Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

to the planning and zoning commission. It is October 23rd at 9 2025. It's 9:30 in the morning. We'll begin with a roll call, please. Commissioner Dan Zy. Commissioner Finter, present. Commissioner Hernandez, here. Commissioner Lawrence, here. Commissioner Leighton here. Chairman Limlum,

Vice Chair Mil Haven here, Commissioner Rockwallik, Commissioner Toma here, Commissioner Whitney here. Chairman, we have a quorum.

Thank you very much. We'll proceed with announcements. This meeting has been noticed in accordance with open meeting law ARS 38-431. Agendas are available within 24 hours of each meeting in the Maricopa County Planning and Development Office and are also available on the Planning and Development website one week prior to hearing at www.mmaricopa.govplanning. With respect to hearing process, cases will be considered in the order they appear on the agenda unless otherwise agreed to by the board. For each case, the applicant will be given a set amount of time to present their testimony. Any witness was wishing to give testimony on a particular case shall notify the board of such interest. This shall be done by filling out a speaker card for in-person attendance or registering desire to comment as noted in the public published agenda. Also, at the appropriate time for each case, the chairman will ask those attending in person and online who wish to speak to a case to raise their hand by clicking the that icon on the webinar screen. Staff will provide the chairman with the names of the persons who have registered and noted desire to comment and those registered participants who have raised their hand. Staff will provide the chairman with the names of persons who have registered and noted their desire. I just read that part. The chairman will conduct a hybrid inerson and virtual planning hearing according to the bylaws and according to the rules established by the chairman regarding public comment. Votes will be done by roll call vote only. The chairman will verbally identify the specific members responsible for all motions and seconds. So first item is uh acceptance of the minutes of September 25th.

Madam Chairman, yes sir. I will move approval of the minutes for September 25th, 2025 as presented. Do we have a second? Second. All those in favor I I minutes have been approved. I think we just accept the minutes but that's okay. That's okay too. That's I went for the second. Okay. Um so we will move on. The first item uh next item is the continuence agenda.

Yes. Uh madam chair members of the commission. Uh Z25003 known as Tonapal Logistics Center District 4. It's an industrial 2 IUPD reszone of 62 acres uh near Hian School and 411th Avenue. They've requested a continuence to November 6. No actions necessary by the commission. Thank you. Moving on to the regular agenda.

Uh Madam Chair, commissioners, this is SU240025 known as Dynamite Water Hauling Truck Depot in District 2. It's uh a special use permit for a water haul and truck depot on 2.4 acres at the southeast corner of 172nd Street in Rio Verie and the real verie foothills area. Uh the recommendation is for approval subject conditions A through L and paragraph 15. Note you have a handout um modifying the language to condition L. Uh the condition had called for a setback of 100 ft from all lot lines. However, uh if the ultimate rideway is acquired along the uh the frontage, that will change that set back below 100 feet. I think it's 94 feet. Uh practically that will still be um a very significant setback from any properties on the north side of the of the principal arterial. U there are uh 10 letters of opposition primarily concerned with dust and traffic. staff would note that location on Rio Verie Drive is the most optimal location for such a facility to serve this region because it's on a paved arterial. Um it's well uh downhill and uh currently the issue is that uh water service outside the master plan communities water service to the uh large lot areas of the reality foothills is is only by hauled in water. There are uh three uh competitive water hauling businesses in the area. Uh this is for dynamite uh water hauling only. Uh it will uh centralize uh most of their trucks in the region into one location again on a paved road. Uh the deliveries do occur on all the streets throughout

reality foothills. So the so the dust from water hauling truck traffic is unavoidable. Uh it's just a practical it's just a fact practical fact. Um I'll note that Dynamite uh water has a contract with the US Forest Service. They also fight uh wild forest fires wildfires in the area. Um and this facility will assist in that as well. Um we've had um and what I failed to mention earlier is uh currently uh trucks are either stored for all the companies are either stored at facilities in industrial depots in the city and have to drive sometimes 30 45 minutes to to even get to the region or they are at individual homeowners homes where they have a contract to park a truck andor um uh which could be a zoning violation or Um, it's part of a u um uh homebased business with the uh uh with the property owner working for one of the water hauling businesses and keeping the truck on site. Uh we believe this is a critical service to the area uh and uh and will assist in solving some uh zoning violations in the area as well. Happy to answer any questions you may have.

