Planning & Zoning Commission - Regular Meeting

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Zoning [music] Commission regular meeting Monday, November 17, 2025 at 6 p.m. Roll call, please. Commissioner Kennedy, here. Commissioner Camillla, present. Commissioner Glascott, here. Commissioner Helman here, Commissioner Rothrock here, and Chairwoman Masten here. Thank you very much.

The first order of business this evening is the election of a vice chair. This election is only for two months until the new vote in January for a chair and vice chair. The vice chair is elected by a vote of membership. Would any of the commissioners like to nominate themselves or another commissioner for the position of vice chair? Please. [snorts] No.

I nominate Bob Rothrock. I was going to say the same. All right. You better second. Yeah, I second that. All right. Bob Rothrock, would you please state your name for the record and your nomination? Robert Rothrock. Okay. And you consent to this nomination? Yes.

All right. Commissioner Rothrock has been nominated for the position of vice chair. Are there any further nominations? I'm not hearing any further nominations at this time. I am going to declare the nominations closed. We have already had a second to nominate Commissioner Rothrock as the vice chair. Is there any discussion on this nomination? No m I'm not hearing any discussion. All those in favor? I I All opposed? Unanimously carried. Congratulations, Vice Chair Rothrock. All right. Thank you.

Thank you. [laughter] All right. Our second order of business this evening is to approve the minutes for the meeting held Monday, October 20, 2025. Do any of the commissioners have any corrections or additions to the minutes? No. All right. I'm not hearing any corrections or additions. Bob, are you good with the minutes? Excuse me. Are you good with the minutes from the last meeting? Yes, they're fine. Well done. All right. I move to approve the October 20, 2025 minutes. Do I have a second? I'll second.

Thank you. I'll let the uh recorder decide who that was. Uh all those in favor I

I unanimously carried. Next order of business areformational reports and updates from the staff. Good evening. My name is Ava Cutro and I'm the interim community development director. I was interum I was community development director for the town of Paradise Valley for about 20 years and then I was with the town of Gilbert for six years just retired and it's a pleasure to serve the city of Cotmwood as your interim director. Couple of announcements. The first is that tomorrow there will be the posting for the vacancy on the commission. So, if you know of anybody's interested, please make them aware that the posting will be out there. Also, I've been notified that the council candidate packets for the 20 26 city election are also available.

There are three seats that are up for election for the city council. Lastly, you might have noticed on the PSA there there was an additional agenda item about the dates for next year's meetings. We realized later that that didn't have to be a matter that was brought before commission, but just for your notification that due to holidays in January and February, the planning commission meeting will be the fourth Monday of both months. So, we'll keep you remind you of that when it gets a little closer. And I believe that is all that I had to present. Tina, did you have anything additional?

Is that January and February? No, January. So, I'm sorry, January and February, the fourth Monday. Thank you so much. We are so happy to have you as the interim director. Uh we really appreciate you coming in so quickly.

Thank you. We are now going to open call to the public. Would anyone from the public like to address the commission on any planning and zoning related item that is not on this evening's agenda? If you would like to speak, please fill out one of the forms located in the back on the low table by the door and uh come forward and speakers will be granted three minutes each. Not seeing anyone come forward for call to the public. So, I'm going to go ahead and move on and close the floor to the public. We have three items of new business this evening. The second two are going to be combined into a single presentation. The first item is conditional use permit 25-003. It's signage for neighborhood coffee shop. Thank you, Madam Chair. Tina Hayden with Community Development presenting a conditional use permit regarding signage for your neighborhood coffee shop which is located at 516 East State Route 89A sweet 112 and 113. Uh just a couple of details and you can also see our locator map. Uh here's 89A here. We've got Sixth Street here. This property is located in our C2 heavy commercial zoning district. uh surrounded by that commercial zoning on to the west, east and south and then to the north we get into industrial zoning. Uh it is the property itself is about two acres. Uh applicant is requesting a total of three signs, two located on the building, one located on the monument. Uh, I'd also like to point out that there is a stipulation that's tailored uh to allow for an extension past the six-month expiration date. Uh, we have that worked in for this uh

