P&Z panel votes against permit for extra dwelling

Foothills couple wants to add unit behind planned home

The Yuma County Planning and Zoning Commission voted Monday against giving a special use permit to a couple seeking to build an accessory dwelling behind their soon-to-be-built Foothills home, over the objections of their neighbors.

The board’s 4-2 recommendation on the case will go to the Board of Supervisors Sept. 6 for a final decision.

Sara and Matthew Larson told the commission they want to add the 500 square-foot structure to their planned home at 13277 S. Driftwood Drive so their parents could have someplace to stay while visiting,

The floor plan of the structure includes a kitchen along with a living room, bedroom and bathroom, but Planning Director Maggie Castro said it will have to be redesigned before it gets to the Board of Supervisors because a structure with both a kitchen and a restroom would under the county’s definition be a separate dwelling unit, no longer an “accessory.”

But neighbors contended the structure would affect the character of the neighborhood and reduce property values.

Neil Tucker said “our neighborhood is intended for single families, and we like it that way. It works very well for us that way.” He said that accessory units are prohibited in the subdivision’s CC&Rs, though none of the opponents of the permit had brought a copy of them to the meeting.

Sara Larson said she and her husband looked over their copy of the CC&Rs when they bought the property in March, and did not see any such prohibition. “We’re building very nice homes, or nice structures, we feel it blends in with the area very well. We hope it increases property values, it has been a vacant lot for a long time,” she said.

She said they agreed with the zoning restrictions being recommended by county staff, under which they could not rent the building to anyone (but people could temporarily stay there free of charge).

Tucker said property owners had the neighborhood rezoned a few years ago to eliminate manufactured homes, which were not allowed in the CC&Rs but had been under the previous zoning. at a time they’re trying to combat other property owners using their accessory building illegally, including one on the same street who’d apparently listed theirs for sale as a “rentable space.”

Other residents said they did not think it was fair for some neighbors to be able to build an accessory unit out back when zoning rules prohibit them from letting anyone stay in RVs that are parked at their homes.

Commissioner Danny Bryant also took issue with the fact that special-use

permits for RVs or manufactured homes generally have an end date, while those for a permanent structure do not.

“The site-built home is a permanent structure where there would be considerable expense to build it and then demolish it or change the occupancy after the expiration of the special use permit,” Castro explained.

Commissioner Wayne Eade gave a reluctant endorsement to the permit, saying that the county does not enforce CC&Rs and county staff did not find any issues would be created by issuing it. “Just based on the county’s process, I would not want to not recommend it,” he said.

Chairman Michael Henry said he would oppose it because most accessory units he could recall being approved were on larger lots than the 18,000 one in question here. “if it was on 3 or 5 acres, we’ve worked with those in the past and I thought those were fine because of the acreages,” he said.

In other action Monday the board:

• Took public comment on a proposed amendment to the county Comprehensive Plan to add standards for bicycle routes and establishing the county’s first two bicycle routes, connecting the Foothills and Mesa Del Sol areas.

Three members of the Yuma Region Bicycle Coalition, which has pushed for the county to make its roads more bike-friendly for nearly three years, spoke in support of the changes and there was no opposition.

Derek Coleman said he rides thousands of miles on local roads every year, he feels the majority of Yuma County drivers view bicyclists as a nuisance, and the solution would be encouraging more bike riders out onto the roads so they wouldn’t be such a novelty.

“I ride about three to five thousand miles a year on these streets, I can’t recall a ride where there wasn’t a very near miss with a vehicle. Can’t think of one,” he said.

• The commission unanimously approved a request for a special use permit for a wireless communications tower near Avenue 5E and Highway 95, within a mobile home park surrounded by agricultural uses.

Both cases are also scheduled to be heard by the Board of Supervisors Sept. 6.