Planning and Zoning Commission - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call to order the August 5th, 2026 Lake Havasu City Planning and Zoning Commission hearing. If you could please rise for our Pledge of Allegiance, please. Thank you. Mrs. Hinnigan, could you call the roll, please?

Vice Chair DeZero?

Here.

Commissioner Lair? Commissioner Wilson? Chair Harris? Commissioner Medley? Commissioner Costa? Commissioner Thornton?

Here.

Commissioner Annette?

Here.

Commissioner Stevenson?

Here.

Commissioner Patel?

Here.

Thank you. Mr. Gilbert, correspondence and announcements, please.

Yes, thank you, Ms. Chair. Since the last meeting on July 15th of 2026, there have been no council items on their agenda for review, so no update on that. And a brief update on the general plan, the voter information mailings are nearing completion, and those will be mailed at some point out to all voters by the city clerk's office in accordance with Arizona state statutes. That's all I have.

Thank you. All right. Looking at our minutes of our last meeting, are there any additions, deletions, or corrections that the commissioners would like to make? Seeing none, is there a motion to accept them? Do I have a second? Mr. Arnett made a motion to accept, and Commissioner Thornton did a second. Shall we call for the vote?

Are you having some technical issues over there? The motion to approve the minutes passes five to zero.

Thank you. This is a public hearing and there is a structured order to this proceeding. The city staff will present each item. There will be time for the commission to ask questions of the staff and then all the and the applicant will have the opportunity to present their case to the commission. That being done, we will then open the proceeding to the public for your comments and input. I would ask that anyone of the public that wishes to speak on the item limit their trips to the podium and microphone to only one, keep all the comments to less than three minutes, and to stay on point and not discuss subject matter that is not pertinent to the decision being considered here today. After public testimony is taken, I will then close the public hearing, bring the motion back to the table for the city staff's recommendation, discussion amongst the commissioners, and eventually a motion to approve or disapprove the item. And I thank you in advance for everyone's cooperation. Our first item is ID 265281. It's a request to adopt resolution number 26-04, approving a major conditional use permit for 2894 Jamaica Boulevard, track 2271, block 13, parcels 2 and 3, permitting a food court with seven mobile food units, a permanent building, and a shade structure in a limited commercial C1 district for a period of one year. Mr. Gilbert, your presentation, please.

Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the Planning Commission, and the viewing public. Both public hearings today, including this one, were continued to this meeting date by the Planning Commission at July 15, 2026, meeting at the request of planning staff. Both hearings also involve renewal applications for already issued conditional use permits for the operation of food truck courts as required by City Code Section 5.24, enacted by the City Council in 2023. Upon opening for business, any such conditional use permit is required to be renewed by the city code section every year, giving the city regular opportunities to review the operation impacts of such facilities on the community. The first of these hearings is for the have a bite mobile food unit court located at 2894 Jamaica Boulevard South. The property is a formerly vacant pair of lots totally 1.18 acres for which the applicants received approval for the initial conditional use permit for a 7 food unit operation in October 2023 through planning Commission resolution 23 dash 0 5. There we go. The property is located in the appropriate zone C1 limited commercial for the use as a mobile food unit court. Property was fully improved following design review approval by the city and includes a bar facility including bathrooms and commissary. Seven mobile food unit locations, a shade canopy and approximately 40 parking spaces for customers. site directly links into the connecting driveway entrances that were already existing for the adjacent marathon oil gas station convenience store while the code enforcement division has not received any complaints the city in general has in relation to occasional storage of food unit trailers in the easement on the north side of the bar which is not permitted additionally the fire department has noticed the use of barbecue grills and smokers outside the food units which is also not permitted The conditions of approval have been adjusted for these issues should the Planning Commission approve the conditional use permit and the attached resolution 26-04, granting another year of operation to the applicant. The applicant addresses these issues as they are brought to their attention. Ms. Chair, this completes my staff report. I'll address conditions for co-compliance following hearing from the applicant and the public.

Thank you. Commissioners, any questions of the staff on this issue? And then is the applicant present today? Would you like to come forward and make any statements?