Any questions from commissioners? Okay. Uh having none, would the applicant like to speak?

Good morning. Uh Mr. Chairman, uh up there with the birds and vice chair and uh commissioners, for your records, Carolyn Overberholtzer with the law firm of Bergen Frank Smallley and Overholzer this morning at 4343 East Camelback. Thanks for clearing out the agenda for us today for this case. We've been working on it for a long time. I'm here on behalf of Damon Bruns who owns the property um retired Phoenix firefighter and also the owner of Dynamite Water. I want to thank staff for their presentation on the case. Um I do have some slides that I can supplement it with. Um if there is uh any member of the public that speaks on the case, I'd love the opportunity to return to the podium and hit on those. But just to um show a few um highlights, you know, we are across from Trilogy as Darren mentioned. Uh we had a very robustly attended neighborhood meeting last December with the community and once it was understood that this is limited to four trucks um and that the current trucks that would be there travel every day 27 miles from the Deer Valley Depot where Damon has his major depot facility. Um and understood that these are coming and going with only a projected 16 trips a day total out of the site. Um and again that this would be conducted entirely with indoors. Um the opposition virtually went away. We've heard nothing but good things since then. Um also in your pocket, you do have a letter of support from the most impacted property owner, which is the one to the south, the ROMs. Um that support letter has been in there uh since November of last year. We've been in constant contact with them, coordinated the fencing materials with them. And so, um, you'll also note that there are letters from rural Metro and, um, the fire community, uh, really lauding how Damon runs his business and the critical service they provide, which

is essentially they are the fire hydrant, um, for fire service in the area. They show up and and park the hauler there so that it can be used to fight fires. So, with that, I'm happy to answer any questions that you have. Damon is also here if you have any questions for him. And thank you for your time this morning. Thank you. Do we have no one do we have anyone from the public who wants wishes to speak? No one here in person. Anyone online who'd like to speak? Oh, there's a gentleman he needs to. If you could fill out fill out the card. Well, that's all right. If you come to the P podium, give us your name and address and we can get you to fill out a card if need be.

Chairman, lady chairman. Um, my name is Steve John's. I live at 11424 North 71st Street and I just am curious if there are any planned improvements to the road immediately to the east.

Go ahead. Yes, madam vice chair. Thank you. Um to address the the question, so currently there are no physical roads um that are county dedicated roads. Um, we are reserving the right ofway on the west side of the property at 172nd Street. The gentleman's referencing 172nd Place, which is our eastern boundary. And um, if we can advance the slide, Rachel, to the the site plan, so we can show the driveway improvements. I think uh, yeah, that's a good Ariel. So, we we're going to be paving the road into the site on both sides. Um the ingress to the site is going to happen from the west and the egress is going to happen from the east.

Thank you. Okay. Anybody online who'd like to speak? Nobody online indicating they'd like to speak. All right. Commissioners have any comments or questions? If there are no comments or questions, I'll entertain a motion. Madam Chair, I'd like to make a motion that we for approval for SU 240025 with the uh appropriate amendments of A through L. And uh that would be a motion for approval. I second.

Thank you. So we have a motion from Commissioner Finter and a second from Commissioner Leighton. We'll have a vote. Commissioner Fer, yes. Commissioner Hernandez, yes. Commissioner Lawrence, yes. Commissioner Leightton, yes. Chairman Lindlum, yes. Vice Chair Mil Haven, yes. Commissioner Rockwallik, yes. Commissioner Toma, yes. Commissioner Whitney. Yes.

