P&Z fixes zoning mistake
Error discovered after owner applies for expansion
When the owners of RV World wanted to expand their business, the city realized that the property had never been rezoned properly. To fix the problem, the Yuma Planning and Zoning Commission approved a request changing the property’s zoning from Agriculture District to Light Industrial District.
While other properties in the same subdivision were rezoned Light Industrial and Heavy Industrial over time, this 2.49acre property remained in the agriculture zoning district since annexation, a staff report explained.
On July 10, the commission unanimously approved the request made by Jodie King on behalf of William E. and Donalyn E. Green. The property is located at 5875 E. Gila Ridge Road, about 2,300 feet from the Interstate 8 on/off-ramps.
The three parcels directly to the west have the same owners and are all part of RV World, which sells and services recreational vehicles. Those parcels were rezoned to Light Industrial in 1999.
According to the Yuma County Assessor’s Office, the property was sold to the current owners in 2005 with the current agriculture zoning. At some point after the purchase, the current property owners expanded RV World onto the subject property.
Six existing buildings over the four parcels encompass RV World. Building permits have been issued for buildings located on this parcel, but previous staff reviews had not noticed that the subject property was not part of the original three parcels of RV World and had erroneously approved expansion of buildings across property lines.
The owners recently went back to the county with plans for additional expansion, and staff noted that a lot tie was needed to expand the buildings and realized that the parcel had never been rezoned to Light Industrial, which resulted in this rezone application.
In other action, the commission unanimously approved the final plat for Cielo Verde Unit 3 Subdivision, a project of The Jacobson Companies. This 31.03-acre subdivision will be divided into 93 residential lots, ranging in size from 8,791 to 18,745 square feet. The property is located at the southeast corner of 35th Street and Paraiso Parkway.
Development of Cielo Verde is guided by the Cielo Verde Specific Plan in the Zoning Code, conceived in 2001 through a series of resolutions to provide a 382-acre master planned development with mixed uses.
Market forces slowed development until recently, according to a staff report. The commercial portion along 32nd Street, anchored by Walmart, now offers retail, restaurants, banking and office space.
The completed residential portions consist of the Cielo Verde residential subdivisions Units 1, 2 and 5, a church and Carefree Village Resort, a recreational vehicle park.
Cielo Verde developers are planning to provide a variety of commercial uses and housing in a pedestrian-oriented, neighborhood-focused community, planned primarily for adult living.
The Cielo Verde Residential District has development standards that include 6,000-square-foot minimum lot sizes and 50-foot minimum lot widths.
A condition of approval for the preliminary plat will limit the type and number of dwellings. After a site-built home is established, only recreational vehicles can be hooked up to utilities as the guest quarters. No mobile, manufactured or park model homes will be allowed.