actually I take that back. That is another project. uh that stipulation for this. We did discover while creating the staff report that one of the signs on the canal levered uh marquee sign is does not appear to be properly permitted. So that stipulation that we are recommending would require that we make sure that all signs that are going to be approved here at the commission at for the conditional use permit are still properly permitted through staff. Um for conditional per use permit in order to approve that the commission has to make three findings. Uh the first one is regarding general findings. Uh typically we want to make sure that these proposals are not detrimental to the health, safety or welfare of surrounding properties or occupants. We are just looking at signage. I really don't have images because we're not looking at the content itself. We're just looking at the quantity and the square footage. Uh zoning ordinance does have a pro provision that allows for the applicant to request that cup uh for increased quantity and sign area. So just you know a quick breakdown here uh you know the allowed quantity is two signs applicants proposing three signs it's a difference of one for sign area uh this is typically count calculated based on the um store frontages linear measurement and that allowed square footage is 34.5 square ft. they are proposing 65 point and a half square feet that is a difference of 31 square feet. Uh so typically with general findings we don't staff does not find we would

recommend that you guys adopt a finding that there's no detriment to the surrounding area. uh any property within our commercial and industrial zones has the same opportunity to request a conditional use permit for signage. Uh the second finding we have is compatibility with surrounding uses. We want to make sure that it's compatible with surrounding uses in the vicinity. And maybe I got ahead of myself here saying that uh other properties have that same opportunity to get a conditional use permit. Uh we don't expect that the additional signage and square footage is going to increase the intensity of activity. Uh the app can actually expect that that additional signage will assist patrons in navigating the parking lot to locate the business. It's actually at the north end uh furthest away from the street. Last item here is traffic and circulation. want to make sure that the proposed use um provides adequate access. Uh we'd say that this proposed signage is located uh at least 200 f feet from any public rightway and is not expected to cause traffic impacts. It's really the most we can say when it comes to signage. Uh, and then if the commission does desire to approve this conditional use permit, we do have three stipulations that we recommend. Uh, I'm not going to read them word for word. The first one is just that the proposal, the project is developed in conformance with what's reviewed tonight by the commission. Item number two, that it adheres to all the applicable sections of the zoning ordinance, including C2 property development standards and signs. Um then number three is us requiring that all signage is properly permitted within the six months

allowance for a conditional use permit. Otherwise the applicant would be subject to revocation. That concludes my presentation. Uh you will notice that there's some additional packets for you. Those were provided by the applicant representative. Uh, I'm here for any questions you may have. He will further explain what you're looking at in those packets and we will retain it. Uh, the clerk will retain that packet after the meeting to ensure that the public has the opportunity to view it. Thank you very much, Tina. At this point, the commissioners have an opportunity to ask any questions of city staff. Keep in mind that you will have the opportunity to ask questions of the applicant as well. Does anyone have a question for staff? All right, I'm not seeing any questions for staff. Thank you very much, Tina. If the applicant could please come forward and introduce themselves in the microphone for the record. [clears throat]

My name is John Alvi uh of Alvi Signs here in Cottonwood, Arizona. Thank you for being here, Mr. Alvie. Uh could you explain a little bit about the project and give us some background um on the packet we've received? Yeah. Uh the um the client is um as it Tina showed the uh their location is in the very back of this uh I guess call it a strip mall. Um their their hardship is that they are in the very back and um there is an existing uh illuminated coffee sign that's above the awning.

Mhm.

And that is ideal and serves to be seen from uh Sixth Street. And then on um on on 89A is the uh canal levered sign uh which by the way um was built in uh 1973 and it's 96 square ft and uh I I was a freshman when that was built in in in uh in Cottonwood. Uh it is a a rather large uh cantal lever sign. Granted that signs, monument signs are typically uh 40 square ft or 60 square ft. So um ideal is that the coffee sign they have it featured on the canal levered sign and then they have their their illuminated panel coffee sign above the awning. Um being a little redundant here above the awning again can be seen from Sixth Street. The their hardship they're finding is when people come into this into their parking lot and they're going towards the back looking for it. The coffee signs way up above the awning and ideal would be to have uh a sign um it as as shown uh below their awning to identify their location. uh they don't have anything at at at the awning level down to uh identify their their location. So that's their hardship.

