Planning and Zoning Commission - Regular Meeting

Okay. What's up? You don't like that sip on the water? That was still the You heard me talk about Are you okay with the I want people.

I was pulling for disclosure.

One How you doing?

That's Exactly. almost.

That's all. This thing keeps popping up here.

Good evening. Welcome to the Planning and Zoning Commission regular meeting for November 19th. This thing will work here. Uh, can have a roll call, please? Chair Hume here. Vice Chair Koshell here. Commissioner Quinn here. Commissioner Galla here. Commissioner Schwarzer here. Commissioner Bilstein here. We have form. Thank you. Uh, next item is the pledge of allegiance. Mr. Bilstein, if you'd like to lead us, please.

I pledge allegiance. Thank you, Mr. Billstein. Appreciate that.

Okay. Um, before this meeting, we had a study session and I do have three three cards um on item number two. So, what I I'm going to do um I'm not going to pull it to action yet, but I'd like to um go through the speaker cards and two of these people would like to speak um and then if we need to, we can pull to action, have the some of the items addressed. So, um Monnique Fulmer, you're you're opposed to the item doesn't say you want to speak. You're welcome to. I'm concerned about the density of the project with only access on Basher Road with busy park and historic canal impeding vision. Do you want to speak or does that cover it?

Okay, thank you. Okay, then Megan Craig Head, do you want to speak? Okay, come on up. You'll have three minutes. The clerk can sort if you'll state your name and address for the record, please. and then uh glad to hear your concerns.

Okay. Thank you. My name is Megan Craighead. My address is 40 425 South Basha Road, Chandler 85248. My concerns um are with the property that is across the street across Basher Road. Um there's a couple of concerns that I have. first is with the density of the housing will create a lot of traffic on our tiny little basher road which was at one point Alma school road but then alma school got moved to where it is now because it would not be able to handle the traffic so that's a concern that I have another concern that I have is the palm trees that line the road which are a part um which can't be taken out create a picket fence effect and so it's very difficult ult to see when you're pulling off of that property. It's very difficult to see um cars or people coming and I we get a lot of people biking and walking and kids going to the park in the skate park that I'm really worried something will happen and somebody will get hurt. And um the last thing I guess is that I just don't feel like the density of the housing matches with the properties that are already there. I I understand that Chandler um feels like we need more affordable housing. Uh the house prices that have been offered for these houses are in the upper 700s and I don't feel like that would be considered affordable housing uh for Chandler residents. Um and one last thing I forgot, uh the water tower is being proposed to be knocked down, the old Bashes water tower. There was another water tower that was there that was knocked down quite a few years ago now. And so that leaves just the Basha

water tower that is a historic landmark in that area. And I feel like it would be a real a real shame to knock that down and to not preserve some of the history of that space that was the old Goodyear. And that's everything. How long have you lived at your property? At my current property, 10 years, but that is the neighborhood that I was born and raised in. When you mentioned the fact that Basher was almost school, you I figured you'd live. So, a little over 40 years in my neighborhood. Thank you very much. Thank you. Um, Ruben, would you like to speak or

Okay, you come on up and state your name and address for the record. It' be great. Hello. Hello, commission. My name is Ruben Craighead. I live at 4425 South Bashia Road also. Um, so my concerns are with the density of the housing, right? There's a lot of houses there. But I think most of all, my biggest point or my biggest opinion about the thing is that it's extremely uncreative and that as a as a commission, right? We're here representing the city of Chandler that we we ought to stand up and say, "Hey, don't just raise everything and put up a bunch of stickouses, right? Uh we need some buyin from these builders whether it's leave the trees, right? Or um leave leave some kind of like give some parking to this to the to the city park because there's not enough parking there. Obviously there's um maybe the water tower, right? As some kind of a cool landmark or whatever, but get more creative. We don't need to just level everything that's standing and start, you know, and sell expensive houses that are whatever. So, I maybe it's uh maybe not super well thought out, but I think it's in a way of like here's a chance to give character and creativity and and actually kind of enforce some of the things that uh we want as a channel or culture and not just as a you know tax generating revenue whatever it is you know like in a way of like big trees are super cool. the the the uh Ashton Woods neighborhood that's slightly south of us on on Basha Road, they left all the trees. They had they made them rearrange and rechange their plan so that they had to keep the big eucalyptus trees. And that was at least something, right? And and so as a as a as like a standard citizen, as someone that's like, I want to see the trees still there. I want to see the water tower. I want to see some way that's like not just the same old

