Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

to order the Monday, April 28th, 2025 PNZ uh meeting to order. We will have the invocation by Commissioner Yokum and the Pledge of Allegiance by Commissioner Robertson. Please rise if you're able to. Heavenly Father, bless us who gather here to make decisions for our community as well as our soldiers around the globe who provide us the freedom to do so. May we use our best skills and judgment, keeping ourselves impartial and neutral as we consider the merits and pitfalls of the matter that is placed before us and always act in accordance with what is best for the community and our fellow citizens. In your name we pray. Amen. To the flag of the United States of America to the stands, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. That'll take us to roll call. Commissioner Brens here. Commissioner Robertson here. Vice Chair Waters here. Chair Singleton here. Commissioner Yokum here. Commissioner Club here. And Commissioner Thomas here. We do have a quorum. Thank you. That'll take us to the call to the public. If you wish to speak, please complete a speaker card and submit it to the chairman prior to the start of the meeting. The process or the procedures to follow if you address the commission are commission requests that you express your ideas in three minutes or less and refrain from any personal attacks or derogatory statements about the about any city employee, a fellow citizen or anyone else whether in the audience or not. The chairman will limit discussion whenever he deems such an action appropriate to the proper conduct of the meeting. I did

not have any speaker cards, but is there anybody in the crowd that would like to come forward and speak? Seeing none, I will close the call to the public. That'll take us to item 4.1, minutes commission. Any I move that we I move that we approve the minutes. I have a motion. Do I have a second? Second. Seconded. All in favor say I. I. All opposed. That passes. That takes us to the regular agenda. 5.1 PA a 24-07 The Planning and Zoning Commission shall discuss a request by the Rose Law Group on behalf of Private Motor Sports Group LLC to reszone approximately 263 acres of land from Industrial CI-2 to Apex Motorsports Planned Area Development Pad. The subject site is located at the northwest corner of Rston Road and State Route 238. This is for discussion and action. Rudy, take it away. Uh, thank you, Chairman. Um, commissioners, chairman, um, my name is Rudy Lopez, Rudolph Lopez, D services director for the city of Maricopa. Um, presenting tonight on behalf of Rick Williams, who's out on vacation, so I'll fill in for him. Um, before you tonight, um, is a request for P A24-07, which is a reszone of the existing property to a planning development zoning. Um, as presented in your staff report, this project is located at the northeast corner of State Route 238 and North Warren Road. And as mentioned um by our chairman, it is a request to reszone the property from Panel County Industrial Zone CI2 to Plinary Development for a private motorports club in itself. Um, the existing use is was was was part of land use of our condition use permit 17 -01 and as part of the site plan review

permit that was also processed during those those coming years after the use permit was granted. Um and again this request is to formally reszone from what existing zoning of the CI2 to now its own um planary development zoning for the proposed motorsports facility. Um existing facility is today a secured entrance with two racetracks. um existing use of um there's some warehouses warehouse for a race team out there and there's garage condos four garage condos and I believe there's four more under construction as we speak. Uh the propose itself is to continue the operation of the motorsports club with additional Kia clubhouse a heliport and future villas for for residences on property as indicated. apologize. The racetrack locations, the flying lizard location of the of the race teams on the northeastern corner and the garage condos. Um the one further south is already completed and the one further north is under construction as we speak. Clubhouse location hel uh the villas residential which will be located on the western side and northern side of the development. On the left hand side is the existing general plan land use which is an employment with a commercial designation. Uh the current zoning is a CI2 in the middle graphic and the proposed zoning is to reszone that to its own plannary development district and itself for again for the for the existing facility and the future uses of the motorsports club complex. Uh as conformance to our general plan, we look to achieve a balance in the community between jobs and housing and and the goal is to develop America as a collection of villages and districts with distinct community names. Themes of

unique character reflect the variety of character culture and history that makes each area maropa unique. Um these objectives um we feel as the staff has looked at it has met in all the requirements and and to be adherence to the general plan goals and objectives in itself. Um even as this corridor has developed over the years, we definitely have a sense of an adventure corridor type concept out there. So this this P A proposal for continuing that that unique difference and type of motorsport club adventure kind of fits into our theming of that area in itself. uh as part of your your analysis as commissioners and the council. Um the amendment is consistent with the general plan and any change in district boundaries necessary to achieve the balance of land use desired by the city consistent with the general plan to increase the inventory of land of given zoning district. In addition, the amendment promote the growth of the city in the orderly manner and protect the public health, safety, peace, comfort and general welfare as required by our our code. Um through the process of the resoning, the applicant was required to conduct the required neighborhood meeting uh within the within the specific time period. U meeting was conducted at the Apex facility on March 12th. Uh there was one Maricopa resident that attended the meeting and there were no concerns regarding the the potential impacts expressed um uh during the meeting. As of this evening, staff has not received any correspondence from the public of this case. Um the notifications includes our our standard 600 feet around the the existing parcel today. So 600 feet of the boundary parcels legal notice published in both the America monitor and the castrand dispatch and the site was the site was posted in accordance to city requirements of our 24x 36 in zoning signs on the property and I believe there's definitely more than one sign due to the size of this property as well. Uh further information can be found on your your citizen participation report. It will found within your your

