P&Z panel welcomes new commissioner

Board backs land use change, final plat, rezoning request

The Yuma Planning and Zoning Commission welcomed a new member during its Monday meeting. Vinod Mohindra, a Yuma resident for almost 40 years, has joined the board.

Mohindra is in the financial services and insurance industry and has been involved with many community and professional organizations, including United Way. He has also served 32 years on the city’s Water and Sewer Commission, chairing it for the last 28 years.

Community Development Assistant Director Dan Symer also welcomed him to the commission. “We’re looking forward to working with him in the future,” Symer said.

Chairman Chris Hamel noted that the commission is happy to have him on board, noting that it has had a couple of vacant seats for a while. “It will definitely be helpful to us,” Hamel said.

The commission hears cases on land use and makes recommendations to the City Council on annexations, general plan amendments, rezoning requests, final subdivisions and text amendments to the zoning code as requested. The commission has the final approval of conditional use permit and preliminary plats requests.

PLANS FOR NEW RESTAURANT, STORAGE UNITS

The commission heard three cases, including a request by Vega and Vega Engineering, on behalf of West Coast Lodging, to rezone 5.75 acres from the General Commercial B-2 and Light Industrial (L-I) Districts to the General Commercial/ Aesthetic Overlay District, for properties located at the southwest corner of the 16th Street and Arizona Avenue.

The commission voted 5-0 to recommend approval of the request.

The property owner would like to construct a new restaurant and selfstorage units. The hotel structure now existing on the site was built in 1980. At the time, uses permitted in the commercial districts were also allowed in industrial districts. The Zoning Ordinance was amended after the motel was constructed on this property.

The vacant lot, the site of the proposed self-storage facility, is between the Wendy’s restaurant and a residential lot. This adjacent lot is currently used by Harvest Preparatory Academy as informal bus parking. After construction, the proposed use should have little impact on the residential development, according to a staff report.

Because this property is on a Gateway Route, as stated in the Transportation Element of the General Plan, it will also receive the Aesthetic Overlay as part of the rezone. New projects within the AO are subject to review and approval by the Design and Historic Review Commission.

Rezoning this property will help increase the ability of the city to ensure quality and visually appealing development on an entry way into the community, according to Chad Brown, assistant city planner.

This property is also part of the 16th Street from 4th Avenue to Redondo Center Drive Growth Area, as identified in the Growth Area Element of the General Plan. Plans call for filling this district with higher intensity development and new residential units. The proposed project supports the General Plan in that it would infill an undeveloped lot, create higher intensity and create a commercial use often used by residential property owners, the report said.

In other action, the commission voted 5-0 to recommend approval, with support from staff, of a General Plan amendment request by Dahl, Robins and Associates, on behalf of Barkley Limited Partnership, to change the land use designation from Suburban Density Residential to Low Density Residential for 16.7 acres located at the northwest corner of the Avenue B½ alignment and 40th Street.

This was the second of two public hearings, although no citizens requested to speak.

The applicant’s intent is to develop a single-family residential subdivision with low density. The property is adjacent to the Livingston Ranch subdivision, and the property to the south is designated for agricultural use and actively farmed.

The current land use designation of Suburban Density Residential allows from eight to 50 homes to be constructed on the 15.4 acres. The Low Density Residential land use designation would allow from 16 to 81 homes to be constructed in a single-family development.

Access to the property will be from Avenue C to 38th Street and south to 40th Street via the future construction of Avenue B½.

The commission also heard a request by Dahl, Robins and Associates, on behalf of Yuma Valley Land Company, asking for approval of the final plat for Park West Unit 5 Subdivision located at the northeast corner of 43rd Trail and 28th St. The developer plans to divide 26.11 acres into 99 residential lots, ranging in size from 6,150 square feet to 16,619 square feet.

The commission voted 5-0 to recommend the request, with staff support.

Principal Planner Bob Blevins noted that this is the last phase of the subdivision development and many homes from previous phases have been constructed or are under construction.

Access will be off of 28th Street and via 43rd Trail through Park West Unit 2. This new residential subdivision is near the existing Falls Ranch, Barkley Ranch and Parkway Place subdivisions.

A preannexation development agreement calls for paving out 28th Street to Avenue C, lighting and landscaping, to be maintained by a maintenance improvement district.

However, Blevins noted that the applicant does not agree with one of the conditions and has requested that it be removed in its entirely. Condition No. 6, the same as used in Unit 4 and the development agreement, calls for landscaping to be installed along the north side of 28th Street from 45th Avenue to Avenue C along the south boundaries of Units 4 and 5. The landscaping is to be installed prior to the recording of the final plat of each unit.

Blevins said that city staff would like to keep the condition. Kevin Dahl, representative for the developer, said that the condition is “pointless” since it is already covered with a condition for Unit 4 and the development agreement.

“Six is really a non-issue and we would like to remove it for simplicity. It doesn’t need to be there,” Dahl said. “If it doesn’t get stricken, so be it.”

Blevins said it’s included for consistency. “Staff feels the completion of 28th Street is very important and wanted to reiterate that it needs to get done.”

Mohindra said that if it doesn’t put an extra burden on the developer, he doesn’t see any harm in leaving it in.

Nevertheless, Commissioner Tyrone Jones moved to approve the request without Condition No. 6. The commission unanimously agreed to recommend approval without the condition.