Arizona Ranching Town Now a Boom Town

Bill Letarte calls this strip of southeastern Arizona “God’s waiting room.”Rolling hills covered with tall grass stretch to the horizon in the relatively cool climate at 5,000 feet elevation.

The hub of the community comprises a few shops, restaurants, a bank and a post office. Its 2,000 residents have gravitated to cattle country noted for its space and privacy. But now, what passes for a rural building boom has hit the unincorporated community at the crossroads of state Highways 82 and 83.

About a dozen homes are under construction--not many for Tucson or Phoenix but big news here.

“There have been years when we haven’t seen that many in a year,” said real estate agent Susan Belt. “It was always kind of slow and steady. Then about three years ago things started really heating up.”

“It’s just a beautiful part of the country,” said postmaster Patricia Grombley, who attributes the surge to favorable national publicity.

Grombley said the space and “the beautiful rolling hills” drew her family from Tucson 23 years ago. When they first moved in, “there was all vacant land. You could see for miles. Right now, there’s a house on every hill.”

She said Sonoita is growing by 45 families a year these days, up from 30 a year just two years back.

There’s even a waiting list for new postal boxes. Grombley said 155 new deliveries have been added to carriers’ routes since July, 1991.

People have moved from Idaho, Pennsylvania and Michigan, but mostly from Tucson, Belt said.

Wealthy people and expensive homes always have been part of the Sonoita scene, “tucked away in the hills,” she said.

Now, artists, lawyers, doctors and retirees have joined well-to-do ranchers, some as weekend or seasonal residents. Also moving in: younger families seeking a rural atmosphere.

“In many ways it’s becoming less of a ranch community and more of an exurban community,” she said.

A typical three-bedroom home on five acres might cost about $150,000 today, nearly 50% more than a decade ago, Belt said. Prices range from $100,000 to more than $1 million. The price of lots has jumped at least 50% in the last few years, she said, with a 5-acre parcel that cost $14,000 now commanding $22,000 to $25,000.

Sonoita stretches across about eight miles of southern Pima and northern Santa Cruz counties. It’s closely tied to the tiny community of Elgin a few miles east, center for Arizona’s fledgling wine industry.

The key concern for everyone moving to Sonoita, Belt said, is preserving its century-old ranching character.

Close to a dozen spreads still have active cattle operations, including the 30,000-acre Babocomari Ranch, originally a Spanish land grant. A small group in the area is pressing for zoning changes boosting the minimum lot size from the current 4-plus acres to 18 acres in hopes of maintaining a country atmosphere.

Letarte, an opponent, noted many of the proponents don’t own 18 acres themselves, suggesting they sell their 5-acre lots “and then practice what they preach.”

Belt said she doesn’t think anyone is eager for massive development, including the area’s dozen real estate agents, but she believes some growth is inevitable.