Council Subcommittee

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE ON LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, MAY 29, 2019, AT 7:00 A.M., ROOM 236, 90 EAST CIVIC CENTER DRIVE, GILBERT, ARIZONA COUNCIL PRESENT: Chair Brigette Peterson, Vice Mayor Eddie Cook and Councilmember Jordan Ray COUNCIL ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Town Clerk Lisa Maxwell, Interim Principal Planner Amy Temes, Inspections Supervisor Lorrie DeOrio, Development Engineer Manager Tom Condit and Chief Innovation Officer Shaila Ittycheria CALL TO ORDER Chair Peterson called the meeting to order at 7:05 a.m. AGENDA ITEMS 1. Approval of the minutes of the May 16, 2019 meeting. Town Clerk Maxwell noted Interim Planning Manager Lorbeer was not at the May 16, 2019 and she was removed from the list of people in attendance. A MOTION was made by Vice Mayor Cook, seconded by Chair Peterson, to approve the minutes of the May 16, 2019 meeting. Motion carried 2-0, with Councilmember Ray not present for the vote. 2. Review of previous discussions. None 3. Review and Discussion of Land Development Code Division 4 Article 4.1. 4.107 Swimming Pools: Interim Principal Planner Temes said staff had been reluctant to make any changes to this section because it is grandfathered in under old law and any changes would require updating to State statutes. Interim Principal Planner Temes said she is going to discuss this with Assistant Town Attorney Davidson. Chair Peterson noted the Land Development Code (LDC) does not require an enclosure around a pool. Interim Principal Planner Temes said if a neighbor builds something their yard so they could climb over fence then the pool owner would be required to have a double fence. Vice Mayor Cook asked about fences with self-locking gates. Interim Principal Planner Temes said if the gate is constantly opening she does not know if it has to be self-locking. She is going to do more research on this topic. 4.108 Underground Utilities: Interim Principal Planner Temes said she would like to reference the Engineering Standards here. Development Engineer Manager Condit said this section is general enough and referring the Engineering Standards is fine. Most of the requirements for underground utilities is in Town Code. 4.109.A.1.b Single Family Residential Districts: Interim Principal Planner Temes said she would like to add all zoning categories to this section. She would also add building set- back area here as well. Previously the fences adjacent to another residential area were between five and six feet. Eight feet is now the standard for new development. When new developments go up against older developments they will build a second wall and this creates a trap between the walls. The Homeowners Association (HOA) in the older neighborhood would have to agree to build the first wall higher. This can create problems with landscaping and piping. Interim Principal Planner Temes said she needs to do more research. She suggested maybe adding a new section regarding fence height along common perimeter boundaries. Interim Principal Planner Temes noted the eight foot wall does not have to be masonry, just a durable material. She is going to check with other cities to see how they handle this situation. There was discussion about chain-link and other types of decorative fencing which is used in some neighborhoods. She would like to be more flexible with the exceptions. 4.109.A.1.c: Separation Fence: Interim Principal Planner Temes said a separation fence is required when single family residential is adjacent to an arterial street. She asked about making this section optional. She also said requests for wall permits usually come in separate or there is no request for a permit. Vice Mayor Cook noted county islands annexed into the Town may have walls that do not match neighbors. Interim Principal Planner Temes said she is going to change this to “may” and she is going to remove the words “existing” and “solid.” Development Engineer Manager Condit said the Town has helped pay for replacement of a wall when there is a road widening project. He is going to talk with Town Engineer Fabiano about current practices. 4.109.A.1.d Golf Balls: Interim Principal Planner Temes wants to remove the work “golf ball” because this section could be applied to baseballs as well. There are also other alternatives to safety nets such as chain-link fencing or mesh. 4.109.A.2.b Multi-family Residential District Separation Fence: Interim Principal Planner Temes asked if this section should be covered in the zoning section since if the development is mixed use a fence by not be wanted. Chair Peterson asked if this could be flexible. Developers may want to use this as a bargaining chip when discussing their project with future neighbors. The point of mixed use projects is connectivity. Interim Principal Planner Temes said when there is a street between developments the fence is optional. Multi-family adjacent to regional commercial a wall is required but if mixed use is desired there is no wall. She gave the example of San Tan Flats. Interim Principal Planner Temes said she will work on this section to make it more flexible. New Section: Interim Principal Planner Temes said retention basins are to be natural without retaining walls. Walls are allowed along arterial streets but that could mean a double wall is built. There is a process in place to deal with this situations. 4.104.A.4.c Prohibitions: Interim Principal Planner Temes said none of these prohibitions were addressed. New Section: Interim Principal Planner Temes said a section to cover special hybrid areas such as Gateway Village Center (GVC), Gateway Business Center (GBC) and Heritage Village Center (HVC) needs to be added. 4.104.C Employment Districts: Interim Principal Planner Temes said optional fencing and exceptions need to be included here. 4.104.D.1.a Public Facility/Institutional District: Chair Peterson asked if there was a situation where Use Permit approval would be needed. Interim Principal Planner Temes said this case is not seen very often and she will look into it. Chair Peterson said there was no sense in having this requirement if it is not relevant. 4.104.E Construction Standards: Interim Principal Planner Temes said she is going to leave this section. 4.104.G Modification of Separation Fence Requirements: Interim Principal Planner Temes is going to move this section to the area of the where it should be located. She is also going to “separation fence modification” to “fence modification.” Chair Peterson said that was a good idea as it would be more flexible. 4. Review and Discussion of Land Development Code Division 4 Article 4.2. None. The next meeting will be on June 18, 2019 at 7:00 a.m. in Municipal Center II, Room 100. ADJOURN Chair Peterson adjourned the meeting at 8:02 a.m.  ATTEST: ___________________________ ___________________________________ Chair Brigette Peterson Lisa Maxwell, MMC, Town Clerk