Thank you very much. Do any of the commissioners have questions for the applicant representative? John, is that sign is it illuminated that sign or is it from those lights that are above it that I'm seeing on the picture? Uh the the sign down below below the awning is not illuminated. And um the uh the sign the can lever sign is illuminous but it's not like back lit plexiglass. It's got lights around the edge but yeah the sign down below that we're proposing is is non illuminated. And what's the height from the ground to the bottom of the sign

uh for this uh propos? Um I don't have it in front of me but uh I believe it's below eight feet.

Uh may if this answers your question there where the sign is uh hung there is below a garden or flower bed. So it's not uh any uh liability somebody walking underneath it. If you look in your packet, commissioners, on PDF page 21, there is a rendering of the awning sign that's proposed, it is 7'6 in from the ground. And as the applicant representative described, it's uh above a planter. So, it's um you'd have to be very tall and doing something very silly to hit it. Are there any further questions for the applicant?

All right, I'm not hearing any further questions. Thank you very much for being here, Mr. Alfie. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Do we have anyone here from the public who would like to speak regarding this proposed project? All right, no one is coming forward, so I'm now going to close the floor to the public and I'm going to go through each commissioner to get their final thoughts on this project if they have any to share. Commissioner Camila. No, it looks good. Thank you. Right. Commissioner Rothrock or Vice Chair RothroRock, I apologize. Oh my bad habits.

Um, yeah, frankly, I I found it hard to find the place until it got moved down on the uh on the big board out at the at the highway. I heard there was a coffee shop and hard to find. So, I think this would be a step forward for the for that business. Commissioner Glascott. Yeah, I agree that your mic's not on.

I agree because I I've been I drive through there and it's kind of a second thought when you kind of look over your shoulder. Oh, there it is. So, the signage is I think a a good addition. Commissioner Kennedy It seems like a necessary addition. Commissioner Helman, I agree with everyone. Thanks.

At this point, I think I can only echo my commissioners. I think that this makes sense. I think that the exhibit that was provided uh puts us in good context for the public. Uh what the applicant has done is they have provided some photos of the property and the signage there and then some comparative photos with context of other signs in the city so we can see a sense of the scale and um whether or not it's reasonable. And with that I believe we're ready to vote. So Chair Mast, if I might just add one little bit of detail.

Yes, absolutely. Uh, as far as the comparisons go, uh, I don't think we've independently verified to which standards those signs had to uh, be held to. Um, so just keep that in mind that they may have had different sign regulations in place when they were approved. But, um, you can go ahead and proceed. Thank you very much. I happen to personally remember every single one of these approvals. Oh, [laughter] then never mind. Yes. [gasps]

but they did all have conditional use permits similar. I move to approve CUP-25-00003 to allow the proposed sign package based on the findings and subject to the stipulations indicated in the staff report. Do I have a second? I second. Thank you very much, Commissioner Helman. All those in favor? I. Any against? Unanimously carried. Congratulations. May I make one more comment, please? You may. Thank you. Please. Into the microphone, though. Pardon me. Into the microphone, though.

Yeah. Okay. Um the the packet I submitted. I don't want to come across like ratink by any means. And and and and correct, all the signs in there uh were had gone through cups. and I just felt infair in comparison and in my biased thoughts. I I like all the signs that are in in the packet and I've only as a signed company of my own, I've done about a third of them. So, uh I I just I just felt I if anything I had a little bit of ammo to u to help uh the pork coffee shop get located. So, thank you.

Thank you very much.

