Planning & Zoning Commission

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION OF THE TOWN OF PINETOP-LAKESIDE, ARIZONA, HELD TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2015, TOWN COUNCIL CHAMBERS. Vice Chairman Snitzer called the Regular Meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Roll call was as follows: ROLL CALL: Present Absent Present Absent John Jarchow X Timothy Williams X James Snitzer X Errol Heslop X Rob Ingels X Adam Staley X Richard Smith X STAFF PRESENT: Paul Esparza, Community Development Director and Jill Akins, Assistant to the Town Clerk. ITEM NO. 3, CALL TO THE PUBLIC: There were no requests from the public to address the Commission at this time. ITEM NO. 4, CONSENT AGENDA OF REGULAR MEETING MINUTES FOR JULY 21, 2015: COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS MOVED TO APPROVE THE REGULAR MEETING MINUTES FROM THE JULY 21, 2015. COMMISSIONER STALEY SECONDED THE MOTION AND IT CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ITEM NO. 5, INFORMATION/DISCUSSION/LEGAL ACTION RE: TOWN CODE SECTION 17.116.040 SELECTION OF OFFICERS. DISCUSSION AND ACTION REGARDING SELECTION OF A CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN FOR THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION: Vice Chairman Snitzer said nominations are now open for the Planning and Zoning Chairman. COMMISSIONER STALEY SAID HE NOMINATES JOHN JARCHOW FOR CHAIRMAN OF THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION. THERE WERE NO ADDITIONAL NOMINATIONS AND THE NOMINATION VOTE CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. COMMISSIONER SMITH SAID HE NOMINATES JIM SNITZER FOR VICE CHAIRMAN OF THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION. THERE WERE NO ADDITIONAL NOMINATIONS AND THE NOMINATION VOTE CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ITEM NO. 6, INFORMATION/DISCUSSION RE: REVIEW OF TELECOMMUNICATION REGULATIONS FROM FLAGSTAFF AND SHOW LOW IN CONSIDERATION OF DEVELOPING LOCAL REGULATIONS. STAFF DISCUSSION ON HOW FLAGSTAFF AND SHOW LOW DEVELOPED THEIR REGULATIONS. PRESENTATION BY MICHAEL KNIGHT: Mr. Esparza said he spoke to his counterpart at City of Show Low regarding their telecommunication regulations. He said the City of Show Low’s Planning Commission worked on the regulation and they did not use any outside consultants. He said the City of Flagstaff has proposed text amendments to their 1 telecommunications regulations regarding visual impact. He said the City of Flagstaff did have a group of attorneys from Washington DC to help with their telecommunication ordinance. He said the City of Flagstaff has a sound telecommunications regulation and had not had any challenges to their regulation. Mr. Esparza said he is in favor of the Flagstaff regulations, but said the regulations would be customized for the specific needs of Pinetop-Lakeside. Vice Chairman Snitzer said he would like to have additional options available, and said he likes parts of each regulation. He said the Town needs to cater to the economics of the Town, and said economics would have to be a part of the regulation. Commissioner Ingels said it is important to do the ordinance correctly, and said not to be unfair to competing businesses. Mr. Esparza said Michael Knight presented at the Town Council meeting regarding the tower variance and he asked Mr. Knight to attend the meeting tonight to present telecommunications insight to the Planning and Zoning Commission. Mr. Esparza said Mr. Knight would present a power point presentation on technology and communication towers. Mr. Knight said technology primarily involves computers, cell phones and the internet. He said the capabilities that are primary are emergency response, remote economy and economic growth. He said emergency response includes fire departments, terrorist’s response teams and police departments. He said they all run on the internet and radio. He said if emergency response is disrupted it can cause extreme problems. He said remote economy refers to working remotely from home. He said the internet is a viable tool and produces income. He said economic growth for Pinetop-Lakeside are tourists that are here to spend money in restaurants and stores, and said if the internet is down it effects services being rendered which in turn affects economic growth. He said the challenges for rural communities are substandard technology, lack of diversity and loss of economic growth. He said the Town needs to embrace technology, understand our community goals and set a path for economic growth. He said Pinetop-Lakeside is technology challenged. He said the entire region is technology challenged. He said he went to Flagstaff and did a case study to look at the terrain and tower positions. He said Flagstaff and Show Low have relatively flat terrain compared to the terrain in Pinetop- Lakeside. He said the trees also cause interference. He said the tower positioning also needs to