Pinal Preliminary Zoning Changes Cause Uproar

REPRINTED FROM AZFAMILY.COM | February 1st, 2025
FLORENCE, AZ (AZFamily) — Controversial zoning changes limiting the number of animals allowed on your property, are now on hold in Pinal County. This comes after a large backlash from people in the community criticizing the new plans.
These proposed zoning changes were made public on Jan. 6, and public criticism was swift and immediate as people said the county was overreaching.
“I think it really is detrimental to a lot of people and will impact them negatively,” said resident Tiffany Hill.
These changes were drafted in a 439-page book and represent a complete update and modernization of the ordinance.
This is the first comprehensive revision of the zoning ordinance since 2012.
Topics include permits, parking, lighting, group homes, hillside development, and perhaps the most talked about topic is how many animals you can have on your property.
The proposal includes new homebuyers only being allowed to have one pig per acre of property they own with a maximum of three, up to 50 hens for the first acre, and 10 per half acre after that.
Large livestock is limited to only two per acre and one per half acre after that.
“It’s confusing to a lot of people and terrifying honestly because you’re not talking about just property. This is people’s livelihood,” Hill said.
Local real estate agent Amanda Pinkerton said that she worries these codes could impact property value as it limits the amount of livestock and what people can build on their property.
She said she is also concerned about how this could affect buyers.
“Sometimes these barns are 10 to 10 horse stall barns, and if they can’t fill them up, then our buyers are going to go somewhere else,” Pinkerton said.
Pinal County District 2 Supervisor Mike Goodman said a lot of board members were unaware of the proposed changes, and that’s why they want to table this for more discussion.
“We heard loud and clear. We got the message. It’s going in the garbage can,” Goodman said.
On Wednesday at 9:30 a.m., the board will decide if they want to move forward or get rid of this zoning code draft.