Next up, we have a combined set of projects. These both have to do with the same general property. So, what's going to happen is we're going to see a single presentation of both projects. And um then at the end, we're going to do two separate votes. So, the first vote will be for the design review 25-0 or I'm sorry, yeah, 25-016 and the second vote will be for conditional use permit 25-007. Take it away, Tina. Thank you, Madame Chair. Tina Hayden with Community Development, in case you forgot, you see me every month. Uh we're presenting, you know, the design review and conditional use permit for a uh gymnasium for the Immaculate Conception Catholic School and Church. Uh we do have two requests tonight. The first is for design review approval for an accessory structure and changes to the site plan uh for a currently operated permitted school and church use. Uh the second request is conditional use permit approval for building height over 35 feet. Uh the considerations tonight are the we'd ask that you consider the applicant submitt the staff report with recommended stipulations and for the conditional use permit specifically the staff recommended findings indicated in the report. Uh just to give you another overview uh regarding that conditional use permit. Uh we're looking at the height here. What's allowed is 35 ft. What's proposed is 42 feet 3 in with a difference of 7' 3 in. Some details here. First, uh we have our locator map here. Um one of the details you're going to notice is we have a dual zone property here. A smidge of this is AR70, which is our agricultural

residential zoning district. And then the rest is CF which is community facilities. Within both districts, schools and churches are permitted uses. Uh also like to point out we have that school and church use. They operate on alternating schedules. Usually church is going to be evenings and weekends. School is typical Monday through Friday hours. Uh there are over 300 parking stalls for this site. uh staff has determined that there's you know regarding the school use and the church use that there's adequate parking. Uh parcel is about 18.21 acres. Uh the proposed height of the building is that 42t 3 in for the conditional use permit. Um we are proposing stipulation 4 which would allow um for this project to progress past the six months that's typically allotted for a conditional use permit. it would just run concurrently with the building permitting process. Uh applicant is proposing use of non-combustible material since it does exceed 40 ft in height. Uh then we also are recommending a stipulation uh for the requirement for recorded easement uh for the proposed fire access which uh would actually be in this area which is on a separate parcel. So, we do want that easement recorded before the issuance of building permits. Here is a look at the site plan. Here we have 89A and then Bill Grey Road here. Uh this is the all the parking there. So, there's about 300 parking stalls there. I'd also like to point out that this is overflow parking area as well. Uh the blue buildings are the existing buildings. So, we have the church here. We have um these buildings are associated with the church use and then we have the existing school and then we

have the proposed gymnasium. You can't see it very well but that is a 20ft separation between those two buildings. A closer look at the area and here you can see that 20 foot separation there. Uh this is the existing school. Uh the parking lot's off over this way. Here's the fire access lane. Here's the proposed building. The applicant is working to um locate a new fire hydrant. That was one of the requirements of our fire division chief. This is the floor plan. You will observe that the north arrow is pointing this way as opposed to all the other ones was pointing this way. Uh so the parking lots over here and the school uh as well. Then we have our elevations right here. 42 feet 3 in is what's being proposed and that's two peak. And then this was a special item that I requested of the architect was a uh section cut elevation. Uh this would be the south elevation here. Um, you can see the church right here. So, 89A is right here. And then the proposed gym is way back here further west. Um, Bob Woods is really good about calling out the uh sea level elevations. So, you do have the roof height which I believe is 45 ft uh right here and then elevation at 35 33 versus two peak of the gym. The elevation is 3514. So, while this building will be one of the taller buildings, it's actually uh due to the grade and everything, you're

not going to be able to see it from 89A uh not well. Anyways, and it will be lower than the roof height of the build of the church. Here are some site views of the project. I had our assistant planner go out and take some views of the expanse. Here you can see the existing school building here and then a gate which would allow I believe there will be fire access um to that gate and then the ball fields as well. So there's plenty of room for this gym. So for the design reviews project um I have two slides of stipulations again not going to read them you know verbatim here uh but if the commission decides to approve this these are what staff recommends the first one um project is developed in conformance with the plans that are reviewed tonight. Item number two project adheres to that code review board comment letter one of which the requirements is an additional fire hydrant. Item number three, that the project um adhere to our zoning ordinance uh specifically the CF development standards, general provisions, other um sections of the code. Stipulation four, we do stipulate um that an access easement for the fire lane is recorded prior to the issuance of building permits. Stipulation five, that the proposed use height, while you guys do approve the design review, is still subject to conditional use permit approval. and stipulation number six, that a building permit application be submitted within 24 months of this approval. Regarding the conditional use permit, in order for the commission to approve this, you do have to make the following findings. Um, regarding general funding, we want to make sure that the use is not detrimental to the health, safety, or

