The purpose of the U.S. Highway 93 Corridor Area Plan is to recognize the unique character of the highway corridor and to encourage land use patterns that are consistent with the goals of the Mohave County General Plan, the residents and the property owners. The U.S. Highway 93 Corridor Area Plan, a component of the General Plan, covers approximately 430 square miles of unincorporated land in Mohave County.

A primary objective of the plan is to help local governments, fire departments, and residents identify at-risk public and private lands to better protect those lands from severe wildfire threat. Additional functions of the plan are to improve fire prevention and suppression activities, as well as to identify funding needs and opportunities to reduce the risk of wildland fire and enhance public and firefighter safety.

This plan is an action agenda that avoids the long-term strategic planning platitudes and broad generalizations that sound good but do not achieve a great deal. The steps presented in this document are ones we can take in the near term, over the next two years or so, that will provide the foundation for long-term economic growth and stability.

It is important to note that the Rio Verde Foothills Area Plan is not a document that represents ultimate buildout as many municipal general plans typically do. Rather, it prepares for and accommodates growth over the next ten to fifteen years, but will be reexamined and updated periodically to reflect current conditions and changes. While not a complete solution, the Rio Verde Foothills Area Plan helps address the effects of growth and development by enhancing cooperation between government agencies, citizens, and other affected interests, and by considering regional implications.

Anza Park, established in August of 2007, is located within Avra Valley adjacent to and west of the Town of Marana boundary. The park consists of approximately 280 acres located along both sides of the Santa Cruz River. This area is a riparian oasis that supports a rich diversity of native plants, birds, and other wildlife, especially as compared to adjacent lands that are biologically depauperate due to decades of intensive agricultural use.

Originally, the purpose of the study was to obtain either a Letter of Map Revision or a Physical Map Revision from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Unfortunately, during the initial stages of the investigation, it became apparent that FEMA's guidelines for these types of map revisions could not be accommodated, primarily due to flow-distribution conflicts.