Planning & Zoning Commission - Regular Meeting

[Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] Okay. Heat.

[Laughter] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music]

[Laughter] [Music] Everybody. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Laughter] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] I now call to order the City of Cottonwood Planning and Zoning

Commission regular meeting Monday, October 20th, 2025 at 6:01 p.m. Roll call, please. Commissioner Kennedy, present. Commissioner Camello present. Commissioner Helman here. Commissioner Rothbog here. Chairwoman Maten present. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Our first order of business is to approve the minutes for the meeting held Monday, September 15, 2025. Do any of the commissioners have any corrections or additions to the minutes from September? I have one. Uh please speak it into the microphone. Uh,

turn your mic on. Let me just talk. Uh, page six. Um, mulare needs an E at the end of the name. Are there any other corrections or additions? All right. I am not seeing any further corrections or additions. I move to approve the uh September 15, 2025 minutes with the correction from Commissioner Rothrock. Do I have a second? I'll second. Thank you very much. All in favor?

I unanimously carried. Our next order of business areformational reports and updates. Thank you, Madam Chair. Tina Hayden, city senior planner for city of Cottonwood. Uh just a couple of reports. We have the quarter 3 project report provided to you there. Uh I'll work with staff to get that posted online for the public to see as well. Uh next item, our community development director, Scott Ellis, he is no longer working with the city. I will continue to be your staff leaison. Uh just reach out if you have any questions for me. Uh we do have one open seat on the planning and zoning commission. We will also be bringing back the vice chair election to the November meeting. Uh lastly, walking on Maine is Saturday, November 8th. Our historic preservation commission will be operating the historic property tour in tandem, and we'll have our HP Commissioner guided tours departing every 30 minutes between 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. And that's it. Thank you very much. We don't have any old business this evening, so we are moving directly to new business. We are going to work on one agenda item DR-25-01148 Wine Works covered patios. This is for the consideration and approval to allow covered dining patios for an existing tasting room at 48 Wine Works.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh presenting on the design review item for 48 Wine Works outdoor patios. Uh our request is consideration of approval for the proposed covered outdoor patios for the existing building. Uh we ask that you consider the staff report with the recommended stipulations and the applicant sub here. Uh moving right into our locator map. Uh we don't have the zoning indicated here as this is our historic uh Cottonwood commercial historic district outlined for you. The project site is right here. It is surrounded on the northeast and south by C1 zone and then to the west is P A planned area development for that Min Vineyards. Uh here is a closeup of the project site uh adjacent from the Cottonwood clubhouse and city offices. The project is in the C1 light commercial zone district. It is about 7,400 square ft for the whole lot. Uh located within our commercial historic district. We did take this to our historic preservation commission on September 24th. Uh they did issue a certificate of appropriateness for the proposed work. Uh there is no additional uh required parking due to its location within the historic district. However, regarding the parking, there are seven existing parking stalls that overlap onto the adjacent city- owned parcel to the north. Uh since it's in the historic district, those parking spaces cannot be eliminated. The applicant is just proposing to shift those parking stalls further north. Uh there is an amended easement that is being worked on and it

is subject to council approval and this commission design review approval tonight is contingent on city council approval of the amended easement. So when we take this to council, they are not approving the site plan. They're just going through the motions to amend that easement area for the parking adjustment. Here we have our colored elevations and materials. We are looking at the east elevation. So this is viewed as uh from main street. Here you can see the extension of the front patio. Here um there will be a retaining wall where it's built on top of uh the overall building height. You know, regarding historic preservation, we did want to keep the scale lower. So, the elevation of the proposed work will be dimminative compared to the historic landmark building. Uh, and you can see from the north elevation here, it does rise in the back. Uh, you can see the new work here does not exceed the height of the main building. Here is a quick overview of some renderings and the site plan. I'll zoom in for you guys to analyze that further. The gray areas here, this is the rear covered patio. This is that front patio area. Uh this is the existing building footprint. Uh there is a door here. It's currently a window uh to allow for connection uh to the building itself. They are putting a door in there.

And here's a zoomed in version of those renderings for you. Again, this is the rear patio. This is the view from Maine. This is the view from the parking lot to the north here. These are existing site views. Uh here we're viewing from north or sorry from Main Street from the north parcel. Uh and then another zoomed out view of that north elevation. And then looking at adjacent businesses. Uh we've got a restaurant here to the south. Uh city offices to the north, more city offices to the east, uh including the clubhouse as well. And then to the west, we've got American Vineyards, that P zoning. There are five stipulations that staff does recommend. I'm not going to read them word for word. Uh, stipulation one just covers that the project be developed in conformance with the plans reviewed tonight. Stipulation two, that the project adhere to the code review board comment letter. Stipulation three, that the project comply with all applicable sections of the zoning ordinance. Uh, stipulation four, that the uh, city council approval and record recruitation of that amended access easement uh, be in place prior to the issuance of building permits. And then lastly, that a building permit application be submitted and diligently pursued within 24 months of this approval. That concludes my presentation. I do have the architect for this project here if you have any questions for him. Great. Thank you, Tina. Now is the opportunity for commissioners to ask questions of staff and then uh we will have the architect come forward after those questions so you can ask them questions as well. Uh, does anyone have

