Oro Valley’s New General Plan Looks to Infill, Redevelopment and Annexation

ORO VALLEY, AZ (Nov. 13, 2026) — Oro Valley voters approved a  General Plan on Nov. 3 that puts infill and redevelopment at the center of the town’s growth strategy through 2036. The vote comes as the Town explores extending its boundaries into the Casas Adobes commercial area near Oracle and Ina roads. Proposition 431, known as OV’s Path Forward, received 20,695 yes votes and 5,358 no votes, or 79.4% support, according to Pima County’s unofficial tally. The Town says it received more than 10,700 community contributions while developing the plan.

About 12% of the land within Oro Valley’s boundaries remains available for potential development, according to the plan. Much of it consists of underused parcels surrounded by existing development. Single-family housing accounts for 77% of the town’s developed land, and the Town projects that, without annexation, it has no remaining sites for subdivisions of 130 homes or more. That puts smaller parcels and older commercial properties in a position to accommodate more of the next decade’s growth.

Oracle and Ina annexation talks underway

In March, the Town Council directed staff to move forward with its Oracle and Ina annexation strategy. On Nov. 8, the Arizona Daily Star reported that Oro Valley was in early talks about bringing three shopping centers and part of a Casas Adobes neighborhood into town limits. The Town invited business owners and 159 property owners near the intersection to an informational meeting. Town strategy materials identify Casas Adobes Plaza and the northeast and southeast commercial corners of Oracle and Ina among its priorities. The annexation is still under discussion and would require a separate process from the General Plan vote.

The General Plan supports annexations that would benefit the Town economically while considering impacts on residents and the surrounding area. It calls for updating the Annexation Strategy within three to six years and identifies two areas involving state trust land. Tangerine 880, near Tangerine Road and Coyote Crossing Trail, is outside town limits and appears on the plan’s land use map as a future master-planned community. At Arroyo Grande, the Town calls for further negotiations with the Arizona State Land Department. The Town’s land use map differs from the state’s earlier concept plan, leaving future development and open space arrangements to be worked out.

A path for older commercial centers

Inside the current boundaries, the plan proposes a zoning overlay or conditional use permit process to encourage mixed-use redevelopment of commercial centers with persistent vacancies. The Town lists that work on a three- to six-year timetable. The proposed criteria include traffic, site visibility, nearby residential density and how well the design fits its surroundings. The plan also calls for securing new retail, restaurant, service or office space in proportion to the housing proposed. How the Town defines that proportion will help determine which projects can support their commercial space and still make financial sense.

The plan directs attention to sites along major roads for two- and three-story apartment communities, including locations near Oracle Road where residents could walk to shops, services or employment. It emphasizes preserving mountain views and using setbacks, terrain and building placement to ease transitions to nearby homes. On the employment side, the Town wants to attract and retain businesses in bioscience, medicine, light manufacturing, and research and development. The plan calls for coordinating with utility providers when reviewing development proposals or pursuing major employers, making water and power capacity part of the discussion about where new employment can go.

What to watch in 2027

Parking and commercial design standards could reach property owners sooner than the proposed mixed-use process. The plan puts those updates on a one- to two-year timetable. It calls for encouraging shared parking, reducing asphalt coverage, retaining landscaping and rainwater harvesting, and allowing cool roofs on commercial buildings. On a constrained infill site, shared parking could free up room for another use, while shade and landscaping standards could influence how the site is laid out.

The General Plan map shows where the Town sees different uses fitting over time. The zoning map and code govern what an owner can build today. For commercial real estate, the next milestones are the specific standards Town staff bring forward and whether the Oracle and Ina discussions advance toward a formal annexation proposal. Those decisions will affect both where Oro Valley can grow and what property owners can do with the sites it already has.