staff report. And with that um staff does recommend approval of case PD 2407 for uh recommendation to city council subject to the attached conditions approved in exhibit A. Um I also would like to invite our applicant to present some additional information about the project request as well. Abel will load up the next PowerPoint slide presentation. Just back. Thanks, Commissioners. My name is John Gillespie. I'm a land use attorney with the Rose Law Group. um excited to be here tonight with uh members of the Apex ownership team, Chad Meyer and and Bill Barbara and present a really one of the um great staples of of Maricopa that's developed and provides um a really nice community asset and we think the P A is a great way to uh ensure that long-term longevity of the Apex Motor Club here in Maricopa. I just wanted to show some pretty pictures to be honest because Rudy did a great job introducing kind of the the general um project and what's going on with it. Um so existing uh racetracks have already been built at the site as you can see here. This kind of calls out where those locations are at on this 260 acre site. Uh we've got these uh private garage condos. Um that's for members of the club to come and and park their cars and and enjoy events, event days. Um and 48 have actually already been built and we've got 48 that are soon to be proposed for a building permit. Uh to the east there, you'll see kind of an area that's proposed for more of a paddock garage that doesn't have as much of the the upper story amenities of the um of the current condos that have been

built. So here's some nice pictures of what those those condos look like. Um, and that's those are existing pictures of of the facility. A clubhouse is proposed and we'll go through your development uh permit review process and um that's that's to provide for uh those who are aren't having as fun on the track. They're they're in the clubhouse enjoying the amenities there. Some pictures of it for you. Um, as Rudy mentioned, uh, these industrial type buildings have been built and and, uh, provide a variety of other uses for, uh, for members, um, such as the the Flying Lizard team. Uh, the PD would allow for a development of of a helellipad for members to avoid the traffic coming down the 347. Um, and so that's kind of the location that we're looking at for there. And then these uh apex villas for short-term stays for members to come and and stay the night and then be able to have a full day racing on the track. And here's kind of a conceptual rendering of what what those villas um are conceived right now. So Rudy mentioned this the the conditional use permit was the process that we went through in 2017 and now uh the PAD entitlement tool would um would encapsulate those same approved uses and and what we've shown you here tonight. Um, we're really excited about uh being members of the Maricopa community and and um continuing to to have our our members contribute uh here in in the city. Um, I'm happy to take any questions that you might have now or Awesome. Thank you, Commissioners. Any questions, comments? Commissioner Brims. All right. Um, thanks. My my question that I have is how does this zoning directly benefit

the city of Maricopa really beyond the immediate benefit to the applicant and are there specific economic employment or community benefits that we could expect? Commissioner BS and and chair. Uh yes, I would say there are um a couple of different things. Uh in the conditions of approval, you'll see that there is a commitment to public improvements along 238 uh Warren Road. Uh those are public improvements that we are conditioned to with with the resoning um and that we'll be making um as a part of this project as it builds out. Uh one of the you're correct uh in saying that the cup kind of approved the majority of the uses here. One of the big uh diff differences is those those villas. Uh so that's a um short-term stay uh project that really is attractive to bring more quality membership to to our site um and has a a slight wrinkle in that you know people can stay overnight um for that stay in town. And so we see that as a as really a benefit to the to the city that our members can come and they can they can stay here and they can use our restaurants, use our retail and um and uh contribute in that that manner. Um those are I I would say those are some of the kind of the bigger uh things that are um benefits to the to the city. Uh just in general um obviously this is an an asset. I know when we're driving on the Smithy we can't necessarily see it too much from the road but but it is a part of that kind of adventure corridor that's being developed there. um attracting really um you know ver a variety of different uh users that I think really makes Maricopa hey this is a place to come and live and we've got really good assets and and um and uh attractive things to come and be in Maricopa and not have to just go up to