We have a motion recommending approval by a vote of 9 to zero.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Uh, next item, accessory dwelling units and short-term rentals. Chair and commission. This is an ordinance that we're bringing to you in response to legislation, recent legislation by the uh Arizona legislature adopting new provisions for affordable, I'm sorry, accessory dwelling units and short-term rentals. The impetus for this legislation was to improve the availability and affordable housing uh in the community. So, they've expanded uh what jurisdictions can allow for accessory dwelling units in neighborhoods uh where the zoning permits single family dwellings. Uh the legislation requires that the county create new standards by the end of this year. And for that reason, we have put this on an emergency uh schedule. It's uh going through the emergency ordinance process. It will be in front of the board of supervisors at their December 10 meeting. Um, I'll quickly summarize what the ordinance contains. Uh, we have a new definition for accessory dwelling unit. a habitable

space either attached or detached from an existing principal single family dwelling of greater square footage than the accessory dwelling unit on a property sharing driveway access with the principal single family dwelling. We also have a new definition of short-term rental. Um our current ordinance actually doesn't even identify short-term rentals as a land use. So, we've identified short-term rentals as a single family dwelling or an accessory dwelling leased without signage for a duration of 30 consecutive days or fewer to or fewer to individuals other than registered sex offenders. um the ordinance that you're considering uh for your recommendation to the board uh align with some of the language in the legislation. Um to begin with, any any lot or parcel that contains a single family residence by zoning uh should will be allowed to provide for at least one attached ADU accessory dwelling unit. And this applies to any property that's 1 acre or less. Um, and a detached accessory dwelling unit. Um, currently our ordinance allows accessory dwelling units as long or one accessory dwelling unit as long as it meets our current density and dimensional standards by zoning. So, an accessory dwelling unit or a detached I'm sorry, an attached or detached accessory dwelling unit is permitted.

Uh, but there are some stipulations that are attached to these these uses. Uh, the accessory dwelling units are now permitted by right there. There is no requirement for a public hearing process to take through variance or um special use permit type of approval. It has to be permitted by right. Uh it shall not exceed the size um of the primary residence uh on a 1 acre lot that is 75% or 1,000 square feet whichever is less. Um, it may be leased and occupied as an independent long-term rental. Uh, there's no familial or marital employment relationships that are required as a part of the accessory dwelling unit. Um, accessory dwelling units are allowed on in the on the lot or parcel, but they may also be located in the side or rear yard, similar to other accessory buildings as long as they don't exceed the 30% maximum of that of those yards uh area- wise and are set back five feet. Now, they're also limited to a height of 18 ft. Um, if they're located outside or inside the buildable area, not in a rear yard or sideyard, then they can be built or constructed at the height of of single family residential. Uh find or also single single access to to the street uh for anything on a parcel or lot of 1 acre or greater. There are some similar

uh allowances by the legislation. one attached ADU or one detached ADU. In addition, a second detached ADU is also um must be allowed by our by our ordinance. against some of the requirements or conditions as as oppo or as required uh for the accessory dwelling units. They are permitted by right uh on the case of an acre or greater. They shall not exceed the primary dwelling but they're no there are no provisions as far as the limitation of the 75% or 1,00 ft. um but they cannot exceed the the size of the primary dwelling. Um maybe least occupied independent from the as a long-term rental. Again, no familial marital employment relationships are required. The same requirements as far as uh location in the side or rear yards. Uh single access to the street. There is one other provision that applies to anything uh on a parcel of one acre or greater. The second ADU, detached ADU, um must be restricted to an affordable unit, which which means that it must be available to a household that earns an income that's below the or 80 up to 80% of the area median income.

Ron, may I ask a question? Sure. Um, is that verbiage from the legislature? Yes, it is. Okay. How is that going to be enforced? That is going to be a challenge. It is going to be a challenge. But uh if I could jump in, we it will be uh deed restricted. Uh and it will be on the the the description of the uh building permit. Uh and so if there's complaints, we will have to have the property owner provide documentation. Okay. So, in other words, there's no monitoring.

There's no monitoring of this. So, I applaud their their belief that this will be adhered to, but I as a realtor, I can tell you that it's not going to be. Um, so I' I've I'm just concerned that now we have two units on an acre or more rather than just one. We have four. Well, we have four altogether. So we, if I could, Madam Chair, commissioners, we've permitted ADUs uh for 15 years,

right? uh in every uh zoning district's ex accessorate to a single family residence. Uh and so we have a long history of that. The what's changed now is uh we have to allow them to be separately rented and that's in by statute and we have to allow multiple ADUs. We have no that's a mandate from the state, right?