Megan Pena, this is Stefan. I guess it's been one year since we've been in operation, and it's been an honor to be a part of this community. We've seen kind of our dreams come true in terms of Habibyte being a gathering place for the community. Families come there, sports teams come there. It's just been a joy to get to know everybody. If issues have come up along the way, we've certainly tried to address them because we want to be good neighbors. We want to be part of this community for a long time. Our kids go to school here. We intend to stay here. Thank you.

Commissioners, any questions of the applicant? I have a couple, if you don't mind, just addressing those issues that were brought up. What steps are you taking to keep the vendors, I guess they're waiting to take the turn in and they're parking where they're not supposed to. Are you taking some steps to try to prevent them from doing that?

Yeah, I think a couple of the trucks in question were a couple of barbecue trucks that had some- Can you move the microphone up just a little bit? There you go. Additional smokers or whatever, those two trucks are gone now. Okay. And I know that the fire department, all those guys have pretty much kind of clamped down on them and told them they're not allowed to have external stuff. So as far as that goes, everyone we have right now is all internal. There's no external cooking going on. Okay. There's just the two barbecue trucks that were doing that.

Okay. And how about parking where they're not supposed to? Yeah. Okay. Great. So you're watching out for that as you go. Okay.

Appreciate it. As far as, like, I know we had an issue at one point with some cars parking in an area on the – because you go up Jamaica, I forget what direction that is, towards the hills north. We put some, what do you call those, pressure-treated railroad ties on the way to block so that wall won't be impacted.

Oh, okay. All right, thank you. All right, and thank you very much. That's how we meet. And now I'll open the public hearing, and we do have one person who's asked to request to speak, a Mr. Sisson, if you'd like to come forward, please.

Good morning. My name is Tim Sisson. I am a resident very close to the Habibyte. While I think the Habibyte is a great concept, I have no problem with the food trucks, the people. My one concern is the amplified music. noise, basically. Not so much the patrons that visit it. I know I've been down there numerous times. I literally live 100 yards from there. It's the music, the bingo. When I'm in my living room watching television, windows and doors closed, and I can hear the music, the bingo calling over my television, that's an issue. I have the Mason Lodge in between myself, my home, and Habibyte to act as a block. I can only imagine how it is for the apartment building directly behind it, the neighbors across from me behind the lodge that back up directly to Habibyte. That's my only concern is the amplified music.

Okay, thank you very much. Anyone else like to speak on this item? Just come forward, state your name, and if you could spell your name for the record, please.

My name's Bruce Hartwell, H-A-R-T-W-E-L-L. I'm the chairman of the Masonic Lodge that he's talking about. We have six security cameras that show no such, no action of partying or noise at all. Habibyte does shut her down around 9.45, 10 o'clock. It's shut down, it's quiet, and we haven't had any issues at all. I also go to the church across the street, and I'm... very active at St. Michael's United Methodist Church across the street, and the pastor has given me permission to let you know, have a bite, does have permission to park in our lower parking lot, and we're trying to help them out. They're good and they're quiet, and we haven't had a problem at all. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Anyone else? Yes, if you'd like to come up and address those.

Concerns? To the bingo, and there was an issue there that was ongoing. We had a guy who comes in and runs that. His name's Boston. Really nice guy. Loud, boisterous voice. He was used to using these loud, yes, amplified speakers indoor, and it would vibrate, and it was obnoxious. I did tell him he can't use those anymore. So that has not happened in months. Months and months. So that was addressed, and I did agree that that was It wasn't the right application. So now anybody who's there that needs to speak, it's like a small little thing or nothing because it's such a small space. So that's not going on anymore with those speakers.

Thank you for that information.

I don't know which gentleman this was, but I have this direct neighbor who wrote a letter. She couldn't be here. They were here originally, and they were kind of in pitchforks. And she just wanted to kind of enter a nice letter for us.

If you could hand that to the clerk, that'd be great. Thank you. And she'll enter that in the record.

Thank you. Anyone else that would like to speak on this item?

