Castlegate Community

Technically you don't live in Queen Creek either...we're WAY outside of the city limits of Queen Creek.  We are unincorporated county land.  We were given the name of Queen Creek for mailing purposes only, but with the zip code changes and such they have renamed the incorporated county land San Tan Valley.  So sorry you didn't purchase your home in Queen Creek either as that city limits sign is a good ways down Ocotillo past Meridian.  You bought your home in uincorporated Pinal County land.

You said they renamed the incorporated county land as STV. Who renamed it this? What part is incorporated as STV? I guess I missed some sort of voting period, although I recall voting at every opportunity.

As far as I have educated myself, I understand that Queen Creek is considered Maricopa county and the homes east, north and south that are officially incorporated are Florence & Coolidge to our south and Apache Junction to our north. The remainder is unincorporated and therefore has no city name. For mailing and other business purposes companies and individuals need to have a name such as Queen Creek or STV. Historically, QC has been used since it is the closest city in proximity to the homes here and it was always assumed that as growth came, they would annex us. However, some wish to incorporate as our own city while others wish to keep the area unincorporated.

I also understand that there is an area called Johnson Ranch. This is simply a subdivision name and people use it to describe a wider area than just one subdivision for practical purposes. Based on this theory, we could call all of the unincorporated Pinal county by the name of Castlegate. How silly is that?

Regardless of a person's views I personally think it is wrong to give out misinformation to new homeowners in the area in order to make a push for their own agendas.

If I am uninformed about the incorporation of a portion of this area, please direct me to where this can be validated. According to the Pinal county recorder's office, no such name of San Tan Valley that is officially incorporated exists.

If incorporation of a city here comes to fruition, the homeowners that are affected need to have the correct information so they can make an informed decision.

They meaning the post office and yes there actually was a vote on what we wanted to be called, I participated, don't remember what option I voted for but I do remember I did NOT vote for STV but it's been so long now couldn't say what it was that I did vote for at this point.

And just for reference again I personally have no agenda I really don't care of we incorporate or not at this point as I haven't heard enough arguments for either side for me to make a decision.  I consider us unincorporated land (which we are) but obviously we need some kind of name to identify ourselves other than "Pinal County" (which actually when I bought my home was what was given to me as my address and I found incredibly stupid).  So for goodness sakes it's just a name in order to identify a specific area of land.  We're not Queen Creek, we're too far to be Florence or Coolidge or AJ so they named us something else in order to identify us for mailing purposes.  I see no big issue with it.  We're not incorporated doubt we'll get there anytime soon so why is it such a huge issue with a few folks?

The issue is that there are some people out there who intentionally send out misinformation in order to further their agenda on incorporation. Also, not all people in this area even heard about the voting of the name since those pushing the vote work for Pinal county and are the same who spent county funds for the signs and other publicity. Those are my tax dollars and I was not able to be a part of it, nor was it an ethical process. The key here is that it is not on official record since it is not an official city. When funds are misappropriated and homeowners are misinformed, then yes...I do have an issue with it. I don't frankly care how many people agree or not. I am not a sheep. I do not minimize the reality of a situation to make others feel better. Convictions should still be worth something this day in age. This whole conversation began with a new homeowner asking a question. I think they deserve to understand both the political and practical answers, not just the opinion of one.