Uh so the the the third the second detached ADU in lots greater than an acre. Uh again uh the the permit will be noted that it's restricted uh for affordability and it will have u a deed restriction that must be recorded and that'll be provided to us prior to final and um and you know if if there are complaints about that which I don't know if we will receive those uh all we can do is ask for documentation and is the deed restriction going to be on the deed added to the main deed of the main house or is going to be it's gonna be tied to the parcel. Yes,

to the APN itself. Okay. All right. Thank you.

So, one final uh provision in the in the ordinance. Um it does it does address short-term rentals. Um, if if an accessory dwell or if a parcel includes accessory dwelling units, there there is an allowance for no more than one ADU to be used as a short-term rental. Um, and there are also stipulations. Uh, it's limited to a 30-day period lease. Uh, the owner of the short-term rental ADU must reside on the property. Um the rental uh has to be rented as a whole unit to a single party or an individual. Um only one short-term rental would be permitted for any parcel. And there are some prohibitions which include uh uh short-term rentals that would in involve events, public assemblies, special gatherings, weddings. Uh there's no signage requirement. Um retail, food service, any commercial enterprise and um a short-term meal cannot be rented to a registered sex offender. And with that, that concludes my presentation. Um we do we do have this scheduled for December uh board of supervisors for their consideration. Again staff staff recommends approval uh of this item uh that you introduce to the to the uh board of supervisors uh based on the intent of providing for available housing and affordable housing in the future. Ma, Madam Chair, I I do have a question.

Yes, Mr.

Thank you. Um, for for staff, I'm going to run a scenario by you that um I I'm uh with this being the county, there's often large parcels. Um, and uh I'm primarily honing in on the um verbiage in article uh section 5012 and then we go into 14 and then B and it talks about size of the ADU and it says no ADU shall exceed the size of the principal dwelling. Um what what happens in the scenario where um individual buys a has a property has a home on it. Say it's a 10acre piece and they have a 2,000 acre uh a 1500 um square foot home and they choose to build a uh they want to build a secondary they let's say they want to that was their starter house that they now want to convert into an ADU and they want to build a new home under this um under this does are they prevented from doing that um under this um adoption

madam chair Uh, Commissioner Limlam, uh, this is actually fairly common today, uh, where someone builds a home, uh, as their primary and then a few years down the road, they're able to build a larger home. So, in those instances, the the permit description is um includes, you know, an assignment to the existing dwelling as an ADU. So, okay, that's okay. So, it it's so it's tracked. It works. Okay, that was my only my only question. So,

yeah, the to add on to that though, if uh the the new home that's going to be the primary has to be located within the principal building envelope. Okay, great. and and to anticipate subsequent questions. If property is subsequently split today, um both those homes become uh the primary dwelling on their respective lots. They have to meet a principal building envelope or it's a zoning violation. It's not grandfathered or legal non-conforming because the lot split would negate any uh legal non-conforming status.

Thank you. Yeah. No, I wasn't getting into a lot split scenario in my mind. I was just trying to foresee what I've seen happen over the years on county islands. So, thanks. Any other comments or questions? Yes, Commissioner Fender. Had a few questions and and they might seem uh pretty uh simple. Single access to the street. I've heard some feedback on parking and then u the offsite parking prohibition that has been put out there that can't be addressed. Can you can you give more insight on that from the state?

Yes. Uh our ordinance today requires uh one ingress, one eress to any street. Uh and that's what that's getting at. And we just have to make sure that that is uh uh more proactively enforced at time of building permits that we don't have people uh uh drawing three driveways off the street, you know, one to the accessory, one to the primary, one to the barn. um there is opportunity for people to seek variances uh due to peculiar conditions in those instances. You can also on the instance of a corner lot have uh one ingress, one eress on that second street. Uh so what you end up with is either a single driveway or or a single entrance driveway and a single exit driveway like a couplet uh instance. I believe the the legislature prohibits us from requiring more parking for the accessory dwellings. So, there's still just the requirement for two off- streetet parking spaces on the parcel for for primary single family residents regardless of the accessory dwelling units.