Okay. And if you could just state your name and spell your last name for the record. And if you can pull the microphone down just because they have to hear. Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Bambi Osgood, O-S-G-O-O-D, and let me grab my notes real quick. The statement about code enforcement is not true. We have had to call code enforcement several times, mainly because of the noise. We were told that there's going to be no outdoor entertainment when they put the permit in for this. There's a lot of outdoor entertainment. There's movies. I've got a whole list of stuff. There's dancing. They do Sunset Markets where they bring all these people in and they set up their booths and stuff. A lot of traffic. They do movies at night outside. There's been a lot of outdoor entertainment. I have a list here. The music is way too loud. The bingo and what's the other one, babe? The trivia. We have asked in past for that to be tuned down. That's one of the things that we have called city ordinance on on them. To my knowledge, they've only gone out twice and we've called probably about five or six times. The noise is too much. The music's too loud. Honestly, right now with the doors shut, we like that because we're not having to hear the music all the time every night. We can't sit on our patio in the winter and fall and spring without having to listen to the music. And it happens, it comes in through our house too. The other issue that we're having is the fire pits. We would really request that they go to propane heaters instead of the fire pits. The fire pits produce pollution and the smell, which also permeates into our home. And it's not very cool. Other than that, I think they're great. We just ask that it be quieted down. and do away with the fire pits. As far as Masonic Temple, we have witnessed people doing drugs behind the container on Masonic Temple's property. We've witnessed kids running around up there on their bikes and stuff and tearing up their new gravel that they put down, the really fine stuff. Kids, when they come there, they're not supervised very well most of the time. We've seen the place be open past 11 o'clock at night with people in the area sitting outside enjoying themselves. That's fine, but again, if they're supposed to be closed at 9 o'clock, they should close at 9, and patrons should be out of there completely by, say, 9.30. That's not the case. They're staying open much later.

Thank you. Have you noticed, as he mentioned, the bingo and that closing several months ago? Have you noticed the quietness from that?

No, and it hasn't been several months.

Okay. Okay.

No, it's been more recent. But again, with them moving the stuff indoors like it's supposed to be and not having their garage doors open, we're not having to hear it. And during the summer months, like right now, it's been quieter cuz it's inside.

Okay, all right, thank you very much.

It's been too much noise, thank you.

And would you like to address any of those concerns that were expressed? You have to do it at the microphone for the record, thank you.

I think the last time, we can look it up exactly, but the last time we did bingo was probably in June, so it hasn't been months and months, it's been like a couple months.

As far as the amplified speaker to announce, he's not using that anymore and it's been months.

Right, because it was way too loud. And then bingo happens during the daytime, either in the morning or in the afternoon, trivia. latest that it happens is between six and eight o'clock it starts at six um i mean we can we can absolutely address that with our mc and if it's still too loud we can talk to him um to bring down that sound because i think that's the main concern like we we specifically book only acoustic artists now because we're trying to be good neighbors so if Boston, the MC that does trivia and bingo is the only issue at hand. We can certainly take steps to resolve that. We know we're in a neighborhood. We're not trying to be loud late at night. In terms of the people enjoying themselves out on the patio, those are food truck owners and we have addressed that issue as well. They are allowed to stay and clean their food trucks as needed. Sometimes they do, you know, pressure washing their hood systems and that might take, you know, late into the night when they're not open for business, but the public should not be there. The latest that we were open was on the 4th of July, and we stayed open until 10, and people left maybe at 10.30, so.

Thank you. Oh, I'm sorry, you can only speak once on an item. Thank you, sorry. Anybody else would like to speak?

I was just going to reference that he was going to speak about the drug use, which is a farce. They have 24-7 cameras over there in use, and they have a secretary that reviews all of those tapes. And if he was allowed to come up, he could attest to that, that there is absolutely no drug use or anything like that going on. They have the camera's footage to prove it. All right, thank you.

All right.

Well, then show us a picture or a video of that, please.

We need some order, if you would, please. You can speak when we are at the microphone, and everybody gets one chance at the microphone. I appreciate that. Thank you. I appreciate that. And you haven't spoken yet, so if you'd like to, come on up and give us your name and spell your last name, please.

My name is Brian Osgood. I live with Bambi, my wife. And I just want to confirm what she's saying is there. And also, my biggest concern, as you can understand today, Again, it's the noise here. That's all we have here is the noise. That's the biggest complaint. The bingo and the trivia, I can hear the questions from inside my house. It hasn't been addressed. It hasn't been addressed at all, period, up to recently. It still hasn't been addressed. I appreciate the fact that she's admitting to it now and will address it. But when I call up and complain about the noise being too high, I'm not being a Karen here in town. They're cool. It's fine. But just keep it down to where I don't have to frickin' listen to the questions and be able to give you the answer. That's all I'm asking.

Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Okay. Anyone else that hasn't spoken on this item want to come speak?

Okay.

Seeing no one, we'll close the public hearing and bring it back to staff for recommendations.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The comment was made regarding from the staff report on code enforcement violations. That's based upon violations that are found to be founded rather than unfounded. That came directly from the manager of code enforcement. So I just relay the information that I receive on that, and that's why it was in the staff report. Hearing the comments from the public here is very enlightening. I also want to point out that for the residents who aren't maybe familiar with the recent change at the Marathon Oil, they do have a new tenant inside that facility, which used to have the chicken place, and now they have a, I think it's a type of taco joint, and they do have outdoor seating. And I have actually been there at times when the noise level there has been high as well. So this may also be a combination of factors in addition to what was brought up today. So I just wanna mention that that has been noticed by staff. I wanna read that letter in that was just handed to the city clerk so everyone gets their voice heard. To whom it may concern, we, Maude and Jan Wallen, 2955 Gypsy Drive, are unable to attend the hearing august 5th we have no complaints whatsoever living this close we have no problem with with noise from people or music we believe have a bite is doing a great job has become the cheers or the cheers for the neighborhood i'm sorry it's a hard reading the writing here it's a great place for kids the owners and their staff are the best always ready to listen and improve if necessary, so they have our vote all the way. Now signed by the applicant, or the Senator, I'm sorry. The co-compliance conditions are up on the screen. They're all the same. Number one was brought up during this hearing by the public. No outdoor entertainment is permitted in C1 Limited Commercial. As an accessory use, accessory uses are permitted in all zones. But it can't be a principal activity, and that's something that needs to be noted, that this can't be a main purpose of the operation of the site. Otherwise, it's not permitted. Number two has been modified since the original conditional use was issued. 2023, no vehicles related to food court operations shall be stored at any time on the property. in excess of the approved seven mobile food vendor vehicles, including within easements. So that's been enhanced. And also number five, no cooking around the building, both inside it or outside under the canopy is permitted. All cooking shall be performed within the seven mobile food vendors permitted to be on the property. And all the other conditions are continued from the original resolution 2023. And Ms. Chair, that completes the co-compliance conditions for this case.

And does the applicant agree to the conditions that have been outlined there on the screen?

Okay, and let the record show they indicated yes, they are in agreement with those.

All right, we'll bring it back to the commissioners for any discussion and or motion to approve or disapprove. Okay.

Aside from the noise, We go there quite a bit because it's pretty close to the house and it's good. It's nice. I think you guys have done a great job. It's good seeing families in place for a bunch of kids to go and be able to play around. And it always seems like it's under pretty much good control and everyone's having a good time. It's convenient. It keeps people from having to drive far because there's not a whole lot on that south side. So I think you guys did a great job. It's clean. You take care of it. Your staff is always amazing. The noise, I don't. don't notice any of the noise when we've been there it's been like a you know one guy playing or something which is pretty cool kind of good vibe but um i think you guys doing great job but yeah i would understand the noise so you guys can really just consider that noise and consider the the neighbors um that's it seems like that's the main concern for for that community right there so good job guys thank you and you commissioner stevenson

So Mr. Gilbert, I want to address number one, the outdoor entertainment. I see a little bit of a gap here because during the nicer weather, technically they can have somebody inside the building entertaining, but if everything is opened up, it's really the same as being outside, thus the noise complaints. So I think we've got a little bit of a gap there that we may need to have some discussion on, on the outdoor entertainment. I can see both sides They are saying that they are inside their building with the entertainment, but if all the doors are up, then it's noise going throughout the neighborhood. So I think that's a gap that we have created that we may need to look at further.

Complicating the matter, Mr. Commissioner, The issue that as a principle permitted use, we would not allow it in that zone. But as an accessory use, it is permitted in all zones. That activity is almost all zones it's allowed. But accessory means it's not the main use of the property. So it's a very difficult balancing act sometimes to make sure something stays accessory and doesn't become a nuisance in the neighborhood. And so that's a key point that And I think that's the reason for this annual renewal going forward is to look at these issues.

