Planning and Zoning Commission

Jim Harris, Chairman Lake Havasu City Suzannah Ballard Police Facility David Diaz 2360 McCulloch Blvd North Joan Dzuro Lake Havasu City, Arizona 86403 Paul Lehr www.lhcaz.gov Gabriele Medley Tiffany Wilson Dane Hatch, Alternate Matthew Mitchell, Alternate Lonnie Stevenson, Alternate Planning and Zoning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes - Final Wednesday, May 3, 2023 9:00 AM 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Harris called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chairman Harris led the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. ROLL CALL Present: 8- Jim Harris, Gabriele Medley, David Diaz, Suzannah Ballard, Joan Dzuro, Paul Lehr, Tiffany Wilson and Lonnie Stevenson Absent: 2- Matthew Mitchell and Dane Hatch 4. CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Mr. Morris apologized for the online technical difficulties and stated the Commission will be doing manual roll call voting. Mr. Morris also stated that Suzannah Ballard (Regular Member) and Dane Hatch's (Alternate Member) terms will expire on June 30, 2023. Applications for appointments/ reappointments, must be submitted to the City Clerk's office by the end of this month [May]. 5. MINUTES Approval of Regular Meeting Minutes from April 19, 2023. Mr. Diaz made a motion to accept the Minutes of the last meeting as presented. The motion was seconded by Ms. Dzuro and carried with the following vote: Aye: 7 - Harris, Medley, Diaz, Ballard, Dzuro, Lehr and Wilson Absent: 2 - Mitchell and Hatch 6. PUBLIC HEARING ID 23-3739 Request for a Minor Amendment to the Future Land Use Map of the City’s Lake Havasu City Page 1 Printed on 5/17/2023 Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes - Final May 3, 2023 General Plan for the South Half of APNs 120-03-043 & 042, Located at 6600 & 6700 Chenoweth Drive, to Change the Future Land Use Designation from Employment to High Density Residential (Luke Morris) Ms. Wilson recused herself from this and the next item due to conflict of interest. Alternate Member Stevenson was seated. Mr. Morris thanked the Chairman and presented a PowerPoint slideshow and narrative including some of the following key points: [Area Map shown on screen.] • The subject properties total five acres and are located east of Highway 95, on the north side of Chenoweth Drive. They consist of the southern half of APNs 120-03-043 & 042 and are currently vacant and undeveloped. • They are located within the City’s sewer service area but are within EPCOR Utilities’ water service area. The City does not provide water service to the properties. • All the abutting properties are undeveloped. [Zoning Map shown on screen.] • The properties are zoned Agriculture/Preservation (A-P) and Industrial (I). • The abutting properties are zoned Manufactured Home (RMH), A-P, and I. [General Plan Map shown on screen.] • The abutting properties to the north and west have a General Plan Future Land Use Designation of High Density Residential. The property to the south, across Chenoweth Drive, is designated as Commercial and Low Density Residential and the property to the east is designated as Employment. • The Growth Projections and Capacity Section of the General Plan suggests that changes may be made if the proposals are consistent with other goals and policies within the General Plan. • Within Lake Havasu City’s incorporated area, about 2,500 acres are currently designated for Employment uses. One could make a strong argument that a city of our size would not anticipate the need for more than 2,500 acres dedicated for industrial uses. • The lack of land dedicated to workforce housing is a problem for many cities in Arizona, including Lake Havasu City. This proposal asks the City to consider altering our philosophy regarding housing in this specific area by changing the General Plan designation to high density residential, paving the way for a rezoning to begin to address a housing shortage. • The requested High Density Residential future land use designation allows primary uses such as single-family residences, townhouses, apartments, and manufactured home parks. • In December 2021, the City Council approved a General Plan Amendment for 39 Lake Havasu City Page 2 Printed on 5/17/2023 Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes - Final May 3, 2023 acres of abutting property from Employment to High Density Residential to develop a manufactured home park. • The applicant’s Letter of Intent asks to amend the City’s General Plan Map to add these five acres to the previously approved 39-acre manufactured home park. • This General Plan Amendment is the first step in this process. The applicant has also submitted