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Future development of Smith Ranch, on the western flank of Benson and a potential "bedroom community" for Tucson commuters, rests with Cochise County voters Nov. 7.

In April 2005, Tucson developer Diamond Ventures won unanimous Cochise County Board of Supervisors approval to rezone the 1,983-acre property from one house on four acres to allow a master planned community of nearly 5,000 housing units on the property.

Opponents quickly mounted a petition campaign to put the issue before voters. More than 3,600 signatures were gathered in a month, and Diamond was unsuccessful in court trying to keep the matter off the countywide ballot.

"The whole state is watching this issue," said Christine Rhodes, Cochise County recorder. "If Smith Ranch rezoning is denied through a ballot measure," she said, similar opposition to rezonings could pop up elsewhere.

"Opponents don't have a lot of money," she said, but they have "an extremely powerful grass-roots organization" to defeat the development at the ballot box.

Those against the Smith Ranch plan see their effort as sticking up for a rural lifestyle and fighting developers who can hold sway over elected officials in rezoning matters, she said. Opponents say they fear the impact of the large development on traffic and water supplies.

Diamond and supporters of the plan say master planning a large piece of land is a better way to conserve water and preserve open space as population pressures move to rural counties.

Smith Ranch is but one rural spread in Cochise County eyed by developers for building thousands of new houses over the next few decades within a 30-minute drive of Tucson's southeast edge.

Not far from Smith Ranch is the 15,000-acre Whetstone Ranch area, already annexed by the city of Benson, where Pulte Homes and other builders have preliminary plans for up to 20,000 homes over the next two decades.

Such large-scale development is new to Benson, which still has a population under 5,000 but which annexed huge swaths of land running 10 miles south toward Sierra Vista along Arizona 90.

Popular opposition to such development puzzles some people in the development business.

"If you talk to people in the Sierra Vista area — politicians and residents alike — what upsets them the most is wildcat development," said Roger Yohem, vice president for the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association.

"Then, when a well-thought-out, well-designed community plan comes along, opposition springs up."

Leading the charge against the Diamond plan is Julia Robinson, chairman of Voters for Rural Values, which was quickly formed to circulate petitions and force the Smith Ranch question onto the ballot.

Robinson, who lives a few miles away from the Smith property in the J-Six Ranch area, said the group has collected and spent under $20,000 against what she thinks is a million-dollar campaign by Diamond to pass Proposition 400 and confirm the rezoning on the property, which cost Benson Land Investor LLC, a Diamond entity, more than $5.5 million.

Supervisors were "misguided" in approving the project and mistakenly thought the choice was "either a subdivision or illegal lot splits and 500 individual wells," she said.

The well issue doesn't apply to the property because, Robinson said, the Smith Ranch property has "no appreciable water."

Robinson said there are ways the property could be developed with support from her group.

Under a "conservation subdivision" plan, the developer could "probably get 750 houses on the property" while preserving more open space and providing for a wastewater plant.

"Frankly that would be very nice," she said.

"It would be acceptable, and we would greet it with open arms. We would not oppose such things. But they want enormous profits instead of modest profits, let's say."

Not all the popular sentiment is against the Smith Ranch plan, according to Priscilla Storm, one of the project managers for Diamond.

"I think the primary benefit of the master plan is that it is phased to allow homes to come on line gradually as the market and infrastructure can absorb growth."

Storm said voters who really study the plan would likely support it.

"Diamond has gone to great lengths to address water issues and use a model specifically written to protect the San Pedro River, and our methods have been independently validated, and we've agreed to submit water reports for public review annually." The project has "an assured supply of water off-site and affirmation of the 100-year supply from the state," she said.

"We believe we have a lot of support and will see that in November. We own the land and have no other plans."

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