Okay. And then pedestrian access. say uh you can it doesn't prohibit a gate being put up that people would park on the street and then uh access the auxiliary unit from a a gate. It it does not prohibit uh we don't have any prohibition or zoning ordinance regarding uh in general regarding street parking. uh uh uh there's a process in the county uh to uh to sign streets for no parking which can you know there's a process to go through and I believe that's through MCDOT uh but uh that would not necessarily be prohibited in this instance anywhere in the county.

Okay. And then madam chair if I can continue um attached ADU are there size limitations on the attached portion? So we have for the detached,000 4 feet. Uh if it's attached to the house, is there limitations?

Uh madam chair, uh commissioner venture is the same limitation. Correct, Ron? It's the same limitation. It you're based on uh residential rural zoning, whether you're greater than an acre or less than an acre, there's there's size limitations. It's the same limitation applies to detached and and attached. And then the thousand square feet, is that livable or does that include patios and different things? This seems like getting down to the I know, but I'm just curious. Uh, Madam Chair, Commissioner Feder, those are those are good questions. It's the entire uh uh space assigned to the the accessory dwelling unit. U today we do not we wouldn't be counting uh uh uncovered patios on as part of the square footage. Any other comments or questions?

Uh, this is Commissioner Tolma. I had a question regarding the thousand square feet. Is that a state legislator mandated requirement or is that an old county ordinance or is that something new? Oh, that that is that's language that we uh that's in the legislation. Thank you, Commissioner. Okay. Anyone else? No other comments or questions. You need a motion to recommend approval.

Madam Chair, I need to correct um an error in my presentation. This is actually going to the uh board of supervisors in November. We have two pieces of of ordinance or ordinances that we're working on. So, I'm sorry I got that mixed up. It will be in front of the board of supervisors at the November 19 meeting in December and and effective before the end of the year. Got to meet the legislation. Gotcha.

Madam Chair, Madam Chair, this is Commissioner Alone. I just want to get clarity from um staff. We're we're under I I mean the county is um essentially a legal entity that's set up under uh the Arizona constitution and and and we we are created under state law and this this um legislation is strictly just getting us in compliance with the legislation. like we haven't I I just want to make sure like in in my in my mindset I'm approving under the premise that I'm just approving this to be compliant with state law and um technically with the body that governs us and and established us and that's a correct assumption. Correct.

That that is correct. Okay. Thank you. Okay. I'll entertain a motion. Madam vice chair, I will move approval of is it TA25002 as presented? We have a second. Thank you. We have a motion by Commissioner Whitney and a second by Commissioner Leighton. Commissioner Finter. Yes. Commissioner Hernandez, yes.

Commissioner Lawrence, yes. Commissioner Leighton, yes. Chairman Limblum, yes. Vice Chair Milhaven, yes. Commissioner Rock Wallik, yes. Commissioner Toma, yes. Commissioner Whitney, yes. Chairman, we have a motion recommending approval by a vote of 9 to zero. Thank you. Is there any other business?

Uh, just two announcements real quick. Uh, for the record, we note that Commissioner Rockwallik was here for the entire for the entire hearing. There was audio issues at the beginning during the attendance, but obviously he was online and you heard his votes. Um, secondly, we're going to have a very uh there's potential that we're going to have a very long hearing uh next time you meet and um we'll try and bring some water and snacks, but if you want a brown bag of sandwich, that's not a bad idea. So, for clarity on that, what's the date on that? That what's that date? November 6. November 6. Um, which case is going to potentially drag out?

Is it BNSF? Well, the all the major CPAs u that can only be heard once a year by the board uh are on that date and u and there's the county zoning ordinance update similar to the last item you heard, but it's the entire ordinance update. Biggest thing we've done in a decade. Uh so we're hoping we're hoping you're all uh excited uh by the product and um so there's 13 items uh and there could be discussion there could be public. Thank you. Could be quick. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. If there's no other business, this meeting's adjourned. Thank you. Thank you.