A petition drive is underway to make San Tan Valley on the southeastern fringe of metro Phoenix the state's next new municipality.
Papers filed with the Pinal County Elections Department last week started an effort to collect signatures from 10 percent of registered voters to put incorporation on an election ballot.
San Tan Valley has approximately 100,000 residents. It's located south of Apache Junction and east of Mesa and Queen Creek.
Gov. Doug Ducey in February signed into law legislation to ease the path to incorporation.
The legislation removed a legal provision allowing an existing city or town within 6 miles (10 kilometers) of a proposed incorporation to block it.
The League of Arizona Cities and Towns opposed the bill, saying the six-mile rule kept existing cities from being hemmed in.
