(The following story by Erin Zlomek appeared on The Arizona Republic website on October 10.)
SURPRISE, Ariz. — Surprise Mayor Joan Shafer plans to annex 723 acres owned by the BNSF Railway near the Nadaburg Elementary School into her city at all costs, according to a conversation she had last week with the superintendent of the Nadaburg Unified School District.
Shafer called Superintendent Jim Nelson last Friday to issue that warning after she learned that Nelson testified at public hearings against a proposed BNSF facility. The Surprise Planning and Zoning Commission last week recommended against city approval of General Plan amendments that would allow the BNSF project to proceed.
The BNSF has proposed building an industrial distribution center at a site north of the city that would become an employment hub for the Northwest Valley and could eventually be annexed into Surprise.
The area lies about 200 yards from Nadaburg Elementary and cuts through the unincorporated community of Wittmann. Residents have vehemently opposed the BNSF proposal for more than a year, fearing that rail yard crime and rail cars carrying hazardous materials would be a danger to students.
Nadaburg unified in 2006 and currently includes the lone preschool-through-eighth-grade elementary school. It has 850 students. Rapid growth has forced the district to map out 16 other school sites for future construction.
Shafer said she hoped to put Wittmann residents’ complaints to bed by addressing all of their concerns at Thursday’s City Council meeting, where the amendment to rezone the BNSF land will be heard. The council is not bound by the planning and zoning panel’s recommendation.
Shafer said she is personally calling BNSF to draw up a site plan that shows exactly what buffers would be in place.