questions for Tina regarding this project proposal? Go ahead. Will the truck always be there? Thank you for that question, Commissioner Rothrock. That is the intent that it be there for more than 180 days, which would make it a permanent building in the eyes of our building official and our fire marshal. And that is why we wanted to make sure that we maintain 10-ft separation from the building, from the patio area, and then a reasonable amount of distance from the vehicles, and that's why they're being moved further north to allow for that distance.

I see. Is there any uh is there ADA access to the patios or is all from the internal part of the building? and then maybe some for the applicant because I didn't notice anything outside for the patios. There was if from the inside they get in but no ADA access from to the patios. Thank you for that, Commissioner Canela. I will have the architect speak to that. Uh uh and any other questions for me or

Yes, please. You said that there's no additional parking requirements, but how many parking spaces are you losing? Uh, thank you, Commissioner Kennedy. Uh, there are currently seven parking spaces on site. Uh, again, they're partially on this project site, partially on that city- owned parcel to the north. um they are just going to be moved further north and that's why we're working on an access easement to ensure uh there there was previously an access easement that allowed um for that overlap. Uh with three parking stalls allocated to the business itself. uh where the access easement amendment is only modifying the uh coordinates of the easement area. Uh and the applicant intends to just restripe for seven stalls. So we're not subtracting any stalls from this project from this site. And that's not going to affect the uh sidewalk area there either. Uh previously there was a driveway on the project site. However, uh that is being changed uh to stop that curb so that they can put the um sorry the patio area there. uh there will still be access and that's part of the easement, the existing easement uh from that city-owned parcel to the north and that's how they'll access those parking stalls is from the city-owned parcel. Any questions down there? All right. Thank you very much. Uh we would like the applicant's representative to please come forward, introduce yourself into

the microphone, and if there's anything that you would like the commission to be aware of regarding this project, please go ahead and give us a brief introduction and explain those things. One more. Which way? This way. Backwards.

Yeah, that's good. Uh good evening. Uh Reynold Roasio with Architecture Works Green over in Clarkdale. And I'm happy to answer any questions to elaborate a little bit more on the parking the the property the way it is today. Um the parking uh aisle that's on the south side of the uh existing parking lot is in fact on Maynard's property and um we're just shifting it to the north by 10 or 12 ft or so leaving the same striping. Um in fact the light pole that's there is is not going to be moved. It'll be in the same location, separating two parking spaces. And it's just really a matter of adjusting the easement um with the city to allow for the patio. And Mayard also wanted a walk, excuse me, some space to walk between um let's see, uh right here between the front windows of the parking area and the and the patio. So from the sidewalk, you could walk um to the west towards the back of the property. Um so we did not have the cars parked flat up against the wall of the new patio. Um like um Tina said, we're not losing any parking spaces and in fact our g the city is gaining spaces along Main Street here where the um driveway was eliminated. We worked with um

uh the uh the streets department and and utility department and um got permission to close up that driveway here. And in fact um there will be at least one additional parking space placed there striped there and possibly a second one. Um, and that's really up to the city of Cottonwood if there's going to be one or two additional spaces on the street. They're also in the parking lot on that south side. Um there are three reserved spaces for the staff of um uh 48 wine works that exist today and those will remain except they'll shift back to the north.

Thank you. So that's that's the the direction that we uh moved in in terms of parking. Can you speak to um the commissioner's question regarding ADA access of the

So on the um on the front patio, the rear part of it um will allow for ADA access. It's um meaning the west entrance to the patio allows for ADA access from where the food truck would be parked. Also from inside the existing tasting room, you can come out what will be the new door which is um uh which pointed out it's on the north elevation of the existing um tasting room and of course that's ADA access from the front door of the building. So, there's two ways for a handicapped person to get onto that patio. Also, in the rear patio, um um there is ADA access from the west side. So, you would be entering at the asphalt level. So, both patios have ADA access.

I just couldn't see I just couldn't see it in the drawing. So, yes. Thank you very much. You You bet. Any further questions from the commission for the applicant rep?