raise it and sell houses. So that was my time, I guess. And thank you for your time. Thank you very much. Um I'm going to pull this action not for a full presentation but for let the applicant address a few of the concerns when we get to that. So um okay so so the other to the audience um we had five other well four other items really on this or three other items sorry um was there anybody in the audience that wanted to comment on any of the other items? item morning glory Maple House or Jay Alexanders. Okay. If not, what's the commission's pleasure on everything but item number two? And wait, before we go there, staff, do you want to read that uh item number three, Morning Glory, there's some additional stipulations. Would you like to read those into the record, please? Stipulation number four is revised to say the hours of speaker operation within the outdoor patio are limited to the following days and hours. Hours of outdoor speaker operation Monday to Sunday 9:00 am to 900 pm. Stipulation number five is revised to say the volume level on all outdoor speakers shall not exceed 65 dB at the nearest residential property line. A new stipulation is added. Stipulation 8 shall read, "Outdoor speakers shall be used only shall be used for ambient music only." You're kind of like me. You write your handwriting. It's hard to read, right? Okay. To the commission. Anybody um any comments or anybody want to make a motion on those items?

Vice Chair. Uh, chair, I move to approve the consent agenda minus item two and with the revisions to stipulations four, five for morning glory and the addition of stipulation 8 to morning glory. Do I have a second? I'll second. I have a second. Any further discussion? All those in favor say I. I.

I. I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Okay. Motion carries. Okay. Um staff, I don't think we really need a presentation. Item number two, if the applicant would like to state his name, state his name and address for the record and if wants to talk about the concerns and a few of the items that the residents talked about, please. Uh good evening, chair, members of the commission. Brennan Ray, 2325 East Camelback Road here on behalf of Khob Nadian Homes. Um we're certainly excited. Uh we recognize the opportunities to talk about forale housing are very limited within the uh city and are certainly excited about this particular piece. Um, with respect to, uh, at least what I wrote down, I think it's important to understand when we talk about traffic, when we talk about the palm trees, um, and the water tower, um, I I've spent a lot of time on this property. Um, over the course of my youth and even into where I'm at now, I've spent a lot of time on the property. I'm very familiar with the area. And this site uh as the commission may be aware once was um the site of Bash's corporate office and their distribution facility. Um so there was at its peak uh anywhere between 150 and 200 employees that were working on this site. Uh it was used for distribution. So you had vendors, you had delivery trucks, you had all kinds of traffic coming in and out of that this location. Not to mention the corporate offices with the executives, uh the management, um mail room, uh everything. This was this was the Basha family headquarters. And so, um it is something that uh as we

look at it and look at and consider Basha Road, um certainly uh the intensity of a corporate headquarters with a distribution facility uh is going to greatly outweigh what it is now. Obviously that's not what it is today but certainly comparing what it is um today as the bashes as you may know sold their company to Raies and with that that um rendered the corporate offices no longer necessary and so as we look at it we also know that with respect to the um palm trees and and concerns about that access those palm trees as you may be aware uh and the entire canal has been designated ated historic. So that means those palm trees have been there a really really long time. Uh and through all of that there was again a lot of traffic that was going in and out of that as compared to this development and the traffic that we would generate um that would have generated more um traffic. And so we've actually had lots of discussions with traffic staff um relative to their perspective on it, the impact of the use on that road today. And at least as we visited with staff, I don't I'm not aware of any concerns that traffic has, the impact that this development will have on the existing operations, the level of service and capacity along um Basher Road. With respect to the water tower, um a little bit of history on that water tower. Um that water tower was uh came around in the late 70s and it was used for fire suppression. Um because part of this site is within the county. In fact, the majority of it is overall 18 acres, 15 acres of it is within the county. And so simultaneous with these applications that are before you, we are processing an annexation request. And so when we look at the water tower, we're not sure

of its structural integrity. Um, and then we run into a lot of concerns relative to people wanting to live under it uh and purchase a home under it. Uh, and then we also consider the um financial potential burden that would be on the HOA and these homeowners um to maintain this facility uh to ensure that it is safe. And so there are a lot of complications relative to having the water tower exist on the site. But what we've done is we've talked with staff, we recognize that um while it's adjacent to the original Goodyear Center, the original Goodyear Center, unless I'm mistaken from looking at the old maps actually is on the Bogle property, but this is certainly adjacent to it. But as we look at it um and and as we visited uh with um Khabnian what we've decided to do is what is on your screen I think today and that is this interpretive sign elevation and what you see on it and staff talked about this in the study session but what you see on it is that there is going to be a steel plaque that's going to have a historical narrative of it of the site on it. Um, you see that kind of corrugated, what I call corrugated um, element that's on it and you see the the the brick and stuff like that. Um, you see in the very top of that corner and the old bashes stores, uh, you remember they had the red lettering and kind of the vertical what I again call corrugated um, concrete or whatever the material was. And so taking up uh and picking up on that historical cue again that is relatively synonymous with Bashes. Those of us that have shopped at Bashes uh recognize that almost instantly at least at least I do. And so that's why we are including this. And this sign will be out along Basher Road, not on the road obviously behind the canal and behind the themes uh the palm trees, but