a request to rezone the property to an appropriate residential zoning district. • At this point, the Commission is asked to determine whether the requested General Plan Amendment is appropriate. Kathy Tackett-Hicks, acting as owner's agent, thanked Mr. Morris and stated did an excellent job and has been a pleasure to work with. She said this is a reasonable request and adds to an existing project which has been planned for some time. It makes a nice clean cut against the CMU and LDR to the south. If you noticed, in the first picture, this area used to be filled with junk and debris piles. It has all been completely cleaned out. Owners are moving forward, have a grading permit, and are working with EPCOR on the water issues which are taking front and center on this project right now. This is just an additional five acres of land from the original proposal. There is actually a few less lots that are going to be presented for the overall plan. There are no increases in traffic or any other adverse ways as a result of this request. Happy to answer any questions. She thinks this complies with the General Plan and the goals stated for housing amongst other things. The site has been cleaned so feels this is a good deal. Ms. Dzuro asked what the original plan was? Ms. Takett-Hicks deferred a response to the following item which addresses zoning items. The overall number of lots in this entire development actually decreased. This particular annexation is required for the flood control to take flood from the east and get it across the site. More information will be presented at the next item. Chairman Harris opened the Public Hearing, hearing none, he closed the Public Hearing. Mr. Morris stated that based on the findings, the Development Review Committee recommends that the Planning Commission forward a recommendation of approval to the City Council for Land Use Action No. 23-3739, a Minor Amendment to the Future Land Use Map of the City’s General Plan for the south half of APNs 120-03-043 & 042, located at 6600 & 6700 Chenoweth Drive, to change the Future Land Use Designation from Employment to High Density Residential. Mr. Diaz made a motion approve ID 23-3739 [to recommend that the City Council approve Land Use Action No. 23-3739, a Minor Amendment to the Future Land Use Map of the City’s General Plan for the south half of APNs 120-03-043 & 042, located at 6600 & 6700 Chenoweth Drive, to change the Future Land Use Designation from Lake Havasu City Page 3 Printed on 5/17/2023 Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes - Final May 3, 2023 Employment to High Density Residential] as recommended per staff. The motion was seconded by Ms. Medley and carried with the following vote: Aye: 7 - Harris, Medley, Diaz, Ballard, Dzuro, Lehr and Stevenson Absent: 2 - Mitchell and Hatch Recused: 1 - Wilson ID 23-3740 Request for a Planned Development Rezone for 6590, 6600, & 6700 Chenoweth Drive and 1800 and 2000 Victoria Farms Road, from Manufactured Home (RMH), Agriculture / Preservation (A-P), and Industrial (I), to Public Lands and Facilities (P-1) to Accommodate a Water Well and Storage and to Manufactured Home/Planned Development (RMH/PD) District to Allow End-To-End Parking Spaces (Luke Morris) Mr. Morris thanked the Chairman and presented a PowerPoint slideshow and narrative including some of the following key points: [Area Map shown on screen.] • The subject properties total 44.24 acres and are located east of Highway 95, between Chenoweth Drive and Victoria Farms Road. They consist of five separate properties and are currently vacant and undeveloped. The abutting properties to the northwest are home to storage units and the Havasu RV Resort. A small storage yard is developed to the northeast. The balance of the abutting properties are undeveloped. [Zoning Map shown on screen.] • The properties are currently zoned Manufactured Home (RMH), Agriculture/ Preservation (A-P) and Industrial (I). • The abutting properties are zoned A-P, Light Industrial/Planned Development (LI/PD) and I. [Site Plan 1 shown on screen.] • The applicant’s Letter of Intent proposes to add and rezone about 2.5 acres each of AP and I zoning to the 39-acres of property previously rezoned to RMH to allow an MFD home park. • A water treatment and storage facility is shown near the northwest corner of the property. The property is within EPCOR’s water service area and the rezone of this .38-acre portion of the development to P-1 is to facilitate EPCOR water infrastructure for the project. Utility facilities are allowed in the P-1 zone. [Site Plan 2 shown on screen.] • The applicant’s Site Plan shows 294 manufactured home rental spaces for the development. The main gated entrance is