One thing I might say, and this was questioned um at the historical preservation committee meeting too. We made a really strong attempt not to connect uh the new roofs to the existing uh historic building. There are several um beam connections, but there isn't a long ledger or um the roofs really don't uh uh structurally join um the entire length of the of the patio. So, and same with the rear patio too. So, we tried to best we could to keep the integrity of the brick building um more or less isolated from the from the new uh patio structure. Interesting. So, is the load then being carried entirely by the um supports that are in the new structure? It's cuz it's not attached at all. Um it is attached where just the beams go into the building, but we don't have a bunch of rafters framing into that side of the building. There are just three beams and then the rafters are going parallel to the building so that they don't touch the actual brick work.

Thank you very much. At this time, anyone from the public who would like to speak regarding this proposed project may come forward. I'm not seeing anyone come forward from the public, so I'm going to close the floor to the public. Thank you very much for coming and representing the applicant. Yeah, thank you so much. I have one more question. Oh, um I apologize. We have one more question from the commission. Yes. Um will there be a shade in the summer? Um which under the patio? Yeah, it's a solid roof. Oh, it is.

It is. Yes, it is a solid it's a metal. It's a steel roof. And um a couple more comments again spoke about it, but we did have Rick Travis and certainly Cody Blazer and meetings on the site regarding that food truck and the location of the food truck with the proximity to the building and the new structure and uh Rick Mosley. and Cody agreed that um we had to keep certain distances from the structure and the patio and we talked about moving the food truck back to the west towards Ver Heights, but that was not practical because the grade of the parking lot goes up to Ver Heights and then the food truck would be, you know, parked on a on a a slant. Um and it just didn't work. So, the food truck had to be where it is and um and we're just respecting the setbacks that Rick Contrarus uh um required

and the food truck Yeah. will be there. It's not moving every day and coming back. Okay.

We have one more question from the commission. Please go ahead. If those roofs on the patio are flat and you have a space between the roof and the building, how are you handling that drainage? Well, there might be some that, you know, the roof actually um the the highest part of the roof actually overlaps the the the front part of that building. The white part if you can see it in that you can see it's just it's it's rising over apparently and the back part um it's not it's not structurally tied to the building but there is a small space and we do have gutters taking the water towards the parking lot and the slope is taking the water towards the parking lot with a better along that side. So the roof the water will drain to the north on the roof, not towards the existing building.

Okay. To me, it looks like it's not entirely flat either. Well, it's not right. It does have enough slope to get the water off of the building. Yes. And and same with the back patio. That roof. It looks, you know, we call it flat, but it does have a minimum slope. It would have to per building code. Are there any other questions from the commission?

The one thing that has been an issue and um I think it's kind of even a little bit the public when they first closed that curve off. um the owner or the um the people who work at noticed that cars were still trying to come up into the parking lot from that direction. I know that the curb has not been fully um painted and um um I mentioned this at the historic preservation committee meeting too. Um the city did not want to completely finish the paint job out there and cuz they had decided how many parking spaces they would like one or two and I was told that the striping contractor that the city uses was going to be back in town sometime in October and they were going to deal with whether that curve should be red, yellow or something. It needs to be painted some some color. so that it's obvious cars don't decide to turn into what used to be the driveway.

Thank you for adding that. All right. Uh thank you very much. Uh we'll call you back up if we need you for anything. So at this time uh the commission can discuss um any final thoughts regarding this project. Uh, we will start with Commissioner Kennedy. Kennedy. Kennedy. What? Camela. Camela, I'm so sorry. That's all right. Camela, I I don't have anything to add. And thank you, sir, for some your explanations on some things. So, uh, looks pretty good. So,

I know what I did. I mixed up Camela and Kennedy. I'm sorry. We do have both. Yeah. All right. Uh, Commissioner Rothrock, since I'm on this side, um, yeah, I think it's going to be a lot better than what's there now, where you got people trying to jump the curve and so forth and so on. Um, nice that the historic bank is going to still be intact. It's kind of a shame not to be able to point out where the drive-thru window was, but we can live without it. All right. Um, now, Kennedy, please. I don't have any further questions.

And uh Commissioner Helman, uh I just wanted to say that I think it looks really great. I love seeing these kinds of things coming to Oldtown. So, thank you. Yes. For my money, I think that this is a good project. I think that it's great that you're respecting the envelope of that historic building and I appreciate that we are not losing any parking because then there would be many more people at this meeting. All right. So, with that said, I move to approve DR-25-011's application for covered patios subject to the stipulations indicated in the staff report. Do I have a second? I second.

Thank you very much. All those in favor?

