P&Z panel and MCAS split on permit request

Man wants to add 2nd dwelling on property east of base

The Yuma County Planning and Zoning Commission narrowly voted to recommend approval of an accessory dwelling unit for a property in the Tierra Mesa area east of Marine Corps Air Station-Yuma, despite opposition from the base commander.

The two-acre property at 13569 S. Tierra Mesa Ave., in the Desert Star Estates subdivision, has a 2,400 square-foot house under construction, and owner Steve Ponce is seeking a special use permit to build another 1,500 square-foot dwelling there.

Ponce emphasized he has no intention to rent out the second home, which he and his wife will live in parttime while their daughter and son-in-law occupy the larger house, and submitted a “declaration of knowledge and intent” that they were aware of the county’s prohibition on leasing an accessory home.

“We have no intention of this ever being a rental property, ever,” he said.

He added that he had 19 signatures from surrounding landowners who support the special use permit he’s asking for.

However, MCAS-Yuma and Yuma International Airport both sent letters of opposition, as officials from those two entities, which share a runway, generally do for proposals which would increase population density within the base’s 65-decibel noise zone.

In response to one of MCAS Commanding Offi-

cer Col. David Suggs’ objections, Ponce said plans call for both houses to share a driveway, not separate ones as the base had said. This would be a violation the county’s requirements for an accessory dwelling unit.

Ponce said one access point onto the property would serve the two buildings. However, Gabby Black of MCAS’s Community Plans and Liaison Department contended the two driveways that would branch out from that single access were an important distinction.

“We recognize that Mr. Ponce has agreed not to lease the accessory dwelling unit. But the layout, the separate driveway and the size of the dwelling makes this easily and highly desirable for future owners to rent, thus increasing the number of people residing in this noise contour, and approach-departure flight path,” she said.

More broadly, MCAS fights any potential increase in population density because it would put more residents potentially in harm’s way should a plane go down, when the base already has housing development, the Yuma County Fairgrounds and other developments nearby.

Flight activity out of the base will be growing rapidly despite the encroachment, Black said, because of the ideal flying weather and welcoming community.

Commissioner Danny Bryant said that during his previous stint on the commission in the 1980s, there seemed to be an understanding of sorts between the county and base on which proposed zoning cases near MCAS should and shouldn’t go through, even though many such issues came up.

“In my days on the board, there were always the ones that they objected and didn’t show up, and those were OK, and then there were the ones they objected to and came to campaign against, and those were the ones that we tried not to cross the line,” he said.

He was one of three commissioners who voted to oppose the permit, but four others voted yes, in part because another accessory dwelling had been approved in June for another home less than a quartermile away.

Commissioner Ron Rice noted that the property in question is already surrounded by residential lots. “I understand the military, I’m on the airport authority (board) and I know exactly what you’re after,” he said. “But when you have that much population around that particular location, percentage-wise, you’re not looking at much increase if you drop an aircraft in there.”

The case will go to the Yuma County Board of Supervisors for a final decision later this year.

The other agenda item was continued until November. It is the discussion of a proposed text amendment to the zoning code lifting some restrictions, in some zoning categories, for short-term parking of occupied recreational vehicles.