proposed from Victoria Farms Road near the southwest corner of the property, a secondary gated access is shown near the northeast corner, and an emergency access is at the south portion of the property. The site plan also shows a clubhouse, swimming pool, dog park, and a pickleball court. These residential and accessory uses are allowed in the Manufactured Home Lake Havasu City Page 4 Printed on 5/17/2023 Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes - Final May 3, 2023 (RMH) District. • The Letter of Intent explains that the property owner’s engineering team is working to complete a drainage analysis and preliminary design to accommodate and reduce the impact of the floodplain flows. They have also submitted a traffic impact analysis to ADOT for review and approval and are awaiting ADOT’s comments. • An internal driveway and a drainage channel are proposed to encroach onto the abutting property near the southeast corner of the development. The property owner will enter into and record an access and drainage agreement with the abutting property owner to allow these encroachments. [End-to-End Spaces] • The proposed manufactured home development meets all the City’s Development Code requirements, except for one exception request. • Manufactured home developments require two parking spaces per unit. The applicant proposes two spaces per unit but is asking that the spaces be end-to-end spaces rather than side-by-side units. This style of parking is typical in many manufactured home developments but is not specifically allowed in our Development Code. • Staff supports the requested exception. Mr. Diaz asked Mr. Morris to explain City verse EPCOR water services. Mr. Morris stated the subject property is in the EPCOR service area and the City is not allowed to provide water there. The property owner has to go through EPCOR to provide water in this area. Kathy Tackett- Hicks, representing owners, again stated Mr. Morris did a great job and covered most of her notes. Ms. Tackett-Hicks reinstated that the developer has been working with EPCOR. Plans right now are to drill a well at the site where the rezone has been requested. Drilling will start in the next two weeks to see what the quantity and quality of water is, and this is expected to be completed in the next four weeks. Proposing some storage tanks. Work is in progress. The development requires water and this is the long step in this project right now. The original application for this showed well over 300 spaces. This layout shows 294 lots. Significant areas for drainage structures. This area does have some sheet flow coming from the east that has to cross so we are going to encroach on the adjacent property just like Mr. Morris said and get some easements in order to do so, to provide for that drainage channel all the way around. The project team engineers have been working on the floodplain requirements. A public participation meeting was held at the site with 29 people. Ms. Tacket-Hick provided a follow-up on the questions that arose at the meeting. Access issues- there is access at the north east portion that will go down Victoria Farms Rd. A question was, "What types of improvements would we have to improve?"- bottom line is what the City requires, directly adjacent to the City's right-of-way, is what will have to be improved, i.e., curb gutter, saw cut existing pavement, and then extend to that pavement edge. Landscape Lake Havasu City Page 5 Printed on 5/17/2023 Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes - Final May 3, 2023 buffer will also be placed. Same will occur and be provided on the south of Chenoweth which is an interesting road with a lot of traffic down to the dump site. The original plan showed an emergency access but is being left open now. The site does not have an exit point but if it is required by the Fire Department, that is where it will be. The Traffic Study completed and submitted from Green Light to ADOT does not show an access there so Ms. Tackett-Hicks feels they are covered both ways. Lastly, there was concern from adjacent owners regarding the entry and exit from Victoria Farms Road at the southwest corner. That exit was on the last approval for this project. Ms. Tackett-Hicks believes this entry/exit will work. There are several utilities in Victoria Farms Road so that entry way is going to have to fit around it and hopefully not impact their manhole covers and other utilities out there. Latest plans from engineer showed if you are turning onto Chenoweth, north to Victoria Farms Road, they are going to have a right turn lane going into this project which alleviates any kind of congestion on that corner. The project is prepared to move ahead as most