CITY OF MESA

MINUTES OF THE PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD MEETING

Held in the City of Mesa Council Chambers

Date: March 25, 2009 Time: 4:00 p.m.

MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS ABSENT

Pat Esparza, Chair

Frank Mizner, Vice Chair

Randy Carter

Beth Coons

Scott Perkinson

Chell Roberts

Ken Salas

OTHERS PRESENT

John Wesley

Tom Ellsworth

Lesley Davis

Angelica Guevara

Tim Lillo

Wahid Alam

Debbie Archuleta

Chairperson Esparza declared a quorum present and the meeting was called to order at 4:00 p.m. The meeting was recorded on tape and dated March 25, 2009. Before adjournment at 4:52 p.m., action was taken on the following:

It was moved by Boardmember Coons, seconded by Boardmember Carter that the minutes of the February 17, 2009, and February 19, 2009 study sessions and regular meeting be approved as submitted. Vote: 5 – 0 – 1 (Boardmember Salas abstained) (Boardmember Roberts absent)

Consent Agenda Items: All items identified with an asterisk (*) were approved with one Board motion.

It was moved by Boardmember Carter, seconded by Boardmember Mizner, that the consent items be approved. Vote: 6 – 0 Boardmember Roberts absent

Zoning Cases:

Item: *Z09-03 (District 6) 10917 East Main Street. Located east of Signal Butte Road on the south side of Main Street. 3.06 acres. Site Plan Review. This case will allow the development of a vocational training facility. Marc Center of Mesa, Inc. owner; Pat Gilbert, applicant.

Comments: This case was on the consent agenda and therefore was not discussed individually.

It was moved by Boardmember Carter, seconded by Boardmember Mizner

That: The Board approve zoning case Z09-03 conditioned upon:

1. Compliance with the basic development as described in the project narrative, and as shown on the site plan (without guarantee of lot yield, building count, lot coverage).

2. Compliance with all requirements of the Design Review Board.

3. Compliance with all City development codes and regulations.

4. Execute the cross access agreement between the two properties before approval of Design Review.

5. Shift building “C” over to the West to accommodate the required 30’ building setback from the adjacent R-4 zoning. §11-15-2A

6. Increase the landscape island at the south end of this development from 16’ to 24’ wide and provide two trees and six shrubs in this island as required by the Zoning Ordinance. §11-15-3-2F

7. Parking canopies need to be reduced in length to leave the last parking space next to a landscape island uncovered.

Vote: Passed 6 – 0 Boardmember Roberts absent

* * * * *

Note: Audiotapes of the Planning & Zoning Board Meetings are available in the Planning Division Office for review. They are also “live broadcasted” through the City of Mesa’s website at www.cityofmesa.org

D. HEAR A PRESENTATION, REVIEW AND DISCUSS THE FOLLOWING:

1. Progress made to date on the Zoning Ordinance Update including Module 3

Staffmember Gordon Sheffield explained Module 3 of the Zoning Ordinance update.

Mr. Sheffield stated one of the goals of the update was to better match the Zoning Code with the General Plan. He stated another goal was to make the Zoning Code easier to understand and use. One of the ways to do that was to make the formatting easier and provide more information on a single page.

Mr. Sheffield then explained the proposed changes to the various Overlay Districts.

AF- Airfield District: would deal more with notification and mandatory postings. It would also include notification to rental tenants.

AS - Age Specific District: would allow for Administrative Use Permits for cases where the older spouse dies and the younger spouse would have to sell their property and move. Boardmember Mizner questioned whether that would put the City in conflict with C.C. & R’s. He also wondered if neighbors should be notified of the proposed Administrative Use Permit. He confirmed that there would be an appeal process through the Board of Adjustment.

BIZ and PAD – Bonus Intensity Zone and Planned Area Development: would modify base districts. BIZ would be used for building. PAD would be for multiple use projects with several buildings. The BIZ would give bonuses for high quality designs, infill, and voluntary inclusionary housing with a density bonus. Boardmembers Mizner and Carter thought the bonuses were a good idea because in the past some project had gotten the BIZ for height without providing higher quality buildings. Boardmember Mizner was concerned with very small projects that get PAD overlays and have common areas that they cannot maintain because there are not enough homes to sustain an association. Boardmember Coons questioned who determines what is synergistic development. Mr. Sheffield stated Council would.

DMP – Development Master Plan: would be for large development such as Superstition Springs.

HO – Historic Overlay: would change the language to match national language and provide more specific requirements. Boardmember Coons agreed with changing the language as long as the revision did not mean losing intent of what Mesa is trying to do.

Mr. Sheffield stated there was proposal to add a new IN – Infill district: This district would allow Council to establish in-fill districts that would allow area or sites to vary from Code without having to get variances for everything. It would also allow more density for sites.

Development Standards would vary for different “character areas” such as pedestrian versus auto. Variations in landscape requirements, allowing minor additions of up to 5 or 10 percent without needing a SCIP.

This module also addresses the landscape and parking requirements. There are not many changes to the landscaping requirements. One change will be to allow a reduction in the number of trees along a street in trade for more shrubs to increase visibility of businesses.

Parking standards would also change, such as allowing the same spaces to be used by more than one user if they can show they would be used at different times, such as office and apartment users. Allowing bicycle and motorcycle sizes. Allowing compact stalls to be used a portion of the required parking spaces. Boardmember Mizner was very concerned with the use of compact spaces. He stated consumer trends in auto sizes vary over time and the use of compact spaces could be a real problem in the future if consumers return to buying larger vehicles.

The revised Zoning Code would allow the Zoning Administrator to allow varied types of parking and reductions in the number of spaces.

Boardmember Carter commended staff on all their hard work on this project.

Boardmember Perkinson asked what the time frame was for completion of the update. Mr. Sheffield stated his goal was to have the update complete by the end of the year.

Respectfully submitted,

___________________________________

John Wesley, Secretary

Planning Director

DA:

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