go up north for for good uh enjoyment of of activities. So that's a few of the things that come to mind. Was there a second part of that question commissioner that I I missed on that one? Sorry. Yeah, I think it's driven by the um the longevity of the asset and um and the villas and and ensuring that we can build out the site over time and bring bring more quality visitors to to the city. All right, we'll just go down the line here. So, Commissioner Robertson, thank you. Thank you, Rudy, and thank you for the presentation. Uh, John, um, currently your PA AD, you're lining out some of your vision for the current PED, but P A gives you a lot of, uh, longevity and opportunity to continue to grow. Um, so it's more of a curiosity question. Um, are there plans beyond u what you're currently asking for the PA AD for? Because the P A gives you gives you a lot of leeway. And um on the the big difference between the villas and the car condos is the villas will allow overnight stay. Is that correct? That's right. Okay. The villas look almost uh inhabitable for full-time occupancy. They're very nice. I was surprised to see that conceptual picture. Would would would full-time occupancy in the villas ever be allowed? Uh Commissioner Robertson, thank you. So, uh, the membership, uh, rules, association rules would not be making that into a full-time occupancy. So, the intent of it is really for that short-term stay for a member, um, and their, um, and their guests. So, it's it's not intended as a as a full-time residential um, product. Okay. Um, if I remember correctly, uh, when you built phase one, um, the city wasn't able to deliver your

domestic water and you had to drill your own well and treatment facility with in conjunction with global water. Is that facility adequate to serve the expansion or is there another plan in place for water delivery? Uh, global water uh, agreements are in place to provide uh, you know, the to meet the water needs for the site. Um the expectation is that global water would need to um have that extension that place in sight for for the residential to be platted. Okay. And so that's um that's expected and we expect that to be coming here within the year actually that Okay. So that that's an internal agreement you guys are working on with Global Water to make sure they can provide the water. Yeah. So that that they're going to be serving us with. Yeah. Because I I see fire protection as you get condos in there becomes a little bit more than maybe a local well could handle. And that's why I was interested in the long-term availability of domestic water. Thank you, Vice Chair Wars. Yes, thank you for the presentation. Also, I just like to piggyback on on previous commissioners and their comments. Uh, I'm noticing on table B of the P A narrative. Um, there's a discussion related to the um primary uses for the proposed land use section. It talks about bars, cocktail lounges, um even a hotel, uh cafes, ice cream shops, etc., etc. Um if we're going to have this only for first for member use only and I don't know I don't know how long the activities last you have there like is it just in a weekend. Um, would this be better served coming from community businesses than rather building hotels in there? Because I would think once you start building a hotel that's going to start inviting longer term stays and I'm not sure how that benefits the community on that.

Then to piggy back on u one of the commissioners's comments regarding fire protection and water, there's also some language in there that talks about using um septic tanks or septic systems. They're approved by the county. Don't we want to migrate away from that old type of thinking of getting away getting rid of our sewage? Do you have any are there any potential agreements you guys can work out and use sewer systems out there being that that whole area is going to be developed and become more more populated with more people more uses and I doubt those other businesses are going to be using septic systems. Uh Commissioner War or Vice Chair Wars, thank you. Um, so to address the first question, I I don't think I answered Commissioner Robertson's question on that too is so the the uses um the use table is really intended to um convey what accessory type uses could be developed. So when it says kind of a bar or a tavern, that's really to say, hey, you know, if when the clubhouse develops and there's going to be, you know, kind of this bar use within the clubhouse, we want to make sure that it's covered to allow that. um what we're uh what you're seeing on the the phasing plan and and the site plans really conveys how it how it is expected to be built out. So there's not going to be, you know, a Longhorn steakhouse or whatever that's put put on site. Um so it's really as accessory to to the proposal of the sports club um generally. um to answer the kind of and so I think that's yes the members there is strong demand for the members to have you know somewhere that they can eat during the day while they're they're you know work playing at the track and and visiting in town um but that's not to um and then as well some you see something like a hotel type use that's that's really as just accessory to make sure the understanding of hey there's going to be these