that'll be there um to pay homage to the Basher family and to the site. Obviously, there's a lot of history that the Basher family has within the city of Chandler. A high school named after them, uh an elementary school named after them, and certainly a road as well. Uh and so, um we feel that this is something that's good. With respect to um the water tower itself and understanding that element um as was presented during the study session, we are requesting an additional stipulation that would um require us um to put a um this is the wording on it that we will include a silhouette of a water tower on this interpretive sign. again paying um homage in a in an appropriate way of what has existed on this site with the bashes with that water tower. Um and so I believe that um uh there's there's one more thing that talked about density and I know that staff in their presentation um and I will probably steal theirs. They talked about density uh and how it fits in the surrounding area. Um I believe is this the slide Darcy? Okay. So relative to what exists in the surrounding area certainly from a density standpoint just immediately adjacent to us you see that you've got the Echelon um condominiums town homes on the north side with a density of 8.7. You see the Echelon community at about 3.39 and you see Park View a little bit further to the south at 5.3. I know if you were to go a little further out uh in looking at the density um what you would see is that um kind of south further southeast of this site uh within Okato

um there is a dens a parcel with a density of 5.1 um and obviously at the corner of Alma school in Okato um a pretty dense area of 15.4 so where we come in at 5.4 before we're kind of in the middle of the density that exists in the area already. Um and so um I think uh with that chair, unless there's additional questions, again, we're certainly excited um to have this request before before you today. Um we're appreciative of staff's recommendation for approval. We're okay with the additional stipulations that we've suggested and there was an additional one about disclosure um that would be made for the dog park uh and the park facilities themselves. Uh we are agreeable to that stipulation and so with that we would request your recommendation for approval.

Questions of the applicant. Okay, Mr. Ray, thank you very much. Thank you. Um anybody else in the audience who wants to talk on this item? Can I change my mind? Change your mind? I said I didn't want to talk, but Oh, here. Come on up. State your name. I I do not want anybody not to be able to have a chance to talk. So, if you can state your name and address for the record, that'd be great. Please, you'll have three minutes.

Hi, I'm Monique Fulmer. I live at 4439 South Basha Road. Um, just across the way from this. And I while I appreciate what Brennan has talked about about honoring the history of the area, I do think a little bit of um what he said was a misrepresentation. When Bashes was a working warehouse and all of that traffic was there, the surrounding area was a farm. And so there was not the traffic that is there now. It was Elm School Road and a farm. And now there's all of the other housing, but the real concern is the park. It is right next to the skate park. Kids are skating down Basher Road every day. People are walking down Basher Road. People are cycling down Basher Road. The way that the road was when Bashes had trucks coming and going because I also grew up right there, lived right there. It was not the same place when Bashes was a working warehouse as it is today. That's all.

Thank you. Um, do we have somebody from traffic here? You want to come up? I I I talked to a resident yesterday about the traffic on Basher Road and Sneeder is really where the traffic goes to. Is there any plans for any calming or or done traffic studies whatever in terms of trying to calm down the traffic on Basher Road? Yeah, I know you have stuff closer to the park. I know but not so Yeah, in terms of traffic coming, Basher Road is not a low co street. It's a collector. Okay. So, there won't be any traffic coming that uh you know place on a collector based on the city guideline.

Yeah. But I know that I've been involved with the city a long time. Have you guys done a study, done traffic counts, had somebody look at it in terms of and this has nothing to do with the developer, but from the city's point of view. Are we looking at that to make our streets safer? I I we can do a lot of things if we want to do them. So, I would urge the traffic department, engineers to take a look at this road. And I know there's concerns down there. And it's not the people who are going to live where these guys live at Basher Road or the people moving in here. It's the people coming down. You know, they're late for the ball game. just screaming, you know, racing down at 50 miles an hour. So, I just urge our um staff to take a look at it. Absolutely.

We over the years, I know we I hear collector all this other stuff, but we really want to do something. We can do it. Um so, I just urge you guys to take a look at that. Um and I personally will ask some of the council members to ask to be take a look at as well. So, thank you very much. Thank you.

