Public Hearing, Consideration and Adoption of Ordinance No. 2014-31:  An Ordinance amending the Flagstaff Zoning Map designation of approximately 36.94 acres of real property generally located at the intersection of Route 66 and Woody Mountain Road, from Rural Residential ("RR") to Highway Commercial ("HC") for 3.6 acres, and to Medium Density Residential ("MR") for 33.33 acres. (Rezoning of property for Aspen Heights located on Woody Mountain Road)

The Flagstaff Planning and Zoning Commission conducted a Public Hearing to consider this zoning map amendment at its regular meeting on September 24, 2014.  The Planning and Zoning Commission voted (6-0) to forward the required to the City Council with a recommendation of approval subject to ten (10) conditions of approval.  Zoning map amendments are required to be adopted by ordinance.

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COUNCIL GOALS:
Retain, expand, and diversify economic base
Effective governance

REGIONAL PLAN:
Goal LU1 (Land Use and Growth Management)
“Greater Flagstaff will have a compact land use pattern within a well-defined boundary that shapes growth in a manner that preserves the region’s natural environment, livability, and sense of community. Flagstaff will continue to offer the primary types of housing design developments that have defined its land use patterns: the conventional and traditional neighborhood scale which provide a choice of housing types and supporting non-residential uses within walking distances.” (RLUTP, pg. 2-5)

Policy LU1.5 – Provide for new Mixed-Use Neighborhoods.
“The Regional Plan designates new development areas within the Urban Growth Boundary for development as mixed-use neighborhoods. The criteria for these areas includes average densities, a mix of mutually supportive and integrated residential and non-residential land uses, and a network of interconnected streets, and pedestrian and bicycle connections.” (RLUTP, pg. 2-9)

Policy LU1.6 – Require Urban Development to Locate within City Boundaries.
“In order to ensure that all urban development can be provided with adequate public facilities and services, it is the policy of this Regional Plan that all urban land uses shall be located within the Urban Growth Boundary, within the city’s corporate boundary limits. The Regional Plan encourages urban land uses to locate only within incorporated areas in order to obtain City services, utilities, and fire protection. The City shall consider the annexation of land into the city limits when the annexation of such property is consistent with the goals and policies of the RLTUP. (RLUTP, pg. 2-10)

Policy LU1.10 – Place Emphasis on all Transportation Modes.
“All commercial and residential areas shall include full accommodation for pedestrians, bicycle travel and transit access.” (RLUTP, pg. 2-13)

Policy LU1.11 – Place Emphasis on and Encourage Traditional Neighborhood Development and Redevelopment Design. 
“The Regional Plan promotes the creation and establishment of neighborhood units with mixed land uses, a variety of dwelling types, activity centers that are walkable, alternate modes of transportation routes, and design that is sensitive to existing surrounding development.” (RLUTP, pg. 2-13)

Goal C1 (Commercial Development)
“Shopping and service areas will be convenient to residents as well as visitors to the region in a manner that meets their needs, while remaining compatible with surrounding land uses.” (RLUTP, pg. 2-21)

Policy C1.3 – Include a Mix of Uses in new Commercial Development and Redevelopment.
“New development shall include a mix of uses in the city and county, avoiding large, single-use buildings and dominating parking areas.” (RLUTP, pg. 2-22)

Policy C1.5 – Design and Establish Neighborhood Commercial Centers.
“Neighborhood commercial centers in the city are designed as pedestrian-oriented gathering places with a mix of retail, office, and service uses, providing the goods and services necessary to meet the needs of the neighborhood while reflecting the identity and character of the surrounding residential neighborhoods.” (RLUTP, pg. 2-23)

Goal HN1 (Housing and Neighborhoods)
“The supply of affordable home ownership, rental, and special needs housing units affordable to low- and moderate-income households will be increased.” (RLUTP, pg. 2-30)

Goal HN2 (Housing and Neighborhoods)
“New neighborhoods will be built and support will be given to existing neighborhoods that integrate a variety of housing types and densities with amenities, services, and retail to ensure opportunities for a variety of household income levels.” (RLUTP, pg. 2-32)