short-term stays within the PD um there's not enough space to really develop out something that's kind of a primary public type use. It's really as a as a private use to support the the motor club. Um, on your second question with the sewer and septic, that's really kind of a civil engineer question. Um, that I don't probably have the best answer for, but it really is when you look at the numbers of of what the club uh, you know, how many toilets there are at the club and and fixtures, it's it's not uh it hasn't justified those upgrades and those significant extensions of of some of that infrastructure. And um but the example in our conditions of approval for when you think of like rightaway improvements soon as that that has occurred and it's been brought up towards our site that's what kicks in our obligation to to connect and to make those make those improvements. And so we're we're committed to doing that as soon as soon as the growth has kind of reached us. Um and yeah go ahead Rudy if you some more as well. Um chairman commissioners when it comes to sewer connections there is a requirement from the code if there's a sewer line within a certain distance which I want to say it's about 300 400 feet it is required to connect to the next existing sewer line infrastructure being that there's no sewer inf infrastructure there today they are allowed to go to a septic to meet all requirements of penel county in itself but when that sewer line is there within the vicinity of it the development will be required to tie into a sewer connection but again we can't um we can't reject not having them alternative system an alternative is accepted system if there's no sewer line infrastructure in place. So just for clarification uh thank you for the answer really in the clarification my my basic question which is going towards the point where I don't know how popular this site is going to be or if you guys are going to

have big events here like a big race day where you have a lot of people coming if you're septic systems will be able to handle this stuff and I'm talking about going into the future just just looking at being prepared for what can happen. Um, do you ever see this facility ever being opened up to the public? Like for example, these big events you're having like I say a big race day that last say a weekend because the people coming to our town are going to be availing availing them ourselves well themselves of our our businesses, our hotels, our grocery stores and so on so forth. Uh, do you ever see it being open up special day like to the public or anything like or will the events ever going to be that big? Um, Vice Chair Suarez, I would I would kind of actually share and they've had they've had these events like these events have been ongoing. So, in terms of like the operation of Apex, um maybe we don't like see it happening, but it's happening in in the back in um the background. Um, so I wouldn't expect that there's going to be a huge uptick in just like the numbers of of membership and and what that really looks like because um the we've only got so much, you know, room to to grow. And so I really expect it's this is really more an improvement in the amenities and for the the individual members themselves, not necessarily the number of members in terms of uh the public uh opening and and involvement. Um, I mean, I'll defer to Chad if he has any thoughts on kind of how he could envision seeing that involvement, but it really is it really is intended as um, you know, we we're not looking to expand to make this kind of like a free-for-all. There's there's a lot of liability kind of things that go into hobby is somebody's hobby. Got a really nice car. Just want to see how it performs. I'm not into competition or

anything like that. Open to the public. Okay, I understand. Yeah, find a member and make make a friend with a member, I would say, in the public and and then and then you can um certainly get that type of type of access through a member. Fortunately, I've had the chance to go around that track. Well, I uh I I um I was joking earlier about I it's embarrassing to say what vehicle I drove today because it was made more for carrying small children and is not allowed on the track. So, um, but yes, if if, uh, you know, if if you're really into high-end cars and, uh, that's your thing, I think you could find a way to to get out there and the public could as well. Great. Thank you very much. Thank you. Any other commissioners with comments? Commissioner Yep. Just a few few comments. I was on this commission when you folks first came to us for approval and uh it was kind of curious that nobody could stay in the condos and apparently you stuck pretty you stuck very close to that and I was just wondering when you'd be coming back again telling us that you had villas so that that was very refreshing to see um the helopad I had concerns about noise until I read one of the the comment that was made when you had when you had the public come out to the meeting and that gentleman said that uh I didn't even know you were there until I came out here. So if he's not hearing the race cars, he's certainly not going to hear a helicopter. Um I I think that you I think Apex is an extremely valuable asset to this community. I think uh what you're bringing to the community, the the the type of uh uh people that are coming and taking advantage of your facility, these are the kind of people we want to see coming to Maricopa. And I I thank you for your efforts. Thank you, Commissioner Yokman, and thank you to the city as well for the the efforts to get us to this spot

and and uh to develop this out. And it's been it it the noise question is one that I think is is interesting because it was a a concern in 2017. And I think we've put the put that to rest of that we've done our studies on that and proven that we're a good neighbor. So, Commissioner Club, thank you. Thank you for your presentation. Just have a few questions and and a comment on a my comment is to kind of piggyback on what a couple of others have said. You know, one of as my my sons were growing up, one of one of their fondest memories is me taking them to Barrett Jackson and seeing these cars that, you know, you only get to see certain places and and and at these certain events. And now that I have a grandson, uh, having the ability to take him, you know, to to see cars, you know, even if it's once or twice a year that there was some type of public event that and it was limited, I, you know, I could see. Um, but I think just that type of outreach to the back to the community, I think could could also go a long way. I think it's a great facility. I've been to the facility. Um, and I think from a an architecture standpoint, you guys have done a great job, you know, maintaining that that high level modern design. Uh, the track is awesome. You know, the amenities that are there are great and it really ties in with kind of that adventure. Uh, we got, you know, the skydiving. we got, you know, other things that are that are coming that are out there, uh, as as well. So, um, I think it's a great amenity for for the community and I think that's just a way that, you know, it'd be great to get be able to give back a little bit in the future if, you know, if that's available. Um, so the two questions that I had were so it's my understanding there's no intention of of converting any of the the loft units that are existing to any kind of livable environment. That's correct, Commissioner CLB. um our clo sorry the uh the garage condos would not

