Goodyear City Council Approves New Zoning Ordinance Following Tech Industry Pushback

Community participation was modest compared with the scope of the zoning overhaul.

The Goodyear City Council voted 7-0 to adopt a comprehensive update to the city’s Zoning Ordinance, the first major overhaul since 1999.

According to the city, the update is intended to “protect our residents’ health, safety, and welfare” by modernizing land use regulations, updating development standards, expanding housing options, clarifying definitions, adding new land uses, improving usability, and ensuring compliance with current state and federal law.

This is a topic Jen’s Two Cents has covered throughout the recent Planning and Zoning process. At the City Council hearing, representatives from the Arizona Technology Council, Microsoft, and the Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association (AriSEIA) all urged the city to maintain flexibility when reviewing Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and data center projects moving forward.

Arizona Technology Council representative Cepand Alizadeh told council he had attended every meeting on the zoning update and thanked city staff for working with stakeholders. The Technology Council, a trade association representing more than 750 companies in industries including semiconductor manufacturing, data centers, renewable energy, and advanced technology, continued its request that BESS and data center applications be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Representing Microsoft, a representative from Rose Law thanked city staff and said the company looks forward to negotiating a development agreement with the city to address its remaining concerns. Vice Mayor Brannon Hampton later acknowledged those discussions, saying he wanted to ensure Microsoft and the city continued working together after adoption of the ordinance.

Autumn Johnson, executive director of the Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association, said the organization has worked on renewable energy and battery storage ordinances across Arizona, including in Surprise, Mesa, and Buckeye. While acknowledging improvements made since earlier drafts, she asked the council to preserve flexibility in the Special Use Permit process as Arizona expands the infrastructure needed to meet growing electricity demand.