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The Florence Town Council met on Monday, March 4, 2013 and voted 7-0 to exercise its power of eminent domain to acquire property located on Hunt Highway owned by Curis Resources.
“I believe that using the Town’s power of eminent domain to acquire the Curis property for public purposes is in the best interests of the people of the Town of Florence”, says Florence Town Manager, Charles Montoya.
“Curis has claimed that it has a legal non-conforming use which allows it to perform in-situ mining on all of its property. Arizona law authorizes the Town to remove non-conforming uses by condemning such property”.
The purposes for acquisition of this property include the elimination of a claimed legal non-conforming use of the property, the acquisition of water rights, acquisition of a site for a future wastewater treatment plant, as well as sites for the location of other Town facilities, buildings and related improvements.
Mr. Montoya goes on to say, “I believe that acquiring the water rights, which exist on the Curis property, will ensure that the Town can meet the water needs of its residents for many years to come”.
The property is approximately 1,187 acres and is included within the Merrill Ranch Master Plan and is zoned PUD (Planned Unit Development), primarily for future single-family residential development, but also including some areas planned for complementary and compatible mixed use and employment land uses.
The fiscal impact to the Town regarding this action is dependent on the valuation of the 1,187 acres of property and the expenses for legal counsel, appraisers, surveyors and other professional services. Land value is an issue to be determined during the condemnation case based upon a number of factors which are usually established through the opinions of real estate appraisers.
For questions regarding this issue, please contact Charles Montoya, Town Manager, at (520) 868-7500.