be considered. He said he wants to protect the environment and not have multiple towers along Highway 260. He said a strategic goal by the Town needs to be achieved before working on tower regulations. He suggests the Town create an official case study. He said his concern is the Commission would create tower regulations before knowing what is needed in Pinetop-Lakeside. He said the regulations from Flagstaff and Show Low contain some deficiencies and said Pinetop-Lakeside is a different Town, different terrain and different capability. He said first a strategic goal for the Town needs to be achieved. Mr. Knight said he had come up with some possibilities for the Town. He said the possibilities are to pull the rural communities together, develop council based case studies, bring case studies to the Governor and the Senate, petition the FCC and uphold the Presidents mandate to develop rural and urban high speed connections to the internet and petition funding from the FCC for Carrier Back Bone Diversity and modeling. He said he is proposing to develop a Council case base study. He said he means the Planning and Zoning Commission along with the Town Council. He said there are some very intelligent people and business owners on the mountain. He said the Council and the Commission need to set goals, need to grow the economics of the Town and work on a case study. He said the case study can then be brought to the Governor and to the Senate. He said he is talking about goals for all of our rural communities. He said then the FCC can be petitioned for funding. He said there are three committees to research, and said they are the Arizona Technology Council, the Telecommunications and Information Council and the Arizona Infragard. He said each of these committees work with private businesses. Commissioner Ingels said he is impressed with Mr. Knight and his level of knowledge. He said his concern as a Planning Commissioner is how does the Commission identify what our mission should be within 2 the realm of the Planning Commission, and how does the Commission address the concerns that have been brought forward. He said the Commission wants a competitive edge, and said we do not want to have multiple towers within the community. He said the economic opportunity would be a benefit to the community for generations to come and he said it fits in with the General Plan. He said Mr. Knight has laid out a huge amount of work for the Commission and the Town Council. Vice Chairman Snitzer said he is not sure if it is the role of the Planning and Zoning Commission to do the work, and said the Commission would have to talk to the Town Council regarding this subject at the retreat. He said the first step is to have a technology plan for the Town and then build the codes around the plan. Commissioner Ingels said with the recent adoption of the general plan the Commission has a responsibility to look into the general plan and coordinate the goals of the general plan with the need to have an economically successful community. Ms. Esparza said the Commission has a two hour block with the Town Council during the retreat. He said he would talk to the Town Manager regarding this matter. Commissioner Williams said a plan should be put together first and to take to the Town Council for direction. Commissioner Ingels said the Commission needs to decide the goal of adopting a telecommunication regulation would be. ITEM NO. 7, STAFF REPORTS: Mr. Esparza said the Town Council approved the text Code changes to the Chapter at the August 6, 2015 meeting. He said the next Planning and Zoning meeting would be held on Thursday, September 10, 2015. He said the Commission would meet with the Town Council at the retreat on Thursday, September 10, 2015 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., and said the regular Planning and Zoning meeting would follow immediately after the retreat. He said it is possible to have a site plan and preliminary plat for the Bucksprings project at the September 10th meeting. Mr. Esparza gave a brief update on the workshop he attended in Phoenix regarding sign regulations. He said the Town attorney is reviewing the recommendations from the workshop, and said the attorney is also reviewing the Towns current sign regulation. He said he is waiting to receive direction from the attorney if the Town sign regulations would need to be amended. He said the Planning and Zoning meetings would be held on the second and fourth Thursday of each month. ITEM NO. 8, FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS: Vice Chairman Snitzer said general plan implementation measures, sign regulations and telecommunication regulations would be discussed at the retreat. The meeting adjourned at 7:48 p.m. Dated this 20th day of August 2015. 3 PINETOP-LAKESIDE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION _____________________________________________ Jill Akins, Assistant to the Town Clerk 4