I unanimously carry. Congratulations. All right. Now, now we have the call to the public. Uh, we have had one submission request to speak. Would Michael Bucks please come forward and speak regarding House Bill 2447? You have three minutes um on the record. Thank you. Um, council members, my name is Michael Bucks and I'm a lifelong Arizonan and homeowner here in college. I came tonight because I believe deeply in what makes this country strong. The idea that ordinary citizens such as myself have a voice in how our land and neighborhoods are governed. House Bill 2447, which limits public oversight of local survey and mapping changes, moves us in the wrong direction. It weakens transparency and it's it opens the door for boundary and easement adjustments to happen quietly without the light of public review. This isn't just a bad process. It's bad for property rights and for the trust in government and for the legacy we leave our children. Every American, from the smallest homeowner to the largest developer, deserves to know that their rights cannot be redrawn on a map in a closed office. Our state was built on open hearings, honest records, and citizens who show up to defend themselves. to and to defend fair bitterness. I'm here tonight to ask this council to stand for that tradition, keep local oversight strong, require public notice on all land changes, and make sure Cottonwood remains the city where transparency still matters. We've all seen what happens when boundary or easements get adjusted

quietly. Neighbors end up in disputes they never asked for. Trust in local planning disappears. And good people waste years trying to understand why a line moved on the map. None of us want that for Cottonwood. I appreciate your time for listening to just a concerned citizen and someone who believes in government and the rule of law. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Is there anyone else here from the public this evening who would like to speak while we're doing call to the public? I'm not seeing anyone come forward. So I am now going to close call to the public. We are now moving on to our discussion item for the evening which is a discussion of the Arizona legislative updates. Uh we have to talk about the design review guidelines that are happening in reaction to these updates. Tina Thank you madam chair. Just have a brief presentation. We had brought this to you guys believe last month as a discussion item and there was some question or let me re go back. Uh we had brought the legislative updates to you which included that uh the states mandating that we authorize staff to administratively approve design review projects plat items like that. Uh the commission uh as a whole uh agreed that we should create objective standards uh design guideline standards. Uh the question was what do those standards look like for Cottonwood? Uh and so staff went back a couple years to see what items um the commission has approved based on provisions within the zoning ordinance. and then also the items the commission has stipulated. Uh so this is a list of items that were brought to the commission per z uh zoning ordinance provisions that you approved. Um we've had some storage uh projects that came in uh our fence height maximum is 6 ft. However, the commission can approve heights of greater uh greater than 6 ft uh based on

findings of fact for screening. So, you guys have approved 8ft tall fences for a storage yard. Uh I think there was a conditional use permit uh to hide a generator for the uh hospital as well. We've also brought um parking for unlisted uses, specifically tourism use. There's been a two projects for that. Uh so you guys heard what the applicants proposed and approved those projects and that parking based on their proposals. Uh buffering and screening for drive-thrus. Uh I believe we're looking mostly we've brought the Chipotle drive-thru to you. We've brought the Arby's drive-thru as well. Uh just looking at adding more drive, more screening along lot lines and then also along that street frontage to prevent uh at night time that vehicle headlight glare into traffic. Um we've also buffering screening between similar uses and zoning districts. This is a in the zord ordinance it says that we we may require uh so planning staff has that opportunity to indicate that is buffering is required and then the planning and zoning commission also has the opportunity to indicate that requirement. Uh and then we've brought some conditional use permits for an increase in sign quantity um with up to four additional signage signs and square footage with up to 70 additional square ft of the 200 maximum we have. And then these this next slide covers additional stipulations that the commission has uh put on projects uh a couple projects such as the Arby's and the recent Circle K. Uh you guys stipulated 3 to 4ft tall screening walls

along street frontages. Uh we also included pedestrian safety and parking lots. Uh uh crosswalks with contrasting materials and navigational signage. uh vegetation to be used for screening of staircases visible from our right of way and then circulation which includes ballers ballards reduce parking to allow for large vehicle turning. These are just some items that you guys have you know done those additional stipulations. Uh in our zoning ordinance section 304E, we do have design review criteria. Uh just listing all the items that are indicated there. Uh I did star these items. um they say that they're criteria criteria, but they say architectural embellishments that are subject to the standards indicated in section 404. So they just reference another uh section while all the other uh criteria actually do um summarize what we're looking for in design projects. Uh and then I have three more slides. What does the general plan say? Uh regarding land use uh specifically objective 15 uh we want to look at mixeduse development to promote pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Uh and that's really focusing on our light commercial or neighborhood commercial land use. Uh again, neighborhood commercial uses to include smallcale development. Uh low visibility parking lots and drive-throughs. Also looking at shared parking when possible and then locating multifamily residential uses uh our uh medium

