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AGENDA ITEM #:23-200-00010
DATE: February 14, 2024
CAR #:
1871
CASE #: {Case#}
Planning & Zoning Commission ACTION REPORT
 
SUBJECT: A REQUEST TO REZONE APPROXIMATELY 137.77 ACRES LOCATED NORTHEAST OF VAN BUREN STREET AND LITCHFIELD ROAD (THE “PROPERTY”) FROM PLANNED AREA DEVELOPMENT (PAD) TO PAD, BY ADOPTING THE “PALM VALLEY CROSSING 5TH AMENDED AND RESTATED PLANNED AREA DEVELOPMENT,” WHICH AMENDS THE LAND USE DESIGNATION OF LOT 3.
 
STAFF PRESENTER(S): David Williams, Contract Planner

OTHER PRESENTER(S):

Kimberly Schroeder, Kaeko Engineering

SUMMARY:

This is a Public Hearing to rezone approximately 137.77 acres located northeast of Van Buren Street and Litchfield Road (the “Property”) from Planned Area Development (PAD) to PAD, by adopting the “Palm Valley Crossing 5th Amended and Restated Planned Area Development,” which amends the land use designation of Lot 3.

RECOMMENDATION:

  1. Conduct a public hearing to consider the request to rezone approximately 137.77 acres located at the northeast corner of Van Buren Street and Litchfield Road (the “Property” from Planned Area Development (PAD) to PAD “Palm Valley Crossing 5th Amended and Restated Planned Area Development”.
  2. Recommend approval of the request to rezone the Property to Palm Valley Crossing 5th Amended and Restated Planned Area Development (February 2024), as set forth in the draft of Ordinance No. 2024-1599. (David Williams, Contract Planner)

STIPULATIONS:

CONDITIONS OF REZONING

The rezoning of the Property is subject to the following conditions of approval (“Stipulations”):

1. The Property shall be developed in conformance with the 5th Amended PAD subject to and except as modified by: the conditions/stipulations of approval set forth in Ordinance No. 95-523 (on Lots 1-28), the conditions/stipulations of approval  set forth in Ordinance No. 07-1058 (on Lots 6-13, 15, 18-20 and parts of Lot 21), the conditions/stipulations of approval set forth in Ordinance No. 11-1244 (on Lots 1-4, 5a, 5b, 5c, 11, 15a, 15b, 15c and 16), the stipulations/conditions of approval set forth in Ordinance No. 2021-1510 (on Lot 19), and as further modified by this Ordinance and the stipulations herein. In the event of any conflict between this Ordinance, and the terms of Ordinance No. 95-523 and/or the terms of Ordinance No. 07-1058 and/or Ordinance No. 11-4664 and/or Ordinance No. 2021-1510, the term of this Ordinance shall apply; and,

2. The Use Permit for a Sign recorded with Ordinance No. 17-1361 shall remain in effect unless subsequently modified, amended or terminated; and,
 
3. Except as otherwise provided by any of the conditions and stipulations set forth in Section 4 of this Ordinance, the development of the Property shall be in conformance with the Palm Valley Crossing 5th Amended and Restated Planned Area Development (February 2024) attached hereto as Exhibit D, which is declared a public record and incorporated herein by reference in Section 1 of this Ordinance (the “5th Amended PAD”), including the land uses and development standards contained therein; and,

4. The provisions of the City of Goodyear Zoning Ordinance shall apply to the development of the Property except as modified by the 5th Amended PAD as further modified by any conditions and/or stipulations in this Ordinance or in any of the ordinances described in paragraph 1 of Section 4 of this Ordinance; and

5. The following additional stipulations and conditions of approval apply to the portion of the Property identified in the 5th Amended PAD as Lot 3 as more particularly described in Legal Description and Exhibit for Lot 3 of the Palm Valley PAD” attached as Exhibit C (“Lot 3”), which is declared a public record and incorporated herein by reference in Section 1 of this Ordinance: 
 
A. Approval of the rezoning does not constitute approval of any site plan for development within Lot 3. All future development of Lot 3 will be subject to site plan review and approval by city staff, at which time all elements of site development will be reviewed, including, but not limited to, architecture, landscaping, grading and drainage, lighting, infrastructure, parking, access and circulation; and
 
B. The Property Owner (“Owner”) shall apply to the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) for the extinguishment of the Type 1 Rights appurtenant to Lot 3 and request that any assured water supply credits issued by ADWR as a result of any such extinguishment be credited to the City of Goodyear. Said extinguishment shall occur prior to recordation of the first final plat subdividing all or part of Lot 3 or the issuance of any construction permits for work within the Property, whichever is earlier; and
 
C. The references in this Ordinance and the 5th Amended PAD to specific obligations that are addressed in various Development Regulations, which include but are not limited to, the requirements in the City of Goodyear Engineering Design Standards and Policies Manual (the “EDS&PM”), the City of Goodyear Subdivision Regulations, the City of Goodyear Zoning Ordinance, and Building Codes adopted by the City of Goodyear, does not relieve Owner of complying with all other applicable Development Regulations; and

D. 
The development of Lot 3 shall comply with all applicable requirements in EDS&PM, including but not limited to the requirement requirements for refuse enclosures, which shall be consistent with City of Goodyear Standard Detail in the EDS&PM G-3164-1 – Double Refuse Enclosure.

