One of Chandler, Arizona’s last farms giving way to industry
“Farming and city don’t mix anymore and I think it’s time to have the opportunity to move on,” Schrader said in a promotional video for the project. “There’s no place to be farming now in the middle of a city.”
By Kevin Reagan
SanTan Sun News
June 20, 2021
Excerpt:
For decades, Chandler’s south side was the site of numerous dairy, cotton and alfalfa farms. But the city’s economic base has since steered away from agriculture as more farmers sold their properties.
A city survey a few years ago indicated that most of Chandler’s remaining farmers weren’t interested in preserving their land and likely to sell to developers.
William Schrader and his sons had been farming on their land along Queen Creek Road for years and decided that now seemed like the right time to hand the property over to commercial builders.
“Farming and city don’t mix anymore and I think it’s time to have the opportunity to move on,” Schrader said in a promotional video for the project. “There’s no place to be farming now in the middle of a city.”
During their consideration of the rezoning request, some planning commission members expressed concern that the project could disrupt or bother the community.
“That’s the challenge of both commission and Council,” said Chairman Rick Heumann, “To make sure our last remaining land is best utilized because once it’s gone, it’s gone.”
Chandler could be seeing more than 100 acres getting developed across the city for industrial or business purposes in the near future.