Okay. Um, I just want to address a couple things and and I've been in Chandler over 40 years, been in the valley over 50 years and you know, Chandler is a different place than it was. I mean, we were a farming community till 1980 and then Intel came along and we're now the high-tech city of of the Southwest. And it sometimes it's hard to watch some of these stuff go away. Um, and it just I'm I guess it's progress in a way. Um, and I I feel for it, but at the same time, you know, you know, south of Germaine Road, people used to go hunting. There was nothing out there kind of a situation. So, I think this project's a pretty good project. Affordability, I agree with you. $700,000 houses are not affordable to the average person, but trying to get anything affordable right these days in Chandler is difficult. I mean, we have the second highest demographics in the in the state and people are buying these things up. We have a resident here. He's here somewhere. And his neighborhood in the middle of Chandler, they just built houses that they're they sold out and what three or four months going at $700,000 plus. So, people are buying them. Uh because we're Chandler's a really desirable place. So, um staff, you read an additional we we talked about additional stipulations. Whoever is in charge of this one, can you talk through the steps, please? Chair Humeman, uh, if I could help out with this. Uh resoning stipulation number seven reads, "Prior to the time of making any lot reservations or subsequent sale agreements for lots, the subdivider homebuilder lot developer shall provide a a written disclosure statement for the signature of each buyer acknowledging that the subdivision is located adjacent to or nearby the existing Sneder Sports Complex and Dog Park. that may cause adverse noise, orders, or other externalities.

The public subdivision report, purchase contracts, CCNRs, and the individual lot property deeds shall include a disclosure statement outlining that the site is adjacent to an existing sport complex and dog park. The disclosure shall state that such uses are legal and shall be expected to continue infinite infinitely. The disclosure shall be presented to prospective home buyers on a separate single form for them to read and sign prior to or simultaneously as uh with ex executing a purchase agreement. This responsibility for notice rests with the home builder lot developer and shall not be construed as an absolute guarantee by the city of Chandler for receiving such notice.

Great. And that stays with the land. So it's not something that the house is sold down the road. So I do know that we had some issues with Echelon moving next to Snedar. It's one of our premier parks in the city, heavily used. So Commissioner Bilson, you said you had a question.

Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. Um, I just want to address a couple of comments that that some of the residents made and appreciate you guys coming out here and and I'd encourage the uh the developer to continue to work with with you all because being on the east side of Asher, you do have unique homes there and it's unique lot sizes and it's it's something different. I know you all aim to protect that. Um, but from from a standpoint of I think it was mentioned that it was an uncreative development. I think the homes look beautiful. Um, I think it's definitely different than you know you all being on a little less than an acre. Um, but I think from from the the way they look is is is great. Um, and another comment that was made was and I just be remiss if I didn't say something was the chance to give uh I think what you said just chance to give uh character and creativity to Chandler culture. And I would just want to say on the record is, you know, Eddie Bash and the Basher family gave so much to Chandler and Arizona as a whole. And when you talk about culture and uh character, you know, going through the museum that used to be there and when families would come to town, you'd want to see it and it was it was amazing. And unfortunately the lifespan of that property is just it's come and gone and so it's time to redevelop that. Um but I I and I hear what you're saying about the water tower and I drive past it all the time going to the park. It's really cool. I understand you can probably see it from your home and so that has different and you've seen it from your home for a long time and so um I appreciate the developer working with the signage. if there's more that can be done, uh, continue to to do that. Uh, so that when those folks pull out of their neighborhood, they still have that, um, that feeling that they've had for a long time, knowing, you know, that that water tower is is going to be going away. Um, but I would just say that I think the the character and creativity that that Eddie Basha and the Basher family has done here for a long time, um, um, more than more than makes up for a water tower, but I understand what you guys are saying. So, thank you for coming out.

Any other comments? If not, can I have a motion from somebody including the new stipulations? Um, I make a motion to approve item number two for today with the amended stipulations. I have a second. Okay. Any further comments? One of our Ryan came off the dis because Ryan needs to recuse himself because he lives close to this property. So that's why people wondering why one of our commissioners walked into the audience because he is within the the notification zone. So other other comments all those in favor say I. I. I. I. I.

Any opposed? Any abstensions? Okay. Motion carries. Okay. Any comments from staff tonight? City attorney. Okay. Uh Thanksgiving is coming up next week. wish everybody a great happy Thanksgiving and um make sure you walk a little bit after before or after dinner. So anyway, this meeting is ajourned.