be for for living or overnight stays right. Okay. Um and then as far as the the villa design you know I guess my when I first saw the site plan I was interpreting more of a of an attached type product and then the the image that you showed it looks like it was more of a you know a detached. Um, so my question is going to come back to to staff a little bit, Rudy. Is is that going to fall back into any kind of design review that would come back before us or how is that going to be handled? Um, yeah, the city will have some say in architecture, the look of it as they go for permitting. What it more likely I doubt these will be a standard product. It all depends. They may be all custom built but we do have elevation uh design guidelines uh and that'll be uh probably applied through the process itself but um but I think it'll be more administratively than and it's some form of of legislative action itself because of this PD it will be a by use if approved. Okay. And and it is my assumption is correct is it you're looking at more of a detached product versus an attached product. Yeah, Commissioner Clo, that that is still um conceptual of course what what's being proposed there, but but the villas uh yeah, we're looking at that as as kind of bigger residences for this higherend uh demand from from our membership. So, that's the intent is the single family detached kind of design um and element look. Yeah. and and and to to piggyback there, I would expect the the development review permit process would would be a way for the the city to to touch more on on design issues and to to have um feedback on that. Very good. Thank you. And and Commissioner CL or Clo, if I might as well. Um I I appreciate the comments um from you and from Vice Chair Huarez about kind of the public involvement. I I think that um Chad and the group would would love to

uh entertain, you know, some type of event like that. Uh just in terms of the PAD request tonight, I don't think it would fall underneath that. But maybe if there's like a special event type uh permit process to to do that and have type of event in the future, I think that would be really really impactful and good for for the youth who who who didn't grow up like me that didn't get that drive for that that you know fast moving car. Exactly. And and my comment was more of a statement than than anything tied back to the PD, but I think it's a great product. So thank you, Commissioner. Mr. Mr. Chairman, I would like to make a motion that we we approve P A 24-07. There is no call to the public for this. No. Um before that, I I did want to make one comment of the economic uh Well, you're going to have to deal with the motion first. Oh, that's true. Um and then we can go to discussion. Yeah, I have a motion. Do I have a second? Second. Any other discussion beforehand besides mine that I want? Yeah, I'd like to make another comment. Okay. Um, I too was on the commission when Apex first approached us and it was all about the noise. Um, Apex has been a great neighbor. Uh, they've been great for the community. They've lived up to everything that they said they want to do and I look forward to this future expansion. Thank you. Um, yeah, my my comment was just the economic development is I see, you know, members of Flying Lizard out getting lunch at local restaurants almost on a daily sometimes. And I'm sure as membership expands, that's just going to continue, especially as these villas come online and people are like, "Oh, I'm going to go I'm done racing for the day. I'm gonna go grab dinner at X, Y, and Z." Uh so this I mean I see the economic development improving uh with this. Um but yeah that was my only comment that I wanted. So we have a

motion by Commissioner Yokum and a second by Commissioner Robertson. All in favor say I. I. All opposed. That motion passes. This takes us to reports from commission and or staff. Rudy, do you have anything? Um nothing to add other than I think uh most of you should be aware of our upcoming general plan uh next public workshop which I believe is going to be in in June. Um but Rick will send you in more information more details on that one if anything. Um we did had our second um our second more technical committee group um uh a couple weeks ago. Um we're going to be getting into the weeds of the general plan land use plan itself. So the next meeting in June is where we're definitely going to get more input and direction exactly how the city's future land use not just in city limits but again within our planning area Panel County as well. Um we're doing our best concerted efforts to to evolve the county um because it is up to our utmost importance to make sure that whatever vision and and changes we have in our plan area that the county is also acknowledging and also supportive of what the change we're looking into. So um it's exciting stage at this point to look at the general plan land use because that land use has not been revised since 2005. So any good input or anything of different direction or different things to look into the future I encourage you to now let your neighbors know let your your peers know to please please the more input the more the better. So that's all. Thank you and I don't think we need to go to e session. Uh that'll take us to adjournment. Do I have a motion? Do I have a second? Second it. We are are done.