The Mesa City Council approved zoning amendments in September 2025 to allow data centers and expand business parks in the city’s General and Heavy Industrial districts. Officials said the expansion aligns with Mesa’s 2050 General Plan but has raised traffic concerns from residents and planners, who called for improved pedestrian, bicycle, and transit infrastructure to address potential congestion in the East Valley.
The amendments also modify the definitions of indoor warehousing and storage to facilitate business park expansions, according to the Mesa Development Community Newsletter. These changes support industrial growth by permitting land uses not otherwise allowed under base zoning, officials said.
The Mesa City Council’s September 2025 zoning amendments allow data centers as principal uses in the city’s General Industrial and Heavy Industrial districts through a Planned Area Development overlay, records show.
The zoning updates include specific standards for data centers, such as application, development, and operational requirements, which city documents indicate are intended to support the expansion of employment districts with accessory data center uses. The amendments align with Mesa’s 2050 General Plan, which emphasizes maintaining the city’s historic grid-pattern streets—originally designed as one-square-mile sections for wagon turnarounds—to enable scalable commercial and industrial development.
Traffic concerns have emerged from residents and planners amid the expansion, with public feedback collected during the Mesa Transportation Master Plan Phase II outreach highlighting the need for improved pedestrian, bicycle, and transit infrastructure. The outreach summary, dated prior to the council’s 2025 vote, details calls for widened sidewalks, protected bike lanes, and signal priority for pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users to mitigate potential congestion in the East Valley. Although no specific traffic volume data has been released, the concerns focus on vulnerable user safety and street connectivity.
Mesa’s redevelopment plans for the Park and Ride facility at Mesa Drive and Main Street include proposals for a parking deck and mid-rise apartments, with reduced parking minimums supported by the site’s transit connectivity, according to city transportation planning documents. The elimination of parking minimums is also proposed for Downtown Mesa to address growth-related traffic, as noted in the Phase II public outreach summary. Valley Metro is collaborating on these efforts to enhance transit-oriented development and improve neighborhood access to amenities, consistent with policy N5 in the 2050 General Plan.
On the regional level, the Apache Junction City Council unanimously approved an intergovernmental agreement with Mesa on May 5, 2026, to share technology and related services, including a fiber network connecting the two cities. This network aims to facilitate regional transportation data exchange, which could support traffic monitoring and management in the East Valley, according to the Mesa Independent’s May 2026 reporting. While the agreement is not directly linked to the Mesa Business Park expansion, it forms part of a broader regional strategy to use data-driven approaches for transportation planning.
The zoning amendments and transportation plans reflect a coordinated effort to support Mesa’s industrial growth while addressing infrastructure needs. The PAD overlay district regulations were updated to allow non-permitted uses in industrial zones, directly enabling business park expansion, city records confirm. Public input gathered through Mesa Listens and other outreach initiatives repeatedly emphasized the importance of enhanced bicycle and pedestrian facilities to accommodate increased traffic from industrial developments.
The 2050 General Plan further underscores the city’s commitment to preserving its historic wide streets, which continue to facilitate modern traffic flow and commercial scalability. The plan also promotes an open space network to improve neighborhood connectivity, a priority echoed in community feedback. The combination of zoning changes, transportation planning, and regional technology agreements positions Mesa to manage growth while seeking to mitigate congestion and improve safety for all road users.
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