population from pg. 3
City officials predict the population will triple again to 47,782 in the 20-month period from January 2006 to August 2007. Expectations are that a whopping 125,000 people will call Maricopa home by 2010. “Everyone asks what the population will be in six months, in a year or in 2010,” says Paul Jepson, management assistant for the City. “Making predictions on future growth based on permits, trends, surveys and census data is tricky at best. The difficulty is in judging how fast growth will happen, not if growth will happen.” That growth is taking place at such an exceptional rate it makes the General Plan an invaluable tool to help city planners manage the changes. “While city gov- ernment has little effect on the quantity of growth,” Jepson says, “it does have a significant effect on the quality of growth.” That quality of growth is being closely monitored. New planned area develop- ments are required to accommodate a 20% open space ratio, the highest in the state. Each development must also adhere to strict regulations and design stan- dards for amenities such as tot lots, trails and bicycle lanes. “The plans on the developers’ drawing boards for future master planned commu- nities are stacked pretty high,” Jepson notes. “It is the City’s job to make sure the developers do things properly.”
continued on pg. 12
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