of the property already has RMH, with the exception of the bottom five acres. The only thing discussed within the past six months has to do with the on space parking which does not affect anything except how they are able to park on that site. Chairman Harris opened the Public Hearing. Guy Reynolds, property owner at Havasu RV Resort, stated this looks like a great project. He cited concerns on behalf of the Havasu RV Resort Board as follows: • Chenoweth & Victoria Farms Road bottlenecking or excess traffic that may be created by this project- Havasu RV Resort already has this issue as traffic stacks up at the gate. • Concerned about turning right on way out with larger motor coaches and all of their traffic and also turning left to access Victoria Farms Road. Hopes to have this addressed with the Traffic Impact Study. • Speed concern- many near misses with traffic coming down Chenoweth Drive and trying to turn right. It gets quite evasive as far as the viewing and safety. Steve Irwin, full time resident at Havasu RV Resort, cited the following concerns: • Entrance- referred by Mr. Irwin as the Chenoweth dragstrip- people going to and from dump are just flying through there. • Left turn into Victoria Farms Road- If you are in left turn, people are actually passing you in the dirt to go by you at a high rate of speed. • Exit/Entrance concern- Busy street with large tanker trucks for the propane company up the street. Also have large gravel trucks that go up and down Victoria Farms Road. In his opinion, that intersection will be quite dangerous and needs to be addressed. Lake Havasu City Page 6 Printed on 5/17/2023 Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes - Final May 3, 2023 Greg Seeds, Havasu RV Resort resident, stated his only objection is the entrance onto Victoria Farms Road. During peak season, the resort has over 400 vehicles that are going in and out all the time, along with the rock and propane trucks. It seems like it would be a better location to exit and enter onto Chenoweth Drive. Mr. Morris stated Staff received an email with a letter from Havasu RV Resort citing same concern as previously stated. The email was placed before the Commission on the dais. Chairman Harris stated for the record that the Commission does have a letter about same concerns. Chairman Harris closed the Public Hearing. Ms. Tackett-Hicks stated they do not want any safety hazards either. The engineer of record has submitted a traffic report that is still being reviewed. She does not believe there were going to be any major changes to the roadway as a result of the study. They are following all requirements. There are professionals and City staff reviewing this. No one wants a safety issue. Chenoweth is a crazy road. There was discussion about getting on and off of Chenoweth but that is almost scarier with the big trucks and then having the project come on and off there. Ms. Tackett-Hicks feels this is the best location. Mr. Diaz asked for a timeline. Ms. Tackett-Hicks stated the traffic report was issued to ADOT in October and the first set of comments came back. Road widths were appropriate, traffic counts were taken, discussion about seasonal and low traffic counts. ADOT did not have any major modifications. They did recommend a right turn from Chenoweth onto Victoria Farms Road. Mr. Morris stated that bBased on the findings, the Development Review Committee recommends that the Planning Commission forward a recommendation of approval to the City Council for Land Use Action No. 23-3740, a Planned Development Rezone for 6590, 6600, & 6700 Chenoweth Drive and 1800 and 2000 Victoria Farms Road, from Manufactured Home (RMH), Agriculture / Preservation (A-P), and Industrial (I), to Public Lands and Facilities (P-1) to accommodate a water well and storage and to Manufactured Home/Planned Development (RMH/PD) district to allow end-to-end parking spaces, with the following conditions: 1. The developer shall abide by the requirements received from ADOT’s review of the traffic analysis, and 2. The developer shall enter into and record an access and drainage easement agreement with the property owner of abutting APN 120-03-064 to allow the access and drainage encroachments on that property. This item will go to the City Council’s June 13, 2023, meeting with the Commission's recommendation. Lake Havasu City Page 7 Printed on 5/17/2023 Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes - Final May 3, 2023 After the motion and second of the motion, Mr. Diaz asked Mr. Morris if the public can get a copy of the traffic study, if they want to see what the recommendations are from ADOT? Mr. Morris stated that once the traffic study is received, the public can submit a