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By Jon Johnson
PIMA – The newest subdivision in Pima has broken ground.
Velocity Builders has announced the start of construction of Silo Farms in western Pima.
Silo Farms – formerly called “Upper Canyon” – is a 40-acre subdivision located off 400 North with its entrance roughly half a mile west of the intersection with 1200 West (Patterson Mesa Road) between 1600 West and 1700 West.
Developer Craig Bloomfield, owner of Velocity Builders, previously described his planned homes as roughly 2000 square feet in size with each one on roughly 3/4 of an acre. He plans to build the subdivision in three phases with a three to five-year build-out to completion.
Velocity Builders has already constructed several residences in the area that are not part of the subdivision but are along or near 400 North, with more currently under construction.
The Pima Town Council initially paused approval for the subdivision over traffic concerns on 400 North, which is a dirt road, and increased traffic along 200 North (Tripp Canyon.)
The subdivision’s engineer, Heath Brown of Heath Brown Engineering, LLC, previously told the council that the road would be improved with an AB base to make it ready for the town to chip-seal it. The streets inside the subdivision will be paved with asphalt. Once the town inspects the streets and if they are up to the town’s standards, the town will take over the maintenance of them and is expected to chip seal 400 North from 1200 West to the entrance of Silo Farms.
With heavy-duty vehicles having to traverse the road for the subdivision’s construction, Bloomfield previously said his plan was to improve the road further into the project after most of the heavy machinery had left to lessen any possible chances of damaging the newly formed road.
According to the developers, traffic is believed to flow from 400 North to 1200 West and then north to Highway 70. Those living in the area are concerned the subdivision’s traffic from 400 North will instead go south to the often-used and undersized 200 North (Tripp Canyon) and then east to Highway 70, passing a charter elementary school.
Pima Town Manager Vernon Batty previously told the council he planned on chip sealing three miles of the town’s current roads in the fall, and another three miles in the spring of 2024. After that was complete, the town could look at chip sealing the improved 400 North, he said.
Bloomfield previously said he would continue the road past his subdivision’s entrance all the way to 1700 West, where the entrance to a future park is planned from 20 acres of land donated to the town by Harriet Dodge located just west of Bloomfield’s planned subdivision and expanding southward. Currently, the land is an unimproved desert landscape. With the potential new park, Bloomfield decided to not install a park in his subdivision and instead use that money (roughly $15,000 to $20,000) toward the town’s park.
