Marana Council Approves $9.5M Monarch Development Road and Sewer Deal, Hears Data Center Concerns

MARANA — The Marana Town Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a second amendment to the Vanderbilt Farms development agreement — now known as the Monarch development — authorizing up to $9.5 million in reimbursements to the developer for construction of Clark Farms Boulevard and an upgraded sewer line, and extending the agreement's expiration date by a decade to June 2050.

The reimbursement package combines impact fee credits with 75% of construction sales tax revenues generated from the Monarch development, located across Barnett Road from Town Hall. The town said impact fees alone would not cover half of the $9.5 million owed to the developer under the town's 2022 Streets Infrastructure Improvement Program. The approved amendment also formalizes an alignment change to a planned gravity sewer line — upsizing it from 15 inches to 21 inches — at a cost of approximately $1.4 million, which the developer will be reimbursed through impact fee credits. Staff said the oversized road and sewer are regional infrastructure that will serve development beyond the Monarch project itself. The council voted in favor without discussion.

Mayor John Post and Vice Mayor Ziegler reported to the council that they, along with the town manager, deputy town manager, and town attorney, conducted a field visit last week to multiple data centers in the Phoenix metro area amid ongoing community debate over a proposed data center on Luckett Road near the Marana Veterans Memorial Cemetery. Post described visiting facilities near the 202 and Ellsworth corridors, including a Meta data center anticipated to reach 2.2 to 2.5 million square feet at full buildout over 400 acres consuming approximately 450 megawatts of power, as well as an older Chandler facility built in 2013 spanning roughly 2 million square feet. Post said a security guard at the first facility said the site was not noticeably noisy or hotter than his home, and a nearby resident told the delegation his electric bill had not increased and his lifestyle had not changed due to the adjacent data center. Town staff measured 60 decibels across a two-lane street from the older Chandler facility. "I guess I could lie and say, oh my God, these things are loud, but they weren't," Ziegler said. Audience members disputed the comparison, arguing the visited facilities were significantly smaller than what is proposed in Marana, prompting Post to warn attendees twice that they would be escorted out if they continued interrupting.

During public comment, multiple speakers raised concerns about the proposed Luckett Road data center site. One speaker, who identified himself as a researcher, told the council that a thermal dispersion analysis using a peer-reviewed MIT urban microclimate model projected ambient temperature increases of five to six degrees Fahrenheit — with peaks as high as 30 degrees — at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery across the street from the proposed site. He asked the council to require formal thermal environmental impact studies as a condition of any zoning approval, and said the current ordinance contains no enforceable Legionnaires' disease monitoring requirements for large-scale evaporative cooling operations. Another speaker, a self-identified Air Force veteran and Marana resident, told the council he independently hired a Denver-based acoustical testing firm, Compliance Safety Supply, to conduct a noise survey at the cemetery on April 29, measuring sound levels generated from a 65-decibel source placed on Luckett Road. He said full results would not be available for another week but offered to present findings at the next council meeting. Based on what he witnessed during the test, he said he did not believe a 65-decibel source would materially affect the cemetery's tranquility.

The council unanimously approved Resolution 2026-28, adopting the Town of Marana's Program Year 2026 Annual Action Plan for its Community Development Block Grant program. Staff reported the town received $223,434 in CDBG funding this year — the highest amount ever and an increase of approximately $16,000 over the prior year. Proposed allocations include $75,233 for housing rehabilitation, $33,515 for utility assistance capped at 15% of the total allocation, $44,687 for administration, and $70,000 for a new townwide parks ADA accessibility assessment. Staff said rollover funds from prior years would offset the decrease in housing rehabilitation spending and that the program has so far assisted eight residents with home repairs and 40 residents with utility assistance in the current program year.

Also discussed:

The town's deputy manager reported 102 single-family residential building permits were issued in April, up from 78 in April 2025
Staff said the decommissioning of the Ora Mae Harn Pool will proceed after asbestos testing returned negative results, with completion expected by approximately July 3
The El Rio Disc Golf Course project has all permits approved and is out to bid, with bids closing May 19
The tentative FY 2026-27 budget is scheduled for adoption at the May 19 council meeting
A public speaker with a financial advising background urged the council to diversify Marana's tax base away from sales and construction tax revenues, presenting what she described as a Monte Carlo analysis showing Marana's budget could breach its 25% reserve covenant by 2032 in a mild recession
Mayor Post proclaimed May 17–23 as National Public Works Week
Council member Patrick Kavanaugh was excused from the meeting after being bitten by a rattlesnake earlier in the day; Council member Kai reported Kavanaugh was at Banner Hospital receiving anti-venom