Marana Community Conversation Meeting (10/8/25)

Tortolita Alliance (TA) attended the Marana Community Conversation Meeting at the Dove Mountain CSTEM K-8 School on 10/8/25. The topics included: (1) Marana Growth, (2) Transportation, and (3) Data Centers.

Marana utilized a new approach for these meetings. Attendees are not allowed to raise their hands and ask verbal questions. Attendees can fill out a question card, and the presenters will answer the question during the meeting if it is pertinent to the topics, and will follow up with the attendee after the meeting via email or phone if the question is not answered during the meeting. Seems like a logical way to keep the meeting moving and still respond to questions.

It is refreshing to see Marana becoming more proactive and transparent with its communication with Marana residents.

The following presents key takeaways from each topic, along with a link to the meeting presentations provided by Marana after the meeting.

Marana Growth

• Marana has issued an average of 800 new building permits per year for the last 5 years

• Dove Mountain Specific Plan is almost built out and will reach 6,200 residential lots compared to the original plan for 9,159 residential lots. This comports with the Tortolita Alliance (TA) spreadsheet (click on the link below) that shows the number of Dove Mountain lots by subdivision.

• Marana is still pursuing the purchase of the Tortolita Preserve from the Arizona State Land Department (ASLD), but that will not happen for at least 5 years. It was revealed that ASLD will want to sell (for development) some of the ASLD land adjacent to the Tortolita Preserve that is within the Tortolita Fan as part of a deal. This has been proposed by ASLD in the past--see The Secret Plan To Develop The Tortolita Fan, Tangerine Road Corridor-Part I, and Tangerine Road Corridor-Part II.

• Extension of Dove Mountain Blvd to the west is shown as a dotted line on the Marana General Plan, but is unlikely to be built anytime soon.

Transportation

• Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) of Pima County is a separate governmental entity with representatives from local, tribal, and state government serving on the Board

• RTA was initially funded with a half-cent excise (sales) tax in 2006, and that funding ends in 2026

• RTA has developed a new transportation plan for the next 20 years that will fund $2.67 billion of transportation infrastructure projects.

• A new half-cent excise (sales) tax is proposed to be on the ballot in March 2026

• Marana RTA projects include:

  • Moore Road/I-10 Interchange (to be built first to allow I-10 on/off when Tangerine/I-10 is completely shut down)

  • Tangerine Road/I-10 Interchange

  • Cortaro Road/I-10 Interchange

  • Ina Road Improvements

  • Thornydale Road Improvements

  • Silverbell Road Improvements

• $91.3 million of RTA investment leverages $486 million in ADOT funding! Therefore, it is really important to vote in favor of the half-cent sales tax.

• Marana is not opposed to the proposed I-11 interstate highway project and may annex land out to the proposed highway if it is ever built.

Data Centers

• Marana is expecting an application for a Data Center in the near future

• Marana has proactively developed and approved a Data Center Ordinance that addresses location, noise, appearance, water, and power issues

• Recommend listening to a very good Marana Real Talk With The Town Podcast-Data Centers