioners.

Without funding, Superior Schools can't maintain the property and its condition makes it a possible liability if the structure becomes worse or even collapses.

Guzman is requesting the town rezone the property from Rl-6 Residential (mixed use) to C-2 General Commercial. This would make it easier to quickly sell to any commercial business that wanted to buy it as the C-2 zoning is broad enough to cover most uses.

The C-2 zoning already in place might have helped the situation back in the spring of this year. That's when a developer came to the district with a tentative proposal to build a new bus barn on school property east of Mary Drive in exchange for the deed to the 2.21 Harding site acres. The developer had the thought of building a Family Dollar store on the Harding property. This would have required the C-2 zoning.

As it turned out, that deal did not go through and another developer has moved forward with a Family Dollar project on U.S. 60.

However, the district is going ahead and requesting the zoning change.

The P&Z commissioners questioned Guzman on a number of points. One was whether the district was aware that the commission is currently working on making possible changes to the town's zoning. That could mean the range of uses for the Harding site could also change.

Guzman said the district was aware of possible changes but could not afford to wait and that the C-2 zoning seemed to cover most uses that might arise.

Planning Commission Members Joy Eveland, Matt Mashaw and Bill Vogler voted to approve the request. Commissioner Pam Dalton-Rabago voted "no."

The P&Z is an advisory body to the Superior Town Council and its decision to "approve" the zoning change constitutes a recommendation only. The council is expected to review the request at a future meeting and can follow the commission's recommendation or reject it or take no action.

In the meantime, Superior Unified School District No. 15 is going ahead with preparations for a special election Nov. 3. Voter approval is required to sell or exchange Harding or the old Roosevelt school site so if the election is successful that approval would already be obtained if a buyer is found for these properties.

Roosevelt is another property the school district has publicly discussed selling. Also a structure that can be viewed as "historic" because of its place in the history of Superior and the hearts and minds of generations of Superiorites, Roosevelt in the last century has been an elementary school and a junior high. For years it served as the administration building for the Superior Unified School District as well. This administrative use continued even after Superior built a new high school/junior high and students were no longer taught at Roosevelt.

The site has and continues to be used for community and other uses and the district also utilizes it for its operations.

In the Nov. 3 election, voters will be asked to vote on the sale or exchange of real property that includes Harding and two Roosevelt parcels. The actual question on the ballot, according to literature already mailed to district voters, reads: "Shall the Governing Board of Superior Unified School District No. 15 of Pinal County, Arizona be authorized to sell or exchange one or more of the following described parcels of real property, or any portion thereof, and use the proceeds of any such sale to purchase a school site or sites or construct, improve and furnish school buildings?"

Parcel No. 1 listed for consideration on the ballot is "Roosevelt School" at 407 Lime Street. Parcel No. 2 is also at Roosevelt, listed as 199 N. Lobb Avenue. Parcel No. 3 is the "Harding School/Bus Warehouse" at 901W. Main Street.

The election information pamphlet lists one argument FOR the sale or exchange of real property: "The district cannot financially maintain some of the empty buildings, creating a serious liability."

As for the pamphlet's final word on the arguments AGAINST, it is simply: "None listed."



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