Policy HN2.1 – Promote Development of Mixed-Use Neighborhoods.
“In appropriate areas, both new and existing neighborhoods should have a mix of land uses and different housing types. The arrangement of land uses within neighborhoods shall allow residents to walk and bicycle to parks, schools, work, shopping, places of worship, transit stops, and other nearby neighborhoods. Neighborhoods should include a pedestrian-oriented neighborhood center – school, park, plaza, commercial area or other neighborhood facility – that gives each neighborhood a unique identity and a place for recreation or public gatherings.”(RLUTP, pg 2-32)

Policy HN2.2 – Establish Interconnected Neighborhood Street and Sidewalk Patterns.
“Neighborhood streets and sidewalks and/or walkways in both new and existing areas should form an interconnected network, including automobile, bicycle, and pedestrian routes within a neighborhood and between neighborhoods, in order to connect neighborhoods together and with other parts of the region. Neighborhoods should have frequently connected networks of walkways and bike paths, including connections to the Flagstaff Urban Trail System (FUTS), where practicable and feasible. In particular, direct walkway and bikeway route to schools, parks, and other community facilities should be provided. Equestrian facilities should be accommodated where appropriate.” (RLUTP, pg. 2-33)

GOAL T3 (Transportation)
“The region’s development pattern will support a diverse range of transportation choices, including transit, walking and bicycling, as well as driving.” (RLUTP, pg. 3-10)

Policy OSPR1.3 – Provide Non-Motorized Transportation Corridors to Connect Communities, Neighborhoods, Open Spaces and Recreational Areas.
“Provide non-motorized transportation corridors between neighborhoods, communities, and between the city and outlying areas and regional and national facilities and sites. Non-motorized access shall be provided from new and redevelopment neighborhoods and should be required from existing neighborhoods to regional open space via easements, trails, an on-street facilities with open space connections between FUTS and USFS trails. Existing neighborhoods are encouraged to improve non-motorized access and connections to regional open space and incorporate open space connections between FUTS and USFS trails.” (RLUTP, pg. 4-3)

Policy NCR1.9 – Protect Dark Skies
“Protection of dark skies and conservation of energy shall be undertaken by minimizing the detrimental effects to the region’s quality of life and astronomical observing conditions.” (RLUTP, pg. 6-5)

Policy CFS1.1 – Determine and Require Adequate Public Facilities and Services.
“The provision of adequate public facilities and services and the phasing of infrastructure improvements shall be important consideration in the timing and location of development.” (RLUTP, pg. 8-2)

Policy CFS1.2 – Development shall pay its Fair Share Toward the Cost of Additional Public Service Needs Created by new Development, While Giving Consideration to the Rational Nexus Provisions to Show Direct Benefit.
“The short- and long-term fiscal effects of land use and new development require the use of various tools, methodologies and programs to determine the cost of development and to ensure development is paying its fair share and that it has a direct relationship to benefits received by the development and burdens imposed on the provider.” (RLUTP, pg. 8-4)

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The City Council may approve the ordinance as proposed, approve the ordinance with conditions, or deny the ordinance.

 

 

The Applicant, Aspen Heights, is requesting a concept zoning-map amendment to rezone approximately 33.33 acres from the Rural Residential (RR) zone to the Medium Density Residential (MR) zone and approximately 3.60 acres from the Rural Residential (RR) zone to the Highway Commercial (HC) zone located at 2701 S. Woody Mountain Road. This amendment would allow the development of a multi-family style, student- housing development, operated as a rooming and boarding facility, consisting of 224 units (714 beds) located within single and duplex cottage structures on 33.33 acres and a commercial development consisting of approximately 20,000 square feet of street-level retail, general services and/or mixed-use development space adjacent to Route 66 on 3.60 acres. The subject property is currently undeveloped land with groupings of ponderosa pine trees left after the 2006 Woody Fire burned the site. The property gently slopes away from Woody Mountain Road with no significant slope resources.

Land uses north of the subject property, across Route 66 include a mix of land under City and County jurisdiction. The McAllister Ranch property is located directly across Route 66 which is currently owned by the City of Flagstaff but primarily under Coconino County jurisdiction, along with the adjacent commercial property that contains the Professional River Outfitters operation. Land uses to the east of the subject property, across Woody Mountain Road, include the Woody Mountain Campground & RV Park both under the City and County jurisdictions on State Land and the Presidio in the Pines subdivision within the City. The land to the south and west of the subject property is undeveloped property referred to as the Westside 197 property that was recently auctioned. At this time, development plans for the Westside 197 are unknown.