welfare of surrounding properties. uh with the proposal to use non-combustible materials uh new fire hydrant and having a fire access lane staff does not expect that the increased building height would be a detriment to the surrounding area. And again just showing the what's allowed 35 ft what's proposed what the difference in height is regarding compatibility with surrounding uses. We just want to ensure that this proposed use is compatible. Uh the existing church does have a roof height of 45 ft. The um height of the bell tower, it goes up to 65 ft from grade. Um you did see that in the section cut elevation showing the the change in height um change in sea level elevation there. And then lastly, regarding traffic and circulation, want to ensure that there's adequate access to public streets and highway, uh the increased building height is not going to generate an additional parking need. And we would also require that dedicated fire access lane prior to the issuance of building permits for the conditional use permit. Staff does recommend four stipulations. Um first one project is you know adheres to the plans approved tonight. Um code review board comment letter uh applicable sections of the zoning ordinance and that number four allowing an extension for the conditional use permit to run past six months to run concurrently with the building permit timeline. Uh that extends or that ends my presentation ready for any questions you may have. I have um applicants here uh to answer any questions you may have as well.

Thank you very much. Do any of the commissioners have questions for staff regarding these projects? Please go ahead, Commissioner Glascott. Um for council, if I'm a parishioner, do I have to recuse myself from this? Uh ultimately decision of whether to recuse yourself is up to you. But uh generally the consideration for you as a as a member of this commission is if you have a pecun pecuniary interest in it and a substantial one at that. So um it's up for you to decide then. All right. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Any other questions regarding this project for staff keeping in mind we're going to have the applicants come forward. All right. I'm not seeing any questions for staff. Thank you very much Tina. Good presentation. Uh could an applicant representative please come forward, introduce yourself for the record, and give us a brief uh introduction and overview to the project.

Bob Woods architect. Uh you know, Tina does such a great job. I don't know if I could add much to it other than this has been a a use that they've been wanting to have for the campus for a long time. And it's not just a gym. It also has a a library space in and another learning center that's a kind of a multi multiple use uh I don't want to say classroom but space for all kinds of programming. So uh I think it's it's a great addition to the campus. No doubt about it. Um and the only thing about the hype you're going to see it from 89A. I'll tell you that as you're coming from Cottonwood to Sedona, you will see the gym. Uh the other direction you probably you probably won't or very little of it. And but the scale of it, if you can figure out the section, the scale is going to feel much less than the church because it's hidden quite a bit behind a uh site elevation and other buildings. So um I think that's I think that does it. Any questions?

Thank you very much. Uh, Commissioner Camila, do you have any questions for the applicant? No, not this time. Thank you. Commissioner Roth or Vice Chair? I'll get it. I will. Vice Chair RothroRock, any questions? No, not yet. Uh, Commissioner Glascott, any questions? No questions. Uh, Commissioner Kennedy, any questions? No questions. Commissioner Helman, no questions. All right. I feel that this is fairly straightforward. I do have one question and it's regarding the note that we have from fire and it says that one fire hydrant shall be installed. I assume that that's after fire came out to the property and evaluated. It just seems like Yes. Rick Rick Contrer spent quite a little time on the site with us a couple times.