density residential and H high density residential designations adjacent to that uh neighborhood commercial designation. And again focusing on bike, transit, uh, and pedestrian facilities. Uh, now we're looking at six corridors. Uh, you know, how do our corridors look as far as design, our street frontages for our projects here. Uh, we got a objective six, one covering highway corridors. We want to prioritize shared driveways and incorporate parking in the front with building set back. These are our large box stores like Walmart, uh, you know, large chain restaurants. When we're looking at the highway corridors, that's typically our C2 zoning. Uh, objective 62 for street corridors. Uh, this is prioritizing access over mobility. We want parking pushed to the rear, uh, pedestrian prioritization and provide a comfortable and interesting experience. And that is quoted from our general plan. Objective uh 63 regarding hybrid corridors, we want to prioritize improved safety where increased access points and high-speed corridors intersect. Uh collector corridors, those standards are going to be very similar to what we have here in objective 62, prioritizing access over speed and mobility. Uh objective 65, corridor aesthetics. We do want to have those landscape yards on the front property frontages. We also want to pay attention to signage that it's functional uh doesn't create visual driver uh visual clutter or driver visibility hazards. And then the last slide I have on what the general plan says focuses on nine environmental planning. Uh so we do want to look at our riparian buffers and retain open

space and wildlife quarters. Uh we do want uh to require storm water detention uh so that it prevents first flush pollution into the river. Uh objective 93 here we want to develop standards that address appropriate levels of development while preserving our key natural resources both the look and how they operate as far as uh you know water flow. Uh, objective 94, trees. We want to reduce ambient temperatures and enhance community aesthetics. And then objective 97, uh, mitigate light pollution while allowing sufficient illumination. I apologize for that typo for safety. That ends the presentation. Uh, uh, ready for any questions. This is a discussion item, so we want to hear what you guys have to say. We anticipate bringing a proposed text amendment to the commission in November, ideally December if we have to. Uh, also working with the city manager to possibly get a work session with council to also get their input on the design guideline update. So, commissioners, this is a discussion item. Uh, do turn on your mic so that that can be caught for the record, but go ahead and ask questions freely, share your thoughts freely. Um it's really important and a big part of our role to uh talk about these things and get them uh some transparency before they're turned into um amendments. While we wait for the commissioners to kind of get their thoughts together, I want to address a little bit what um our citizen who came forward and spoke because this is obviously concerning uh

the 2447 which was recently passed. So I want to clarify that as a municipal body, the city of Cottonwood cannot fly in the face of the Arizona state legislature. We must react appropriately to the legislative changes. That is part of why we are taking care to proactively make text amendments so that there is clarity for developers, for homeowners, for the people who live and work in the city if they want to make changes to their property or um create something new. It's very clear and straightforward and fair what happens and we are not um sending plans back behind closed doors um with no transparency. It is through the law that we create transparency. You look like you have something to say. Well, it's it's not really I I I was I had a question about the um uh putting these projects up on the town website. I know that we talked about that or mentioned that last time, but but I know community development is in flux and so I'm not sure how quickly anything like that can be done, but that would help address the citizens concerns to be able to see even though we won't be having any input on it. They'll be able to see what's going on and I don't know where that stands.

Thank you for that, Commissioner Helman. Um I have worked with our uh marketing specialist and information specialist. Uh she has made some changes on the community development web page to show administrative projects and then also ordinance updates. Uh and so we we are working on implementing those changes. Uh as far as staffing goes and timeline, we do want to get those done in a timely manner. Uh and we're hoping to get additional staffing in so that we can ensure that it's done in an appropriate time. But that is our plan is to have all that available for the public to see.

Go ahead. For discussion items, you don't have to get permission to speak on the water retention. Can you put that back up again and explain that a little more in detail? There it was just there. [Music] Oh, there. Wait, right there. Oh, I think it's a little touchy. Wait, wait. No, it's not on this one. So, that would be on um the ne slide nine, environmental planning. If you go two slides, one more. Uh there. Yeah, this

this is, you know, summarized from our general plan. Um, can you explain to me what first flush pollution is? Thank you for that, Commissioner Kennedy. Uh, I would love to, uh, I wish I had our city engineer here to also explain that the way I understand it. And you know I will follow up with a correction if I am saying this incorrectly. Um is that it has to do with the initial flooding during rainfall. Uh and that the detention area can you know accommodate that prior to it overflowing and I will get you some a concrete answer on that. I think that my largest concern and the reason I was asking about the drainage off of the roofs, there's so much flooding. I mean, we don't get a lot of rain. When we do get rain, we seem to get a lot of rain. Um, the flooding is a a very big problem. I mean, there's not enough storm drains. There's not enough. And what ends up happening is it goes down into these older neighborhoods and older business areas and really creates an issue. And when you're talking about that, I believe what that is is the garbage out of the streets flowing into not only people's yards, but then on into the river. So, it's going into the irrigation ditch, which the Cottonwood irrigation ditch was never set up to take that water load,

and then it goes on into our river. And so, I don't know where flood control fits into the discussion between planning and zoning and the city council and flood control. I don't know. I haven't been here long enough to understand where that fits into the discussion, but when you're looking at approving all these projects, how does that fit in? U bear with me. I'm going to go back to the podium. There's some additional slides that I have wanted to reference. Now, um

while you get back to the podium, I want to say that one way that that can fit in is in stipulations on projects. So, some of the flooding is caused by inadequate drainage. And some of it's caused by drainage that's just full of stuff, silt and trash. And so, we can stipulate or we used to be able to stipulate, but beginning in January, we will have to figure out some legislative solution that property owners and de developers uh maintain their drainage in addition to putting it in in the first place. And that's something that we've discussed and now I'm handing it over to Tina.

