City Council Site Plan Approval: Staff is requesting City Council's approval of the three Interdepartmental Staff (IDS) approved Site Plan submittals for the Scattered Site Affordable Housing parcels, as required in the Purchase Agreement and as conditioned as part of the two Concept Zoning Map Amendments.

A Concept Zoning Map Amendment request was made by the City of Flagstaff Housing Division for both the 0.86 acre site at 1700 East Sixth Avenue and the 1.38 acre site at 3050 North West Street from Public Facility (PF) zone to Medium Density Residential (MR) zone as directed by City Council for the purpose of developing affordable multi-family housing.

The Flagstaff Planning and Zoning Commission conducted a public hearing to consider the zoning map amendment requests.  The Commission voted (6-0) to forward both requests with a recommendation of approval with conditions.

On January 2, 2018, City Council approved both zoning map amendment requests with conditions.  A condition of these rezonings was that the IDS approved Site Plan submittals must also be approved by Council.

On March 14, 2018, the City entered into a Purchase Agreement with Brinshore Development to authorize the sale of the three parcels.  The agreement states that following the IDS approval, the City Council will review and approve the site plans for all three sites.
 

There is no financial impact.

There is no policy impact.

Council Goals:
Support development and increase the inventory of public and private affordable housing for renters and home-owners throughout the community.

Regional Plan:
A complete analysis of the regional plan goals and policies can be found in the attached Planning and Zoning Commission staff reports.  All relevant goals and policies are included in the project narratives.

On July 7, 2017 the City Council approved the Housing Section's Request for Proposals for the development of three City owned parcels for multi-family affordable housing.  On September 12, 2017 the City Council provided direction to staff to pursue a Concept Zoning Map Amendment on two of the three City-owned parcels for the purpose of developing multi-family affordable housing.  On January 2, 2018 City Council approved both zoning map amendment requests with conditions.  On March 14, 2018 the City entered into a Purchase Agreement to sell the three parcels to Brinshore Development.

The City Council may approve the Site Plans as proposed, approve the Site Plans with modified conditions, or deny the Site Plans.

The City of Flagstaff Housing Section requested a Concept Zoning Map Amendment to rezone two City owned parcels from Public Facility (PF) zone to the Medium Density Residential (MR) zone for the purpose of developing affordable multi-family residential development.

Once the properties were rezoned, the Housing Section pursued a process by which an affordable multi-family residential project is delived by a successful respondent to a Request for Proposals (RFP).  The Housing Section put out an RFP for a Scattered Site Affordable Housing development on August 14, 2017.  Brinshore was the successful respondent to the RFP.

City staff required that, as a part of the developer's Site Plan application, a neighborhood meeting be held.  The developer held a neighborhood meeting for each parcel on November 14 and 15, 2018. 

City staff also required that the IDS approved Site Plan application be approved by the City Council for the West Street and Sixth Avenue sites.  This will allow the community an opportunity to review the proposed building design, exterior building elevations, parking layout, outdoor lighting, and site landscaping prior to approval, as these elements are not required to be part of the concept rezoning process.  The Purchase Agreement also requires Council to approve all three site plans.

Community benefits and considerations related to the rezoning request were addressed in more detail in the attached Planning and Zoning Commission Staff Report, dated November 30, 2017.  This project will provide the community additional affordable housing units.

Public hearings before the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council were conducted in conjuction with the rezoning requests.  In accordance with State statute, notice of public hearing was provided by placing an ad in the Daily Sun, posting notices on the property, and mailing a notice to all property owners within 1,000 feet of the West Street site and within 600 feet of the Sixth Avenue site (300 feet is the state mandated minimum).

The applicant held a neighborhood meeting for each site prior to the rezoning hearing.  The meetings were held on Thursday, October 26, 2017 at 5:00 pm and 5:30 pm in the dance room at Hal Jensen Community Center, located at 2403 North Izabel Street.   For the West Street site, approximately twenty-seven people from the public attended.  The primary concern raised was the desire to keep the parcel as undeveloped, or to develop it as a City park.  There were also concerns about the amount of parking proposed being inadequate and complaints concerning the traffic on Linda Vista.  It was pointed out that the proposed parking calculation meets City code, and the increase in traffic was due to the construction on Locket Road.  There were also concerns about the height of the building.  A Citizen Participation Report dated November 8, 2017, was prepared in relation to the comments and concerns presented.  The Planning and Zoning Commission held a public meeting on Thursday November 30, 2017.  At the public hearing, six members of the public spoke on the West Street case.  Two of those who spoke were in favor of the project.  Four presented concerns in relation to wanting the property to remain undeveloped, the effects of affordable housing on property values, the proposed development adversely affecting quality of life, increased traffic, increased crime and noise, and inadequate parking.

For the Sixth Avenue site, approximately five people from the public attended.  The primary concern raised was the amount of parking proposed being inadequate.  City staff stated that the parking concerns would be relayed to the developer, and would be reviewed with the Site Plan submittal.  A Citizen Participation Report dated November 8, 2017, was prepared in relation to the comments and concerns.  The Planning and Zoning Commission held a public meeting on Thursday, November 30, 2017.  At the public hearing, one member of the public spoke on the subject case.  The concern expressed was the amount of on-site parking proposed was insufficient.

As a condition of the rezoning, the applicant held another neighborhood meeting on Thursday November 15, 2018 at the Hal Jensen Community Center.  For the West Street site, approximately ten people from the public attended.  The general perspective was that we should provide less parking to keep the site quiet and to discourage too much additional traffic on West Street.  One resident who lived north of the site preferred more parking to ensure residents of the new development do not park on their residential streets. A local archeologist asked for information on the HUD Environmental review and Phase 1 report which were completed.  One resident was a general contractor and wanted to better understand how we would use local contractors.  The applicant explained that McShane Construction would ensure that local contractors had the opportunity to bid on the project.  Overall there was positive feedback on the architecture and floor plans.

The meeting for the Sixth Ave site followed.  Approximately twelve people from the public attended.  One resident of the neighboring condo building expressed concern about the residents of the new development being able to look down into his private patio space.  There was some conversation about parking in general but no specific concerns were expressed.  One resident asked about the use of a local general contractor and Brinshore explained that since this was our first project in Flagstaff, we were more comfortable partnering with a GC who we had a relationship with to ensure the project ran smoothly.  There was no specific feedback on the architecture or floor plans.

The developer also decided to hold a neighborhood meeting for the Lone Tree site.  This meeting was held on Wednesday November 14, 2018 at the Willow Bend Environmental Education Center.  Approximately sixteen people from the public attended.  Residents expressed concern about traffic backing up on Butler waiting to turn left onto Elden Street to access the new development.  The situation was reviewed prior to the meeting by a city engineer who determined that there was enough space to hold 4 or 5 cars as needed.  A representative from NAU was pleased to see affordable housing near the University because she was aware of young professors with families that needed quality housing close to work.  One set of long time residents of the neighborhood also expressed support for the affordable nature of the development.  One family who lives at the corner of Butler and Elden expressed concern about people standing under their awning in front of their window while waiting for the bus and are concerned that having more lower income families in the neighborhood would magnify the problem.  They also stated that there is excessive garbage created by individuals waiting for the bus.  They have had to call the police on numerous occasions.  Brinshore discussed the possibility of working with the transit authority to provide a shelter at the stop and more trash cans.  There were two local subcontractors at the meeting who asked how they could participate in the construction.  Brinshore took their information and has shared it with McShane Construction.  There was no specific feedback on the design.