E. All existing above ground utilities, except for electric lines that are 69kV or larger, located within and adjacent to the Property, including but not limited to, cable and electrical utilities, shall be placed underground at no cost to the City.  Unless modified by a written phasing plan approved by the City Engineer or his/her designee or by a development agreement approved by the Goodyear City Council, the undergrounding of the utilities required herein shall be completed prior to the issuance of the first Certificate of Completion, Temporary Certificate of Occupancy or Certificate of Occupancy for any structure within the Property; and

F. 
A landscape buffer of at least 10-feet wide shall be installed along the entire east and west property lines as required in Ordinance 11-4664. Trees and shrubs shall be installed based on the standards indicated in the City of Goodyear Zoning Ordinance.

G. 
All Public Sales Reports for the Property, all final plats and minor land divisions subdividing all or part of the Property shall include the following disclosures:
 
i. The Property is subject to attendant noise, vibrations, dust, and all other effects that may be caused by overflight and by the operation of aircraft landing at or taking off from Luke Air Force Base and or the Phoenix-Goodyear Airport; and

ii. All final plats and minor land divisions subdividing all or part of the Property and all site plans for development within the Property shall include notes setting forth the foregoing requirements.

FISCAL IMPACT:

Although a fiscal impact analysis has not been conducted on this specific project, all new development will have an ongoing fiscal impact on the city. The development is responsible for construction of all infrastructure necessary to serve the site and will generate one-time revenue for the city through payment of permits, construction sales tax and development impact fees. Longer term fiscal impacts include increased demands for municipal services, the costs of which may or may not be offset by increased property values/tax levies, city sales tax, state shared revenues and the increased demand for commercial and retail development. Any areas that will be maintained by the city are to be constructed by the developer and then conveyed to the city two years after construction.

BACKGROUND AND PREVIOUS ACTIONS:

This property was originally rezoned Planned Area Development (PAD) in 1995 when Council adopted Ordinance 95-523.  At the time, the property was known as the Palm Valley Metroplex but is currently known as Palm Valley Crossing.  Since the adoption of the PAD zoning in 1995, the PAD zoning has been repeatedly amended. 

On November 22, 2004, the City Council, adopted Ordinance No. 04-924 which Amended the PAD to allow the development of Palm Gate Storage (located on Van Buren Road west of Litchfield Road); this amendment effectively removed this property from the Palm Valley Crossing PAD.

On December 14, 2008, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2008-1153 rezoning the remaining portions of the property within the Palm Valley Crossing PAD located south and west of Litchfield Road and Auto Drive to the PAD zoning district to be developed in accordance with the Goodyear Palms Plaza Final PAD, thereby removing this property from the Palm Valley Crossing PAD.

On February 2, 2007, the City Council Adopted Ordinance No. 07-1058 which modified standards on Lots 6-13, 15, 18-20 and parts of Lot 21 and created an Amended Palm Valley Crossing PAD booklet for those lots.

WHEREAS, the remaining portion s of the property within the Palm Valley Crossing PAD located south and west of Litchfield Road and Auto Drive were removed from the Palm Valley Crossing PAD by Ordinance 2008-1153 adopted by Council on December 14, 2008, which rezoned this property to the PAD zoning district and adopted the with the Goodyear Palms Plaza Final PAD; and

On July 11, 2011, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 11-1244 which modified standards on Lots 1-4, 5a, 5b, 5c, 11, 15a, 15b, 15c and 16 and created a 2nd Amended PAD booklet for those lots. In the 2011 Amendment, uses were called out very specifically for the individual parcels. Lot 3, which is the subject of the requested rezone, was identified as an Automotive Related Commerce (ARC/C-2) use.

On July 19, 2021, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2021-1510 which modified standards on Lot 19 to allow the added use of an indoor shooting range on Lot 19 but did not amend the PAD booklet applicable to that lot.

STAFF ANALYSIS

Current Policy:
A request to amend an approved PAD must be processed as a rezoning request, which requires public review by the Planning and Zoning Commission and public review and approval by the City Council. The proposed amendment must be consistent with the General Plan and should not adversely impact the surrounding area.
 
Details of the Request:
The purpose of the proposed rezoning is to amend and restate the Palm Valley Crossing Planned Area Development to incorporate the various PAD amendments adopted by Council into one document, to modify the zoning designation of Lot 3 in the Planned Area Development from Automotive Related Commercial and General Commercial (ARC/C-2) to Automotive Related Commercial and General Commercial and Service Commercial/Commerce (ARC/C-2 and SC), and to resolve inconsistencies created by the prior  adoption of land use maps that referred to portions of the property to be developed for commercial uses as Regional Shopping Center and Retail and the lack of development standards for such uses by amending the land use map to identify all of those lots as C-2 (General Commercial) allowing all uses permitted in C-1 (Neighborhood Commercial) and C-2 (General Commercial) to be developed on the lots identified as C-2 subject to the development standards applicable to the C-2 (General Commercial) zoning district in the City of Goodyear Zoning Ordinance.