Request for Public Information to receive a copy. Mr. Lehr moved to recommend that the City Council approve Land Use Action No. 23-3740, a Planned Development Rezone for 6590, 6600, & 6700 Chenoweth Drive and 1800 and 2000 Victoria Farms Road, from Manufactured Home (RMH), Agriculture / Preservation, and Industrial, to Public Lands and Facilities to accommodate a water well and storage and to Manufactured Home/Planned Development district to allow end-to-end parking spaces, with the following conditions: 1. The developer shall abide by the requirements received from ADOT’s review of the traffic analysis, and 2. The developer shall enter into and record an access and drainage easement agreement with the property owner of abutting APN 120-03-064 to allow the access and drainage encroachments on that property. The motion was seconded by Ms. Dzuro and carried with the following vote: Aye: 7 - Harris, Medley, Diaz, Ballard, Dzuro, Lehr and Stevenson Absent: 2 - Mitchell and Hatch ID 23-3746 A Request to Rezone 2205 Victoria Farms Road, APN 120-03-045, a 30-acre Portion of Planned Development No. 07-00200005, from Light Industrial/Planned Development District (LI/PD) to Industrial District (I) (Trevor Kearns) Alternate Member Stevenson stepped down and Ms. Wilson was re-seated. Mr. Kearns thanked the Chairman and presented a PowerPoint slideshow and narrative including some of the following key points: [Area Map shown on screen.] • The property is located on Victoria Farms Rd in the north part of the City. • The surrounding properties are largely undeveloped except for outdoor storage and a storage unit complex currently under construction. • The property is 30 acres and is currently vacant. There is a 60-foot wide private ingress/egress easement that services the 10-acre property at the northeast corner, the rezone will not affect the private easement. • The property currently has a stop work order for grading and the installation of storage containers without the proper permits. [Zoning Map shown on screen.] Lake Havasu City Page 8 Printed on 5/17/2023 Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes - Final May 3, 2023 • The properties to the west, north, and south are zoned LI. The properties to the east are zoned LI/PD (Light Industrial/Planned Development) and I (Industrial). [Approved General Plan shown on screen.] • In 2007, the City Council approved a Planned Development, which included 160 acres along Victoria Farms Road for the Pinnacle RV Resort (now known as Havasu RV Resort). The subject property is located within the originally approved Havasu RV Resort. The western-most 40 acres is fully developed as Phase I. The adjacent 120 acres to the east was proposed for Phase II. The subject property was to be part of Phase II of the proposed RV resort. The new owners of the subject property request to remove the parcel from the planned development and rezone the property to an Industrial designation. To date, 59 acres of the originally approved 120 acre RV Resort Planned Development have been removed from the PD and rezoned to Light Industrial or Industrial. [Permitted Uses Table shown on screen.] • The potential allowed uses for the Industrial District are shown in the Permitted Uses Table. The applicant has stated in their Letter of Intent that there is no development or building anticipated at this time. • The property is currently zoned LI/PD, which does not allow development outside of the approved planned development; therefore, the applicant is asking to re-zone the property as Industrial for future development. • Future development of the property will require the appropriate design review and building permits. • Any lot alterations or splits will require review and approval by City staff. • No objections to the request were received from any other reviewing agencies or departments. Hugo Acu, owner representative, stated that at this time, there are no plans for development and it will just remain vacant land. This is strictly a rezone request. Ms. Wilson asked if there are no plans, why is there grading going on? Mr. Acu stated that storage units may possibly be placed on site. He has heard that if they want to create pads, they will have to submit a site plan for review and approval of required building permits. Chairman Harris opened the Public Hearing. Troy Wilde, adjacent property owner right behind the rezone property stated his concerns are, and have been for some quite time, the egress/ingress, which Mr. Kearns stated would not have an impact on any other development. Mr. Wilde stated the subject property owner is already in violation of putting storage container in the egress/ingress of the property. Chairman Harris, pointed out