Yes, thank you for that. Um, so the section 304 eesign criteria, I only gave you just the headlines for each um subsection there, but here you can see um items L and M. We have site grading. Then we also have grading criteria. Uh, these are items that the commission looks at when looking at projects. Uh typically our city engineer does prompt this discussion at the code review level and as uh chair Masten was saying uh there is I believe a maintenance agree a a storm water maintenance agreement that is recently being employed for projects. Uh that is something our city engineer provides to our applicants at the time of code review. Uh I do apologize. Uh hopefully you can see the font here. This is just directly copied and pasted from our zoning ordinance regarding grading unit criteria. Um um then you know I'd say item seven here uh talks about reduce erosion effects of storm water discharge, preserve the flood carrying capacity of natural or constructed waterways uh by limited soil loss and protect protect drainage ways from siltation. So these are items that the commission currently is tasked with considering for projects. We can expand on them in our design guidelines if that's a priority for the commission. And if we bring this to council for council as well, we can look at other zoning ordinances and surrounding jurisdictions uh and kind of pull from them to create our own updates here.

And that's what we're looking for is what is the priority for the Cottonwood um based on the general plan based on what's in currently in the zoning ordinance based on what commission says uh we can look and see what other jurisdictions are doing and implement some other design guidelines. What I understand is that as long as when they're grading, they don't change how the water tracks into the property and leaves the property. So, if it tracks in at the northwest corner or whatever and leaves, as long as they don't change that, then their grading is considered approved. But anytime you pave a driveway, pave a parking lot, put a metal roof or a roof on a building, um take away any of the vegetation, uh or open space in a, you know, you're creating more drainage, more water is going to come off of that piece. So, I think that at some point it has to be addressed somewhere. And that's what I'm I don't know where it's addressed. If it's addressed here, if it's addressed through the engineering, the council, but when you look at the properties down, say in the Bridgeport area, that drainage that's coming off of that above there is substantial. And that has not always been that way. And when you're talking about the agreement, maintenance agreement, some of those agreements are with those property owners, but some of them are with the state and with the city. And some of those drainages are just not

cleaned like you're saying. And we're not saying that they're cleaned. We're saying that we could make them be cleaned. So what you're doing here today, and I'm doing this because you're relatively new on the commission. I think this is an opportunity to talk about what the commission does is you are setting those stipulations. You are saying as a commissioner that it's important.

This is important and this is what will become an amendment that we are creating. We are literally in the process working with the city staff of creating these amendments. This is, by the way, a great day for our visitors because we're making amendments, which is um sometimes less dramatic than approving projects, but I think more meaningful in the long term than any individual project. So, uh that's that's what we're doing. Um, so what the things that you're saying to Tina, what's going to happen now is that city staff is going to take notes from this meeting. And then they're going to go and write a first draft of these new text amendments. And then at the next meeting or the meeting after, depending on how quickly things go, they're going to bring a draft back to us and they're going to ask us what we think of it, if we want to make any changes, and then there might be another round. And then after that, they will take it to city council. And then city council will have their opportunity to go through that same process. And at the end of it all, we will have an approved set of guidelines. And I say guidelines, but really it's law. We will have code for people who come and make developments. So any agreements that have to be entered into any um building changes, I mean that that is literally what we're setting. So when you talk about like they make changes, they is us. We're we have that very important responsibility. Okay. I don't often give really serious speeches, but that was kind of a serious speech. Uh I will

Good for you. I will back off from that. Um but that I just want to say like we have a lot of new commissioners right now and that's that is what we're doing here tonight. We are establishing this which is why I'm so encouraging you. Like I talk a lot but only if you guys talk a little. You all should talk more. Talk talk more than me please. It's very important. So I have a question. Um once these uh new codes are set, does it affect anything that's already in process or only what new, you know, the new stuff coming down the the pipe?

Thank you for that, Commissioner Helman. Uh we typically review stuff based on when it was initially submitted. Uh what the code was at that current time. That's how we analyze that project. Uh typically when we take an ordinance to city council, it takes 30 days before the ordinance is in effect. So, you know, if the day prior, if we have a submittal come in, we're going to process it with that current code. Once the ordinance is in effect, then we're processing, we draw that line, you know, based on that ordinance effective date. Uh uh as far as Commissioner Kennedy, um with what you were talking uh you're wanting to prioritize, you know, storm water, uh drainage, detention. Uh as Masten said, we're planning on bringing that text amendment back to you. Already gears are turning in my head about we have a provision that allows for uh reduction in required open space. Uh however, maybe we create an objective that only allows that if the applicant provides semi-permeable parking surfaces. Uh so that's the kind of you know this discussion is you know creating those kinds of text amendments that we bring to you.

