Ducey signs bill clearing way for San Tan Valley incorporation

Regional News

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Residents of the San Tan Valley are now free to try to incorporate their area as a new city.

Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday signed legislation removing a legal impediment that has so far blocked residents from even starting the formal process. Ducey did not comment on his decision.

But Tuesday’s action does not guarantee there will someday be such a city.

Instead, it simply allows the process to start. And once the lines are drawn for the proposed new community, it still needs a majority of people within those boundaries who show up to vote to support the plan.

Some area residents have been pushing incorporation for years. But they have so far been blocked by a law — one that does not apply in all counties — that gives cities of up to 5,000 residents the right to veto new towns within three miles. For larger cities, that veto right extends out six miles.

The hurdle here has been that the proposed city lines come within six miles of Florence, with a population of 26,000. And to date the city council there has not agreed to permit the incorporation.