the 60-foot easement/egress/ingress being referenced on the Tract Map shown on screen. Mr. Wilde wanted to ensure that the Lake Havasu City Page 9 Printed on 5/17/2023 Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes - Final May 3, 2023 rezone would not change the easement/ingress/egress. He is in the process of trying to sell his property. Mr. Wilde stated he went through the proper channels to rezone his property but he can’t even run business out of his property due to what the subject property owner has done with his gate. He has blocked off access to Mr. Wilde's ingress/egress. Chairman Harris asked City Attorney, Kelly Garry, if that easement runs with the land? Mrs. Garry stated zoning would not change an easement; however, Mrs. Garry said she did not have any information and could not make a statement in regards to the legality of the easement, whether it is currently in existence or not, and added that a straight rezoning will not change any legal entitlements to the property. Mr. Morris added that the speaker is in touch with some legal issues and may be dealing with an attorney. He suggested maybe Mr. Wilde could elaborate a little more on that. Mr. Wilde stated that the whole problem is that the subject property owner has impacted him to run his business by putting gates up. He has spoken with the City, Unisource, and every agent that has their stuff in there. This is his second time of having to hire an attorney. There was supposed to be no blockage of his access. He cannot get a definite answer of what his rights are but to take it further to a judge. Now he is being told that this is recognized as an egress/ingress to access his property and it should not be blocked by gate and no trespassing signs. He can't even get trucks in there to dump into his property. His concern is that all the guidelines have to be done and this needs to go away so that he can use his property for what he rezoned for. Mr. Morris stated that what Mr. Wilde is trying to say is that this is a private property matter and that he is dealing with an attorney to deal with it. Ms. Garry cautioned the Commission on any comments made and stated that she understands what is shown here today on screen but there may be something else going on if it needs to be adjudicated by a judge to determine what the legalities are. We are looking a one piece of a large puzzle. We don't know what the actual language is. We do not know what has happened since, before, or after this document. We cannot answer those questions and are only looking at the zoning and what the City can control and that is not a city easement. Steve Irwin, full time resident of Havasu RV Resort, stated there is grading going on in that property. He wonders what it is doing to the floodplain. Their park is seeing more water runoff through a creek that runs through their place. He has called the City a couple of times and stated they are seeing more water and asked what is happening up above that is causing more water to divert into the park. Whatever grading is going on, floodplain needs to be looked into. What the natural flow of the water needs to be taken into consideration. Chairman Harris closed the Public Hearing. Mr. Kearns stated that based on the findings, the Development Review Committee recommends the Planning Commission forward a recommendation of approval to the City Lake Havasu City Page 10 Printed on 5/17/2023 Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes - Final May 3, 2023 Council for Land Use Action No. 23-3746, for 2205 Victoria Farms Rd, APNs 120-03-045 from Light Industrial/Planned Development (LI/PD) District to Industrial (I) District. This item will go to the City Council’s June 13, 2023, meeting with the Commission's recommendation. Ms. Dzuro moved to recommend approval to the City Council of land use action #23-3746 rezoning 2205 Victoria Farms Road, APN 120-03-045, a 30-acre portion of Planned Development No. 07-00200005, from Light Industrial Planned Development to Industrial. The motion was seconded by Mr. Lehr and failed with the following vote: Aye: 3 - Harris, Dzuro and Lehr Nay: 4 - Medley, Diaz, Ballard and Wilson Absent: 2 - Mitchell and Hatch Mr. Morris stated that with the failed motion, this item will go before the City Council with a recommendation for denial from the Planning Commission. 7. CALL TO PUBLIC None. 8. FUTURE MEETING The next Regular meeting is scheduled for May 17, 2023. 9. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Harris adjourned the meeting at 9:47 a.m. _________________________________________ Jim Harris, Chairman _________________________________________ Maria Hart, Recording Secretary Lake Havasu City Page 11 Printed on 5/17/2023