I saw the story going around about San Tan Valley looking at turning some land in Rancho Bella Vista South into a park.

But there’s actually a lot more going on than just that one property.

The town is basically starting from scratch here.

San Tan Valley has more than 100,000 residents, but because it only recently became a town, it currently owns zero parks, zero recreation facilities and zero park land.

So now they’re trying to figure out what they can realistically do first, and I actually think some of the ideas are pretty interesting.

At the September 2 Town Council meeting, they talked about seven different locations that could potentially be used for parks or recreation.

None of these are approved parks yet. Some are definitely more realistic than others. But here’s what they’re looking at.

 

Rancho Bella Vista South | 9–10 acres

This is the property you’ve probably seen pictures of.

It’s along Bella Vista Road near the county complex, and it’s owned by the Rancho Bella Vista South HOA.

What makes this one stand out is that there’s already grass and apparently irrigation there.

So instead of the town buying 10 acres of dirt and starting from zero, there could potentially be some sort of partnership with the HOA.

I think this is one of the more interesting ones to watch simply because some of the expensive groundwork is already there.

But there’s no agreement with the HOA yet, so I definitely wouldn’t call this a future park just yet.

 

Gantzel Basin / Johnson Ranch | 16–18 acres

This one is bigger, but also more complicated.

It’s a detention basin involving Pinal County Flood Control, state land and HOA property. There’s currently no grass or utilities, and part of the property isn't even inside the town boundaries.

There may be an opportunity here, but there are quite a few things to work through first.

 

Circle Cross Basin | 9–10 acres

This is HOA property along Gary Road.

Again, the appeal is pretty obvious. If San Tan Valley can use land that already exists instead of buying new land, that could save a lot of money.

The downside here is that it sits in a regional wash, and there are questions about parking and access.

 

Valley of the Sun Estates Basin | 5–6 acres

This is another drainage property, this time involving Pinal County Flood Control.

Not much is decided here yet. It’s basically another piece of land the town thinks could be worth exploring rather than going out and buying property.

 

Skyline + Sierra Vista | 1–1.5 acres

This one is much smaller, but it caught my attention because they specifically talked about possibly using it for a small neighborhood park or splash pad.

And yes, San Tan Valley is actually talking about a splash pad.

There’s more to that story though.

 

Queen Creek Wash / Pecan Creek | potentially 45–50 acres

This is probably the most interesting long-term idea to me.

They’re looking at the Queen Creek Wash area roughly between Gantzel and Kenworthy as a possible linear park and trail system.

There’s even the possibility of eventually connecting into Queen Creek’s existing trail and equestrian network.

At potentially 45–50 acres, this could turn into something pretty cool.

But there are ownership and flood-control issues involved, so I would look at this as a longer-term idea, not something I’d expect to see built anytime soon.

 

Mountain Vista / San Tan Heights | about 10 acres

This one is different because a lot of the recreation stuff is already there.

There’s a football field, dirt track, baseball/softball fields and parking.

The future of the school property has also been part of the conversation, which could potentially create an opportunity for the town depending on what ultimately happens there.

There are a few moving pieces with this one, so again, nothing I’d call confirmed.

 

And there’s another property residents brought up: Empire Park.

This wasn’t actually one of the seven locations presented by town staff, but it’s worth knowing about.

The HOA-owned property apparently already has four baseball fields.

San Tan Valley Little League told the council that it has offered to rent and maintain the fields but hasn't been able to get an agreement worked out with the HOA.

That becomes more interesting when you see how much demand there already is.

Little League said it has 388 kids registered this fall, up about 30% from last year, and they’re expecting around 500 players this spring.

So this isn't really about building parks because it sounds nice.

They actually need places for people to go.

 

I actually think the schools could be the quickest solution.

This part probably isn't going to get as much attention as a new park or splash pad, but it might make the biggest difference first.

San Tan Valley is talking with J.O. Combs Unified School District and Florence Unified School District about ways residents could get more access to facilities that already exist.

Think about how much stuff is already sitting on school campuses around San Tan Valley.

Gyms. Basketball courts. Baseball and softball fields. Soccer fields. Football fields. Tracks. Tennis courts.

The town doesn't necessarily have to wait years to buy land and build all of that again.

If they can work out agreements with the school districts, residents could potentially get access to recreation much faster.

They’re also talking about bringing Boys & Girls Club of Pinal County programming into San Tan Valley.

I’d actually keep a really close eye on both of those conversations.

Okay, so what about this $1 million splash pad?

This one needs a little context.

Vice Mayor Tyler Hudgins talked about $1 million in the budget for a splash pad as something that could potentially be an early project.

But that doesn't mean San Tan Valley has a million dollars sitting in an account right now and a splash pad is about to start construction.

Town Manager Brent Billingsley clarified that the money is based on projected future revenue.

The town is still waiting for its new local sales-tax revenue to actually start coming in.

So yes, a splash pad is legitimately being discussed.

No, I wouldn't tell you a splash pad is officially coming yet.

And money is going to be a big part of all of this.

This is where the numbers really put things into perspective.

The town was given estimates of roughly:

$120,000–$150,000 per acre just for raw land.

Around $150,000–$250,000 per acre for an unlighted neighborhood park.

Around $350,000–$550,000 per acre for a lighted community or sports park.

A single lighted baseball or softball field could run around $600,000–$850,000.

A community center could be $20–$50 million.

An aquatic center could potentially be $20–$60 million.

Suddenly all these conversations about HOA land, drainage basins and school fields make a lot more sense.

If the town can find ways to use land and facilities that already exist, they don't have to buy everything and build everything from scratch.

There’s also a weird issue with all the new construction.

You’d think with thousands of new houses being built around San Tan Valley, development impact fees would help pay for some of this.

Right now, it's not that simple.

Because of how Arizona law requires San Tan Valley's construction sales tax to be credited against impact fees, the town's current calculation basically brings those fees down to zero.

There’s also an issue involving roughly 6,000–7,000 lots that were already approved by Pinal County before incorporation, which limits the town’s ability to immediately collect impact fees from that pipeline.

The town plans to revisit the numbers once it has enough actual sales-tax history to work with.

And that’s probably the best way to understand the situation San Tan Valley is in right now.

They have a town of more than 100,000 people, thousands more homes already in the pipeline, and they're starting with basically no town-owned recreation infrastructure.

So what actually happens from here?

Probably not seven new parks.

These are locations they're exploring, not seven projects that have been greenlit.

Some could disappear completely.

Some could turn into partnerships pretty quickly.

Others could take years.

The town still has to figure out who actually controls each property, negotiate with HOAs, Pinal County, the state and the school districts, work through flood-control and access issues, and then figure out what they can actually afford.

They also need a longer-term parks and trails plan.

And for the really big projects, San Tan Valley has another hurdle.

It's such a new town that it doesn't have an established municipal credit history or bond rating yet.

So financing a $20 million, $40 million or $60 million facility isn't something that just happens tomorrow.

That will take time.

But I do think there’s something pretty fascinating about watching this happen.

Most cities build parks as the city grows.

San Tan Valley already grew.

Now they're trying to figure out how to build the parks, trails, fields and recreation system around a community that already has 100,000+ people living in it.

I’ll keep following these because this is exactly the kind of thing where a headline can make something sound like it’s officially coming when it’s really just being discussed.

Once one of these gets an actual agreement, money behind it or a real timeline, that’s when it gets interesting.