Okay. And we just haven't landed on exact location of fire hydrant. Okay. All right. Yeah. And also the other thing I'll mention, the fire lane, the finishes for that, you know, they got to hold up a fire truck. So, we're vacasillating a little bit on what that's going to look like. So, okay. I just had some questions because I know that this is uh an area that does have children and things and it you're kind of far removed from the rest of the services in the city. So, I just want to make sure. But as long as Rick is on top of it and I do see that he has notes here, I think that that is adequate to move forward. Yes. Go ahead. 80,000 pounds. Correct. The road does.

I don't know what it needs. I think it's 80,000 is the code. So engineer might in there. Yeah, we're going to get to what he needs. Okay. Yeah. Will him be allowed to be used by the public or just by the church needs? I don't know how that programming go. I think it's I don't really know what we could ask Antonio. Please introduce yourself for the record into the microphone.

Hi, my name is Antonio Hernandez. I'm the principal of Immaculate Conception Catholic School. There is no plan for it to be open to the public. We want to make sure that we utilize it for enhancing our particular program. Um it's hard to get a gym to borrow it. Uh we've been paying every year to borrow people's gyms. So right now the intention is simply to be able to PE on a cold day, hot day and be able to enhance our porch program. So that's that's the plan for it. Thank you very much. Absolutely. Are there any other questions from the commission? This is this is kind of off the wall, but how many uh students do you have? 205 students. Okay. Thank you.

One more. Go ahead, vice chair. Got Will we be calling you coach now? All right, for the mic that was You never know. All right. Thank you very much. Uh applicant representatives, we appreciate you coming and answering questions. Is there anyone here from the public this evening that would like to speak regarding these proposed projects? All right, no one's coming forward, so I'm closing the floor to the public. Now, we're going to go through and give every commissioner an opportunity to share their final thoughts. Um, and if very necessary, ask last minute questions. Commissioner Camila,

whoever did that design with elevation, how it goes, cuz you're that's going to be perfect cuz that bell tower on the church, you really, you know, I'll know it's there now because it'll be there, but yeah, no one's going to know that it's there. So, which is perfect. And and it'll add a nice touch, especially for the kids with the weather. And then you guys are for your sports team. You'll be able to lot more stuff. So be a wonderful addition to to the parish. Uh Vice Chair Rothrock. Yeah, I was just reading in the newspaper how difficult it is to u get baseball fields and basketball, whatever. Um so this is probably a good thing overall for the community.

Commissioner Glascott. [clears throat] Yeah, I think it's uh been a long time coming. It's going to help the school spirit because then you can have home games and whatnot. So, I'm excited for it. Commissioner Kennedy, I think it's a great addition. I'm happy to see that you're going to have uh more accessibility for sports programs. So, it's awesome. Commissioner Helman,

I agree with all the comments, but I also am really glad that no additional parking was needed because I I always hate to see parking, you know, places. So, I appreciate that. Thank you. I think this is a really nice project. I think the elevations in the section are beautifully done. Very nice handling of the height. Um, tucking it into the grade like that. All right. Uh, with that said, so just as a reminder, this is going to be two separate motions. First motion, I move to approve DR-25-016 for the proposed school gymnasium subject to the stipulations indicated in the staff report. Do I have a second?

Second. All right. All those in favor? I unanimously carried. Second motion. I move to approve CUP-25- Z007 to allow the proposed gymnasium to exceed the allowed building height based on the findings and subject to the stipulations indicated in the staff report. Is there a second? I second. Thank you, Commissioner Helman. All those in favor? I.

Unanimously carried. Congratulations. [laughter] Very good. Uh and uh at this time uh are there any suggested topics for future meetings? I don't believe we have any discussion items tonight. So any suggested topics for future meetings, be they discussion items or anything else from the commissioners? Um, I think we might want to visit the uh signage text amendments as we're doing some text amendments just because um, as we saw tonight, we uh passed a conditional use permit for some additional signage space and we've done a number of those in the past 5 years or so. So considering the fact that these tend to always pass, perhaps that additional space should be written into the code in a formal way so that applicants have that as a guide. Just an idea for discussion in a future meeting. Uh is there anything else? All right. I make a motion to adjurnn. Do I have a second?

Second. All those in favor? I I And we're out.