Public Hearing, Consideration and Possible Adoption of Resolution No. 2014-26:  A resolution amending the previous Flagstaff Area Regional Land Use and Transportation Plan to change the land use designation of approximately 33.6 acres of real property located at the southwest and southeast corners of Route 66 and Fourth Street and at the northwest corner of Huntington Drive and Fourth Street, from Office/Business Park/Light Industrial and Light/Medium Industrial to Community/Regional Commercial.  (This is the development request from Evergreen Development for property located at 4th Street and Rt. 66 known as "The Trax")

1) Hold the Public Hearing
2) Read the Resolution No. 2014-26 by title only
3) City Clerk read Resolution No. 2014-26 by title only (if approved above)
4) Adopt Resolution No. 2014-26

• The proposed Flagstaff Area Regional Land Use and Transportation Plan amendment shall meet the requirements of Section 11-10.10.020 of the General Plan and Subdivision Code (City Code Title 11).
• This request is the first of two related items.
• The Flagstaff Planning and Zoning Commission conducted two public hearings to consider this request to amend the Regional Plan at its regular meeting of May 14, 2014 and May 28, 2014.  At the conclusion of the public hearing on May 28, 2014, the Commission voted (7-0) to forward the request to the City Council with a recommendation of approval.

Subsidiary Decisions Points:  The application was filed prior to the ratification of the Flagstaff Regional Plan 2030; therefore, the previous Regional Land Use and Transportation Plan policies were evaluated through the policy analysis provided in the attached Planning & Zoning Commission Report.  The new Flagstaff Regional Plan 2030 was not reviewed with this application.  However, the proposed land uses are aligned with the Future Growth Illustration.

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- Retain, expand, and diversify economic base
- Zoning Code check in and analysis of the process and implementation

The Council considered, approved and amended a purchase and sale agreement for the subject property on May 20, 2014.

The City Council may approve, deny, or modify the resolution as necessary to ensure that the development meets the objectives of the Regional Land Use and Transportation Plan and the City of Flagstaff's development goals.

At the date of this report, the property is owned by the City of Flagstaff.  Evergreen Devco, Inc. intends to close escrow on the property by September 2014.  The Real Estate Purchase and Sale Agreement between City of Flagstaff and Evergreen Devco, Inc. states [summarized below]:

• The City, through the development of the Fourth Street Overpass and the intersection of Route 66 and Fourth Street, acquired additional land adjacent to the Overpass.
• One of the City Council’s long-term goals is the revitalization of the Fourth Street area.
• The City issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the sale and development of the three (3) parcels located at the southeast and southwest corners of Route 66 and Fourth Street, and northwest corner of Fourth Street and Huntington Drive, adjacent to the Fourth Street Overpass.
• The Buyer [Evergreen] responded to the RFP with an offer to purchase the Parcels with the intention of developing the Parcels for retail uses. 
  The applicant/buyer, Evergreen Devco, Inc., is requesting a minor Flagstaff Area Regional Land Use and Transportation Plan (“Regional Plan”) amendment to ensure conformance with a proposed Zoning Map amendment to allow for the development of a new shopping center with approximately 250,000 square feet referred to as “The Trax.”  The 33.6-acre site is adjacent to approximately one mile of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway.  The project parcels were created by the Fourth Street overpass project in 2006 through a public bond. With the construction of the Fourth Street overpass, the existing Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks were relocated to the south to allow vertical clearance of the railroad under Fourth Street. Thus the majority of this land which was previously contiguous to other light industrial properties is now separated by the railroad tracks (North) and located directly across from existing commercial development on Route 66.  It was anticipated that these parcels abutting to Route 66 should no longer support Industrial uses or heavy truck traffic thus the designation in the Regional Plan as a redevelopment area.   

If the public hearing is successfully concluded, a resolution may be considered by the City Council.  Resolution No. 2014-26 changes the land use designation of approximately 33.6 acres from Office/Business Park/Light Industrial and Light/Medium Industrial to Community/Regional Commercial.

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Since adoption by the City Council, County Board of Supervisors, and voter approval in May of 2002, implementation of the Regional Land Use and Transportation Plan has focused strategically on nine key sub-areas of the City inside the City’s Urban Growth Boundary. Those areas are: (1) McMillan Mesa; (2) Downtown; (3) Southside; (4) Sawmill property; (5) Westside; (6) Airport; (7) 4^th Street; (8) South Milton corridor and (9) the Flagstaff Mall/Marketplace/Auto Park area.
 
The previous Regional Land Use and Transportation Plan employs a progressive and comprehensive array of “smart growth” principles such as mixed use, compact urban form and growth boundaries, redevelopment, infill, minimum densities, walkable neighborhoods, affordable/mixed income housing, multi-modal transportation, regional coordination, and targeted economic development strategies. The strategy is to plan, design, and build specific projects that incorporate those principles at the neighborhood level and optimally match up potential and opportunity with location and timing.
 
The premise of this overall strategy is that significant projects, grounded in market economics, are planned and built at the optimum time and locations in the city and should occur on a regular basis, but most likely will not unless the City takes the lead in a sponsoring role to foster those projects such as the Fourth Street overpass.  Then over time, and inside the City’s Urban Growth Boundary, there will develop an inventory of reinvestment sites, partnerships, corridors, neighborhoods and districts, all of which can offer viable choices for quality public, private investment and partnerships responding to the individual market forces and opportunities for those areas, and keeping the city and region in a competitive position to grow the region’s economy, while offering a real alternative to urban sprawl and peripheral expansion. The Trax development area is one of those specific strategies designed to employ the Regional Plan principles and be a significant additive to the regional economy which is needed in this portion of our community. Additionally, this development disperses the shopping/services geographically to assure efficiencies in the delivery of both the private/public services and investment within the community.

Inform
The Developer held a neighborhood meeting on February 20, 2014 at the Aquaplex; 37 people signed in for the meeting. Notice of the neighborhood meeting was provided in accordance with the Zoning Code.  The results of the meeting are included in the Record of Proceedings, a copy of which is included in the attached Planning & Zoning Commission attachments.  The Planning & Zoning Commission conducted a public hearing on May 14, 2014 and May 28, 2014.  Notice of those public hearings was provided in accordance with State statute and the Zoning Code.  As of this writing, staff has received general inquiries from three members of the public at the Community Development Counter, and one email which expresses concern over the effect (commercial competition) the amendment might have on the 4th Street corridor north of Route 66; increased traffic flow and safety; and reducing the amount of light industrial land in areas that have easy access to housing.

• (Recommended Action):  The City Council may approve the Regional Plan amendment as recommended by the Planning and Zoning Commission and staff by reading and adopting Resolution No. 2014-26.
• The City Council may approve the Regional Plan amendment with modifications to the resolution.
• The City Council may deny the Regional Plan amendment.