Just as a footnote, the math in the Ordinance and caption to the Ordinance regarding the size of the property appears to be off by .01 acres.  We've chosen to stay consistent with the property descriptions provided by the surveyor, resulting in that small discrepancy due to rounding.

An applicant requesting an amendment to the Zoning map may elect to pursue either a “Direct Ordinance with a Site Plan” or “Authorization to Rezone with a Concept Zoning Plan” per Section 10-20.50.040.D (pg. 20.50-5). The Direct Ordinance with a Site Plan process provides an applicant with a shorter approval process with fewer steps. In this approach the applicant submits fully developed site plans with all supporting information required for Site Plan Review concurrently with the Zoning Map amendment application. Once the Zoning Map amendment is approved by the Council, then the applicant can proceed directly to construction plan and building permit review. The Authorization to Rezone with a Concept Zoning Plan process allows the applicant to prepare a concept zoning plan and pursue site plan application after Council approves the Zoning Map Amendment. A Concept Zoning Plan should consist of a plan with proposed use(s), vicinity maps, context map, concept phasing, housing types if applicable and a proposed circulation map. This particular project initiated review of the Concept Plan prior to the adoption of the two-pronged Zoning map Amendment process.  The zoning application, however, came in after the adoption of the changes to the Code discussed above and  is a Concept Zoning Map Amendment.  The applicant has chosen not to submit for Direct to Ordinance in conjunction with this application. However, this application contains more information than would normally be required for a Concept Zoning Map Amendment, thus this application is a hybrid of the old process and the new concept zoning plan application.

The applicant is requesting a Zoning Map Amendment for a multi-family style, student housing development, operated as a Rooming and Boarding Facility, consisting of 224 units (714 beds) located within single and duplex cottage structures known as “Aspen Heights.” A commercial development consisting of approximately 20,000 square feet of street-level retail, general services and/or mixed-use development space adjacent to Route 66 is also included in this request. Concept plans of the development, copies of which are attached to this report, show the residential units lining the exterior boundaries of the property, with internal driveways lined with parking, and recreation facilities centrally located within the development.

Community benefits and consideration related to this request are addressed in more detail in the attached Planning and Zoning Commission Staff Report, dated September 12, 2014.  The existing City of Flagstaff boundary bisects the current parcel limiting the development of the site.  The majority of the existing parcel is located within the City of Flagstaff boundaries and the annexation will result in an expansion of the City limits to allow for appropriate development of the subject site.  The proposed development will require a proportional-share contribution to a future traffic signal at the intersection of Route 66 and S. Woody Mountain road per the results of the accepted traffic impact analysis.  In addition, approximately 5500 linear feet of sere line will need to be upgraded in conjunction with the proposed development.  The Applicant has indicated their desire to participate in the recapture program.  The proposed development plans to off-set recreation impacts associated with the project by providing substantial recreation improvement on site in compliance with the City of Flagstaff Zoning Code.

Inform/Consult

The Applicant held a neighborhood meeting on Thursday, March 27, 2014 at 5:30 pm. The Applicant received two phone calls from their meeting notice requesting information about the project. Seven people attended the meeting and had questions in regards to the case. None of the attendees expressed opposition to the Annexation or the Zoning Map Amendment. Staff has not received any other comments in regards to either the annexation or the Zoning Map Amendment.

Public hearings before the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council are conducted in conjunction with any request for Zoning Map Amendment. In accordance with Arizona Revised Statute, notice of the public hearing was provided by placing an ad in the Daily Sun, posting a notice on the property, and mailing a notice to all property owners within 300 feet of the subject site. As of this writing, staff has received two email letters, copies of which are attached to this report, wanting to make sure that the planning for the site takes into account the use of Woody Mountain Road by a large number of W.L. Gore employees who commute to the facilities in the area and expressing concern about the increased lighting impacts from higher density development within Lighting Zone I.

The Planning and Zoning Commission conducted a public hearing on September 24, 2014 at 4 p.m.  Three individuals spoke in regards to this case.  Two addressed concerns in regards to dark sky related issues and the impacts of outdoor lighting.  On individual asked for additional information in regards to the provision of affordable housing.

• (Recommended Action):  The City Council may approve the Zoning Map Amendment as recommended by the Planning and Zoning Commission and staff by reading and adopting Ordinance No. 2014-31.
• The City Council may approved the Zoning Map Amendment with conditions of approval.
• The City Council may deny the Zoning Map Amendment.