So I guess I would just encourage maybe that we both consider that, that we do, yes, we're staying technically with no outdoor entertainment, but the noise still is reverberating through the neighborhood and there is a little bit of an issue. So it's something maybe we need to monitor over the coming year and readdress next year when it comes up again. WOULD BE MY SUGGESTION.

ANY OTHER COMMISSIONER? COMMISSIONER PATEL? COMMISSIONER ARNETT?

WELL, FIRST OF ALL, I'D LIKE TO THANK EVERYBODY FOR COMING TODAY, BOTH THE PETITIONER ASKING FOR THE EXTENSION AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD. IT'S OBVIOUSLY A SPIRIT OF CONVERSATION WE'VE HAD TODAY. I THINK IT'S It's obviously, that's what we do one year at a time so we can have checks and balances. I think today was probably a report card from some of the neighbors. So when you get a report card, you don't get kicked out of school. You work on your grades, try to make things better. The petitioner's willingness to make things better seems quite apparent and quite obvious. The neighborhood doesn't, they've said all good things about it other than some noise. So obviously you got your report card today.

I'm sorry. Public hearings closed, I'm sorry.

So I think it's good that we've learned a lot today about what we could do better and what we need to do going forward. And obviously, it seems to have done more good than harm to the neighborhood and the area. And it's good to have businesses and houses that are thriving.

Just one item I'd like to suggest to you, nothing I can do about making this or not, but a suggestion might be if they have a complaint, maybe asking them if they would let you know and maybe go over and listen, be in their yard for a moment and hear what they're hearing. And maybe even just acoustically, sometimes I've been near alleys and suddenly the noise comes through there but doesn't go anywhere else. So there might be something that could be done. So just as I know you guys are trying to do this very hard, it appears, and we appreciate all that you've done to address these. But that might be for the one couple that was here, just trying to see what they're hearing in their yard. Maybe there's some amplification that's coming off buildings or something. All right, any other commissioner? Yes.

I have a suggestion for you guys as well. Just what you're gonna do since you guys close at nine, there's just suggestion if you can talk to your vendors or who are cleaning people. They can stop down and go early morning and clean it up. That's way too you can stop noise after certain time. It's just up to you guys. You talk to your vendors and hopefully they can understand.

If you can come up to the microphone cuz it needs to be heard.

Shannon, she's really nice. She was one that was formerly in Pitchforks, but now she's friends. And she just called my uncle one morning and was like, you know, I kind of want to enjoy my coffee without having somebody come through and pressure clean everything outside. So the next day, immediately, we're like, hey, we can't do this. You can't come until after nine. So, I mean, we do try to do that. And like I said, I agree. It was Boston's voice and his speaker and trivia and bingo, and I agree with that. And he's not using those anymore. So that was addressed, and I hope that they can see that as we move forward.

Great, thank you very much, I appreciate that. All right, do I get a motion to approve or disapprove the item before us? Commissioner Thornton?

I move to adopt resolution number 2604 approving major Conditional use permit for 2894 Jamaica Boulevard, track 2271, block 13, parcels 2 and 3, permitting the use of the property as a food court with seven mobile food trucks, food units, a permanent building, and a shade structure in the limited commercial district.

Commissioner Stevenson seconded. And if we could call for the vote.

Miss Gary, do we need to make any notations about any of the comments that Chris had?

I think because they're all on the slide and they just approved with staff's conditions, we'll go back and fix our resolution for signature, but everything that was on the screen was accurate, so no further is necessary for the motion.

The motion to approve the major conditional use permit passes five to zero.

