Developer pushes back on road requirement

Agent calls it ‘waste of money,’ county p&Z eliminates condition

An agent for a developer pushed back against a requirement that he build a new road, calling it a “waste of money,” while a commissioner expressed concerns with possible contamination due to unpermitted truck storage on the property.

The Yuma County Planning and Zoning Commission considered a request by Dahl, Robins and Associates, agent for Armando Puga, to rezone the property from Suburban Ranch-4 Acre Minimum to Suburban Ranch-2 Acre Minimum.

The 5.09 acres are located at the northeast corner of County 18th Street and Avenue A⅛ in Somerton. The intent is to divide the property into two residential lots.

Anson Lihosit, a county senior planner, explained that the north end is used for the storage of large trucks enclosed with a chain link fence with barbed wire on top and sign at the front of the parcel.

The existing commercial use was discovered by staff during a site visit. According to a staff report, it seems to be a truck parking or transportation business. However, staff was unable to locate permits on the use or the sign.

If approved, the new zoning would not allow overnight truck parking or a travel plaza/truck stop as permitted uses. This unpermitted use could be addressed as a condition, if approved by the Board of Supervisors, which has the final say.

However, because the property is currently five acres and used for general agricultural purposes, it’s exempt from zoning and can continue to be used for the storage of semi-trucks. Once the property is split into two parcels, the storage of semi-trucks will no longer be allowed.

Staff recommended approval of the zoning request.

If used as a truck yard, Commissioner Bobbi McDermott noted that the property might be contaminated. She asked if a condition could be placed on the rezoning requiring a buyer to be notified of possible environmental issues, in case the buyer wants to build a house and/or septic system on the site or put the property into agricultural production.

“I understand your concern, but that’s something that would be between that buyer and the seller with the disclosure statement,” replied Commissioner Matias Rosales, who is a Realtor.

Planning Director Maggie Castro added that the property owner would have to comply with environmental regulations, with or without a condition. She also noted that the trucking business is only on a portion of the property, the northern 100 feet, if that much.

With that settled, Kevin Dahl, the developer’s agent, said that they took exception to parts of all conditions set by staff. The first condition requests an ingress/ egress easement 20 feet wide along the west property line to provide emergency vehicle access for the proposed northern parcel.

The second condition requires that the owner improve the easement into a dust-free, chip-sealed

access road with an aggregate base course (ABC). The third condition requires the owner to submit certification from a licensed engineer confirming the road was constructed according to the county’s chip seal standards.

Dahl noted that a road already exists on the property’s west alignment. “It makes no sense to have two roads side by side. The road that is there is an existing all-weather access, it’s ABC. There’s no reason to have another 20-foot access easement. There’s no reason to have another chip seal road built right next to it. You’d have a twoway road,” he said.

Arturo Alvarez, the county’s civil engineer, explained that in 2005, the supervisors adopted a chip seal requirement for rezoning that results in a land division. He also noted that the existing easement is on a public right-of-way and as such would have to be improved to county standards.

“I don’t care if it’s private or public easement, the road is there, providing access to these properties,” Dahl said. “It’s a waste of money.”

Castro explained that the reason staff made the recommendation to chip seal the easement is because the property is in the PM10 nonattainment area. “It’s up to the commission to keep the condition recommended by staff or remove the condition,” she said.

PM refers to particulate matter, an air quality measure set by the Environmental Protection Agency. PM10 refers to inhalable particles with diameters that are generally 10 micrometers and smaller.

“PM10 is a big problem here. We are increasingly having problems with air quality that then affect development and a lot of other stuff,” McDermott said.

Rosales noted that he would be fine without the conditions as an ABC road is already in place. He then motioned to eliminate all references to the 20-foot road from the conditions.

The commission voted 5-2 to recommend approval of the rezoning request, with commissioners Ron Van Why and McDermott in opposition. Commissioner Scott Mulhern recused himself from the discussion, as he works for Dahl.

A public hearing did not draw any speakers.

The recommendation will be forwarded to the supervisors for final action.