Considering battery storage on your Pinal County land?

Put the battery area and the land you keep on one drawing

Show the company how you use the property now. Mark entrances, buildings, irrigation, field access and any area a tenant or neighbor has a right to use. Then ask it to draw the permanent battery area, construction space, roads and electrical route on the same map.

In the July 2026 Valley Farms case east of Coolidge, the county staff report describes a roughly 160-acre parcel with a proposed 68.77-acre standalone battery development. It says the applicant removed the solar field from an earlier proposal and submitted a minor land division for the reduced project. That is a particular project history, not a required acreage for your land.

The distinction matters if you are offering only part of a larger property. Ask what happens to the remaining land after a split. Would it still have legal access? Could you sell it separately, continue farming it or build what you planned? Have the proposed boundary documents reviewed alongside the lease or sale agreement.

Do not assume that a submitted split is a completed split. Ask for the approved map, recorded legal descriptions and current parcel identifiers when those become available. Keep a dated copy of the drawing so a later layout can be compared with the area you originally discussed.

Reference: Pinal County: July 1 Valley Farms staff report

Get the final conditions, not just the application

The July 1, 2026 Board minutes record three separate Valley Farms actions: a comprehensive-plan land-use change, a rezoning and a Planned Area Development overlay, often shortened to PAD. All three were approved. The PAD sets project-specific development conditions; it should be read together with the other decisions.

There is a useful lesson in the records. The posted PAD attachment lists twenty conditions, while the minutes approve twenty-three, including three added at the meeting. The attachment alone therefore does not give an owner the complete final set.

For a proposal affecting your land, request the final decision, every condition incorporated into it and any later amendments. Ask the reviewing office and your adviser to confirm which documents govern the project. If a condition was added at a hearing, ask for its exact final wording.

Keep approval of the land use separate from permission to begin construction. The posted Valley Farms conditions call for further plans and agency approvals at development. Ask the developer which steps remain and how delays affect your option period, payments and ability to use the property.

Reference: Pinal County: July 1, 2026 Board minutes, items 22–24 · Pinal County: posted PZ-PD-026-25 PAD attachment · Pinal County: posted PZ-039-25 rezoning attachment

Separate public road rights from the private project area

The Valley Farms PAD materials address road right-of-way dedication, additional improvements and permanent access. They also say the road sections, alignments and access movements in the rezoning application are conceptual rather than approved by the County Engineer. A driveway on an early drawing can still change during review.

Ask who would receive each right. A dedication for a public road is different from an access easement granted to the battery company. Have both marked on the drawing, including any portion outside the land covered by the proposed rent or purchase price.

If the company must obtain land or permission from someone else, ask what happens if that route is unavailable. Would the battery layout move, would more of your land be requested or could the agreement continue while the company looks for another solution?

Discuss the entrance you intend to keep using. Ask how deliveries, construction traffic and emergency access would affect it, and who pays for any replacement route. Put responsibility for road work, damage and ongoing maintenance into the agreement.

Reference: Pinal County: posted PZ-PD-026-25 PAD attachment

Trace drainage and irrigation beyond the fence

The posted Valley Farms PAD calls for a drainage report addressing offsite runoff and retention, and discusses active drainage or irrigation ditches within dedicated right-of-way. These are case-specific conditions, but they show why an owner should look beyond the equipment pad.

Point out where water enters and leaves your property, where irrigation crosses a road and where a ditch serves another field. Ask the company to explain what grading or road construction could change. A fence line will not necessarily contain those effects.

Request a plan for keeping the retained land usable during construction. Who handles an interrupted irrigation route, damaged culvert or temporary loss of field access? Ask how the starting condition will be documented and how repairs will be agreed and completed.

If county review requires work outside the proposed battery area, have the company identify the land, permissions and cost involved. Discuss how a changed drainage or access design would affect your agreement before granting broad rights over the whole parcel.

Reference: Pinal County: posted PZ-PD-026-25 PAD attachment

Ask when removal protection must be in place

The posted PAD requires a decommissioning plan before site-plan approval and construction permits. Its listed subjects include battery and supporting equipment removal, the substation, land restoration, a cost estimate and financial assurance. Request the complete final requirements for the actual proposal rather than treating this example as a countywide rule.

Then compare the public requirement with the company’s promise to you. Ask what must be removed, what may remain and what condition the land must be returned in. Roads, underground cables and concrete deserve specific answers.

Ask who can use the removal security, what triggers it and how its amount is updated. Find out whether it protects the land you own, whether you have any direct rights to it and what happens if the operator transfers the project or stops responding.

A future restoration promise should not leave you guessing about who pays a shortfall. Have your adviser check the agreement, the security and the final conditions together. The records reviewed here do not establish that Valley Farms has completed its site plan, posted security or finished construction.

Reference: Pinal County: posted PZ-PD-026-25 PAD attachment

Match the agreement to the remaining review work

First confirm the actual jurisdiction. The July Valley Farms records describe an unincorporated county location east of Coolidge. A nearby city name or a mailing address does not establish which office reviews a different parcel.

The posted PAD also addresses a possible later change to municipal review authority. If that happens, it directs new subsequent development approvals and permits through the applicable municipality. Ask whether a jurisdiction change could affect your proposal and who would handle the additional work.

On the private agreement, list the payment dates, extension rights and remaining milestones. Ask what starts construction rent or operating rent, whether extensions require another payment and when unused land is released. A land-use approval does not answer those financial questions.

Have the company identify its actual electrical connection work separately. The case records are not a map of available capacity for other properties. Ask for the intended connection point, the status of studies or agreements and responsibility for costs before relying on a nearby line.

Reference: Pinal County: July 1, 2026 Board minutes, items 22–24 · Pinal County: posted PZ-PD-026-25 PAD attachment

Tell us where the property is

Use the form to send your contact details and the property location. Pinal County and Arizona are selected for this page; change them if needed. Acreage and parcel number are optional.

Mention whether you could consider a lease, sale or either, and whether you would offer the whole property or part of it. A note about farming, tenants, access or an existing proposal helps us begin with the questions that matter to you.

You do not need an engineered drawing to start a conversation. An inquiry lets us discuss the property and the next information needed. It does not promise approval, grid access or a particular payment.