And if I may add um I used the wrong vocabulary. I'm so sorry. Oh no, I'm not going to. Um we're we're discussing objective standards as well. And so part of the objective standards allow us to have a even something as simple as a yes no does this provide for this kind of drainage. So um that's that that will likely be part of the objective standards or things like that in the the objective analysis that staff will administrative administratively review. So, as they discussed, uh there are a lot of ways for us to accomplish that and I would be surprised if we didn't consider that in our our objective standards.

Thank you very much.

I find this heartening. Um when we were told that the state legislature was going to uh allow these homes to be built and didn't sound like they were going to uh necessarily be something that would well maybe meet our the standards that we once were able to hold uh buildings to. This is heartening to see that uh there's a whole lot of other areas once the um structure is up that we can uh address and keep a lot of uh things that make our city very nice. Any further comments? I just have a question about um how quickly we could get the draft so that we can have time to review it thoroughly before we meet next time. I mean, I know it's hard, but I would just ask if we could possibly get it a little, you know, sooner than than I've seen in the past. Thank you. Thank you for that.

I second that. Yeah. 14. Thank you for that, Commissioner Helman. Commissioner Roth, uh we'll work with the city clerk's office on uh trying to get something to you sooner, if anything, posted online sooner. Uh as I said, we've already implemented changes on our web page. Uh so we can look to at the very least get our proposed text amendments uploaded sooner there. uh as opposed to you know rushing our uh reports and packet process. Thank you. I think that would be a good compromise. I have one minute. Yes.

I signed up for your Facebook page, the city of Cottonwood Facebook page that produces memos on projects and and other things. Is that a place a venue where you would put when you're talking about being transparent and um putting forth those changes, developments, I think projects. Is that someplace that you would post those? I will work with our uh information specialists, Laura Herrera, to see what that looks like. Um, I'd say the city web page is probably the best place to have all of our projects uh just due to the uh file size of some of the submittal items. You guys, you might ask uh your information specialist just about linking to the city web page because that's a way to do that where you don't have to worry about uploading the file size.

Yeah, thank you for that. Yeah, we'll definitely work with them to make sure that there's multiple avenues that people can access project information. That's been an ongoing discussion too about uh notices in the past because the city actually is quite transparent. It's just it has um a relatively smaller megaphone than maybe would catch every single person in the community. People have to know where to look. Mhm.

And so that that's some it's come up before. I think that it's difficult for um a lot of people in the public because they don't understand that when something actually comes on the agenda, it's pretty much already gone through the whole design and it's ready for a vote. So, you know, someone comes to the call to the public, for instance, and they think that they're going to change something on the agenda and that's just not the case, right? It's it's pretty much already a done deal. Yes, it's going to be voted on, but all of the prior discussion and everything has already been had and you know, everyone's already read through all of the information. So, the average person in the public that doesn't come to one of these meetings every month doesn't understand that. And I think that's I think that's difficult. So, I I think that like the Facebook concept is just another little blurb, a memo if you will, that says this is what we're working on and they see that and maybe then they have a little more discussion about it.

Yes. Thank you for that, Commissioner Kennedy. I'd also like to say that um you know with the recent state legislature staff is working on creating a uh kind of a spreadsheet of all the criteria. Um as Mike Goodman said, uh I think we're going to go with either yes, no, meets does not meet um kind of process when looking at and evaluating everything. But the goal is to create a scoring rubric of sorts that shows staff's analysis of the project and that we're saying it meets code. It does not meet code. Uh that's our basis for approving or denying a project. Uh and we would want to have those posted on the website with the project. Uh when an approval or a denial goes through is that rubric. Because yes, transparency is a priority for us. Uh we don't want this. We, you know, for our parts, for planning's part, we were not thrilled with uh it all going to administrative. Uh this is something that the state legislature is hoping that it will hurry projects along if we're not waiting uh in the wings for a commission meeting. uh the third Monday of every month.