Thank you. And our second items ID 2, 6, 5, 2, 8, 3, a request to adopt resolution number 2, 6 dash 0, 5, approving a major conditional use permit for 2, 0, 1 Swanson Avenue track 2, 3, 3, 7, a block three lot 10 permitting a food court with four mobile food units, a permanent building and a shade structure in the limited commercial C1 district for a period of one year. Mr. Gilbert, your presentation, please.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This hearing is for the Oasis Food Court located at 201 Swanson Avenue across from the Havasu Theater. The property is a formerly vacant lot, 0.34 acres in size, for which the applicant received approval for the initial conditional use permit for a four food unit operation April 2023 through Planning Commission Resolution 23-01. The property is located in the appropriate zone, C1 Limited Commercial, for use as a mobile food unit court. The property was fully improved following design review approval by the city. It includes a full kitchen and bar facility, including bathrooms and commissary. Four mobile food unit locations and approximately 20 shared parking and common spaces for customers. The site connects to the existing parking in common parking chain along the west side of Swanson serving this commercial area. While the Code Enforcement Division has not received any founding complaints, staff has noticed on one occasion that was immediately corrected where a mobile food unit was outside the screening wall in the parking in common area. The conditions of approval have been adjusted for this issue. Should the Planning Commission approve the conditional use permit, And the attached resolution 26-04, granting another year of operation to the applicant. Ms. Chair, this completes my staff report. I'll address conditions for code compliance following hearing from the applicant and the public.

Thank you. Any questions of staff from the commissioners? Okay, and then is the applicant here? Would you like to come up and say anything? Okay, thank you very much. All right. With that, I will open this up for public comment. If anyone here would like to comment on this section. Seeing none, we will close the public hearing and go to staff recommendations.

Thank you, Ms. Chair. The code compliance conditions for this case are up on the screen. Conditions four and five have been modified since their original approval, and I would like to request that that any motion made contain a switch for the published resolution that's in your packets, that as they're stated on conditions four and five on the slide that's up on the screen, that those be substituted into the resolution as they contain a more detailed requirements for those two conditions than what are in the resolution. Let me go over what that is. Number four, at least a 10 foot separation is required between all mobile food units and property lines. That's a change from what's in the resolution. Number five, no cooking around the building is permitted. Cooking inside the building is limited to what the interior kitchen is approved to prepare. All other cooking shall be performed within the four mobile food vendors permitted to be on the property. The resolution that you have in your packets does not address the interior kitchen. That is part of the process and is allowed in there. We don't want to provide any kind of indication that that's not permitted inside the building with a full kitchen hood. So we want to correct that. And we also want to make a slight change in number four, where the project was originally approved, as shown on the site plan, with limited space in there behind that wall because of the size of the lot. And the separations from property lines, not from the canopies that are shown on that site plan. We wanna be sure that that's clear as well.

So if this is approved, the resolution will include all of these new items that you've just mentioned?

Well, items four and five in the resolution will be replaced by four and five up on the screen. Okay, thank you. That's written.

All right, does the applicant approve of the items that have been stated? All right, let the record show he agreed to those items. All right, we'll bring this back to the commissioners. Is there anyone who wants to make any comments? Commissioner Arnett?

Just an observation, which is painfully obvious. It's interesting how we're basically approving these two identical things of sorts, but what a difference the geographics make. So the demographic and geographic difference, obviously we had a room full of people or a partial room full of people and a very spirited conversation. And then we're doing almost the identical thing downtown. There's probably something to be learned from that observation. So that's what I wanted to just comment about. Quite contrasting.

Any other commissioner?

Okay. No more comments. If you'd like to make a motion to approve or disapprove this item. Anyone? Commissioner Thornton?

Or Stevenson, do you want to?

Commissioner Stevenson?

Yeah. I'll make a motion to approve resolution 26-05, approving a major conditional use permit for 201 Swanson Avenue, track 2337A. block three, lot 10, permitting the use of the property as a food court with four mobile food units, a permanent building, and shade structures in the limited commercial district. I move to not adopt resolution 26-05, approving a condition, oh, sorry. I read the wrong stuff. Yeah, I went too far.

All right, and second by Commissioner Arnett.

Ms. Chair, we need included in the motion the changes to the resolution.

I also move to adopt the resolution changes by Mr. Gilbert for items number four and five as presented to the board.

Do you second that, Commissioner Arnett? All right. With that, we will call for the vote.

The motion to approve the major CUP passes five to zero.

All right, thank you all. And now is the time for a call to the public if there's anyone here that would like to speak on any other item that is not on the agenda today. And seeing none, I will close the public hearing. And Mr. Gilbert, future meetings, please.

Thank you, Ms. Chair. Next meeting is going to be on August 19th. And we have two items for that meeting, a conditional use permit and a development code text amendment that is becoming necessary because of changes in state law. That's it.

Thank you. And with that, our meeting is adjourned. Thank you, everyone.

Thank you.