The applicant is not requesting any deviations from the established standards included in the Palm Valley Crossing Planned Area Development, Amendment 2 (Ordinance 11-4664), which are included in the Palm Valley Crossing 5th Amended and Restated Planned Area Development dated February 24, 2024. 

Evaluation Criteria:
Per the city of Goodyear Zoning Ordinance, the city’s review and recommendation on a zoning amendment is to be guided by the following criteria:
1. Consistency with the General Plan
The subject property is located within the Business & Commerce land use category of the city’s 2025 General Plan. This category is intended to provide areas for the growth and development of Goodyear’s economic base, including large areas for shopping and entertainment that are regionally significant (typically serving a trade area of 5?10 miles or larger). Business & Commerce does also include uses such as business parks, offices, warehouses, high density residential that supports the area, and other light industrial uses that are also appropriate, in certain areas.  This rezoning sought within this PAD Amendment would permit uses that are consistent with the General Plan Business & Commerce land use category.

2. Suitability of the subject property’s physical and natural features for the uses permitted under the proposed zoning district.
The Site is generally flat with no physical or natural features that would hinder the development of the proposed project.

3. Compatibility of all potential uses allowed in the proposed zoning district with surrounding uses and zoning.
Uses and development surrounding the subject property include:
· North – I-10 freeway and the Palm Valley Crossing freeway monument sign.
· West - Service King and Trek Bicycle buildings.  Both parcels are designated as PAD/ARC-C-2 (Automotive Related Uses and C-2 General Commercial Uses).
· East – Ride Now Power Sports, developed as an Automated Related Commercial (ARC/C-2) use.
· South – Yates Buick GMS as well as a vacant undeveloped parcel of land. Both of those parcels are designated as PAD/ARC/SC (Automotive Related Uses and Service Commerce).  These parcels share the same uses (SC) as is being requested by this application.

4. Proposed zoning district’s consistency with other land uses within the immediate area and whether uses allowed under the proposed zoning district would be better suited to the subject property than the uses allowed under the current zoning.
Luke Air Force Base:
The property does not fall within the Luke Air Force Base Accident Potential Zone or the DNL. However, the subject property is located within the vicinity of a military airport. Given the location of the property and the proposed zoning, base operations will not be adversely impacted by this development.

Phoenix-Goodyear Airport:
The Palm Valley Crossing PAD falls partially within the Phoenix-Goodyear Airport 60 DNL.
5. Demand for the types of uses permitted in the proposed zoning district in relation to the amount of land currently zoned and available to accommodate the demand.
The Applicant has indicated there is market demand and user demand for light industrial and employment center users that would benefit from this PAD Amendment.

6. Demands for public services will be identified and further reviewed during site plan and construction plan review process. The property owner/developer will need to demonstrate public services are available to serve the Property at the time of development. However, preliminary findings on the availability of public services are provided in the following sections.

School Districts:
The subject property is located within the Avondale Elementary School District and the Agua Fria Union High School District. Due to the non-residential nature of the land use, the school district should not be impacted from a student enrollment standpoint.

Fire Response:
Emergency response times and distances are provided below:
Nearest Goodyear Fire Station Shortest path 2nd Nearest Goodyear Fire Station Shortest path
Mins Miles Mins Miles
Fire Station #181 2.47 1.24 Fire Station #183 9.67 4.84










Police Response:
The proposed development is located within an existing police patrol beat and the current level of service within the beat can accommodate the development of the property.

Streets/Transportation:
Lot 3 will be accessed from W. Test Drive. An existing signal exists at the intersection of Litchfield Road and Test Drive which is approximately 600 feet west of the lot.
 
Water/Wastewater:
The subject property is located within the City of Goodyear water and wastewater service area.  

7. Potential adverse fiscal impacts that will result from providing services to areas not in proximity to where existing public services are provided.
The developer will be responsible for extending service infrastructure needed to support the property and will pay their proportionate share of impact fees for regional growth.

8. General public concerns.
Public Participation:
An alternative notification process was used for this rezoning. A formal citizen review meeting was not held, but notice providing information on the rezone was mailed to property owners within 500 feet of the subject property and other stakeholders on January 5, 2024. There was no objection to the rezone received.
A public notice that this rezoning request would be considered and reviewed at a public hearing to be held before the Planning and Zoning Commission on February 14, 2024 appeared in the Arizona Republic Southwest Valley Edition January 26, 2024; postcards were mailed to adjoining owners on January 19, 2024; and a sign was posted on the site on January 26, 2024.

9. Whether the amendment promotes orderly growth and development.
The subject property is within a quarter mile of existing development and located within the proximity of City services and infrastructure. 

10. Any other factors related to the impact of the amendment on the general health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the city and the general public.
The proposed development will rezone one of the few remaining vacant pieces of Palm Valley Crossing into a light industrial development that will create additional employment opportunities within the city.  The site is just south of Interstate-10 (Papago Freeway) and just east of Litchfield Road along a major transportation corridor between Phoenix and Los Angeles.

Attachments