This is always sort of the challenge of reacting to state changes because the state is legislating for the entire state and they're not thinking about the relatively small municipality of Cottonwood where we tend actually to move quite quickly. I know not every developer thinks that, but we do. Um and in general the commission vets developments very fairly and the vast majority that come forward who've gone through the process are approved because they have gone through the process and a lot of the issues have been caught early. I mean, it would be great if the public had a better understanding of that process because I do agree that there is um a sense that there's a lack of transparency among some members of the public and that comes from a couple things. One, you know, people have lives and jobs and they don't have the time to watch all of these meetings and read all of the documentation that's online, but um there are things that we can do to mitigate it. And I know that the city staff work really hard to do that. And I think it would be in everyone's best interest if the public fully appreciated everything that staff does. I'm really on my soap box tonight. You guys want me to go home for sure. Um, is there any more discussion about this? I don't do this very often and I don't even know if it's 100% allowed. I'm looking. Right. But um I know that there is at least one member from the public here who was concerned about this bill and now he's had the opportunity to hear some of this discussion and I would like to give him the opportunity if he has any further remarks or questions to ask them while we're talking. Is that something I can do? Uh it being a a discussion item, uh you are the chair and it's up to you. Um I

would uh limit that though to the discussion had here not reference back to the public comment.

Okay. Absolutely. Uh if there's anyone from the public having heard our discussion, having heard the presentation from staff, I just want to give an opportunity don't refer back to the previous public comment. that if you have any questions or comments regarding the discussion that has happened over the last few minutes, you may come forward, introduce yourself to the microphone and uh participate. Um, thank you council members again. Uh I I really enjoy that the the discussion on this matter is of value to everyone in this room. Um I especially like the questions that you have brought up and I'm sorry I cannot see your name but uh the transparency um portion I think is a huge deal. I am lucky enough that I know technology really well that I can really go anywhere and find what I need. But when I think about, you know, my my parents or other people who don't have that luxury of knowing, um, transparency has to be the core of what the city of Conwood does. You know, my dad was a doctor of chiropractic medicine for 21 years, and he's not going to be able to know all this stuff. he's going to be focusing on the people's health and those that are trying to do good for the wider community. So when I think and hear um you know that we're not sure if things are going to be posted on Facebook or social media where some of the younger generations maybe even myself but even younger than my my own and the ones that will still come up and we're not using these tools in a way

that should be appropriate for the younger generation to get the information that they need because as time goes I it's only getting more difficult for these individuals to find the information that they need because we're, you know, because there's so much of it out there. So, I appreciate the discussion and I think that I also would like to follow the city and what they plan on doing those type of transparency uh meetings for everyone in the city of Conwood. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Is there anyone else from the public since we had one person up? All right, I don't see anyone coming forward. I'm closing the floor to the public again. That was really unusual, but I thought that it was fitting this discussion since we are talking so much about transparency. Last chance for the commissioners to make comments or ask questions regarding this discussion item. I have a question regarding um getting the word out. So, um I know a lot of people read the free journal extra or the other printed newspapers, the the older generation especially. And so when this uh change happens and items are not being brought before this commission, will there be a way that the the newspaper could be notified of big projects so that they could do stories on it or get the word help get the word out? I I I don't know if you have a a channel for that or an avenue for for that kind of thing or not.

Uh thank you, Commissioner Helman. Uh typically we do issue PSAs. Um we do it for each commission meeting and that goes to you know the radio paper u and it's their decision on if it's in the paper or if they comment on it. of that is something that we can work into the policy. We can generate a transparency policy, you know, in light of the legislative updates. Uh and that can be part of that transparency policy. Uh so that's something, you know, we can bring alongside with the design guideline updates. Uh when we do text amendment is also have that transparency policy. I don't know if we'll have it codified or if it will just be an addendum, an added item that staff does, you know, do social media post, does issue a PSA, does post online within a specific time frame. Uh that's something we can work on. All right. I'm not seeing any further discussion, but interrupt me if there is. So, I'm going really slow. Okay. Uh, with that, I believe that we are good. Thank you so much, Tina. It was very informative. And just so the commissioners know, you may also email Tina if you have additional questions. Just make sure that you don't email each other open meeting law. And with that, are there any suggested topics for future meetings from the commissioners present?

Go ahead, Commissioner Ruff. I recently attended a um talk by Bruce Babbot who's former

um governor of our state and is um he's very concerned about uh our f our water future and he's recommending that uh areas like the Birdie Valley and others throughout the state get on the ball and organize uh what we as a region feel will be appropriate to do in terms of making sure that our water supply is available and palatable. Uh so I realize that that's pretty broad. you know, we're talking about the whole birdie valley, but at some point we're going to have to face up to some rather nasty um facts about what's happening with water. If if you follow it at all, the um the central Arizona project uh is looking it's looking to take a big hit uh as with the amount of water that they're going to have available to them. and the folks who are supposed to be get getting the act put together are so far uh have their heads in the sand.

Okay. I think that that's a good discussion topic. We'll put that forward to staff to discuss. Um I think that there's a lot of things packed into that, but I will I will leave that in Tina's capable hands to figure that out. Um are there any other suggested topics for future meetings? All right. I think that's a pretty meaty one. I make a motion to adjurnn. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you very much, Commissioner Rothrock. All in favor? I I carried. [Music]