Military Reservation is an important asset to the AZARNG’s training capabilities because
the environment is similar to many areas around the world where troops are deployed,
and it provides realistic training grounds that facilitate troops’ success in their respective
missions. FMR trains approximately 5,100 National Guard Soldiers each year, averaging
29,000 man use days (use by one person for one day) annually.
In carrying out the military operations at FMR, several mission footprints are created that
can create impacts for locations off the installation. Chapter 3 describes these mission
footprints in detail. The mission footprints include:
Noise from weapons ranges,
Safety zones for weapons firing and explosives storage, and
Restricted airspace for aircraft operations.
It is important that current and future land uses around FMR are compatible with these
mission footprints to prevent impacts to residents in nearby communities and to ensure
the military mission is not constrained by development near the installation.
Much of the land around FMR is currently zoned, via the Pinal County zoning ordinance,
as general rural land use. To the northeast a small area is zoned for industrial land use.
At the southwest corner where FMR abuts the Town of Florence, a small portion of land
is zoned through Florence’s zoning ordinance as a mobile home subdivision, a
recreational vehicle park, some interspersed residential homes, and highway business
districts. There is also a small area of rural agricultural zoning in this area. Figure 5‐6
provides a map of existing zoning around FMR.
Most of the land around FMR is Arizona State Trust land that is managed by the ASLD.
The mission of the ALSD is to optimize the economic return on nearly 10 million acres of
land across the State for the beneficiaries of the trust which includes Arizona’s K‐12
public schools. In carrying out its constitutionally mandated duties while overseeing its
portfolio, ASLD is required to consider the beneficiaries’ interests and their alignment
with state policies, including those supporting military compatibility and private property
rights. The sale of State Trust land occurs infrequently and most often happens near
urbanizing areas where there is limited developable land. Currently the ASLD has no
specific plans to sell State Trust lands near Florence Military Reservation.
The ASLD is authorized by Arizona Revised Statute, § 37‐331‐03, to create conceptual
land use plans for urban State Trust lands and other State Trust lands considered to be
appropriate. A determination was made to prepare a conceptual land use plan to
provide a cohesive plan for Superstition Vistas, one of the largest contiguous areas of
State Trust land with an important strategic location in the Sun Corridor. In 2011 an
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Compatibility Assessment