To obtain a Use Permit or Special Use Permit an applicant may incur an additional four-to-six-month processing time, prior to Site Plan approval, and the application must follow the Public Hearing process.

Pursuant to Section 4-1-2 of the Zoning Ordinance (Special Uses Considered in Any District) and 4-1-3 of the Zoning Ordinance (Special Uses Considered in Specified Districts), ‘Mini storage and recreational vehicle storage facilities’ may be considered in Commercial Districts (and Industrial Districts) with a Special Use Permit.

A Special Use Permit requires review by the Planning and Zoning Commission and approval by City Council following required public hearings. The process for the review of a Special Use Permit is set forth in section 1-3-4 of the Goodyear Zoning Ordinance and in the City of Goodyear Administrative Process Manual.

Pursuant to Section 3-3 (Commercial Districts) and 4-2-2 of the Zoning Ordinance (Convenience Use), 3-3 of the Zoning Ordinance (Service Stations, Automotive) gas stations and convenience stores are considered in C-1 (Neighborhood Commercial) and C-2 (General Commercial) zoning districts with a Use Permit.

A Use Permit requires review by the Planning and Zoning Commission and approval by the City Council following required public hearings. The process for the review of a Use Permit is set forth in section 1-3-2 of the Goodyear Zoning Ordinance and in the City of Goodyear Administrative Process Manual.

This request for text amendment is to modify certain definitions and standards related to mini-storage facilities, automotive repair facilities, gas stations and convenience uses. Briefly summaries, the proposed text amendment includes the revisions to the following provisions in the Goodyear Zoning Ordinance for the purposes described: 

If approved by Council, the ZOTA would result in an approximately four-to-six-month reduction of time to approve impacted development projects. Our partners in the development community would realize time savings in the development process through the creation of criteria for administrative review (staff-level approval within policy framework constraints) without the need for a Use Permit or Special Use Permit, when certain conditions are met. This proposal seeks to create conditions which will remove the need for Public Hearings, for the uses listed within this staff report.

The following is a summary of the changes proposed by the ZOTA, by use type:
          Self-Service Storage Facilities:

         
        Automobile Service Stations (Gas Stations):

Convenience Stores (without drive-through facilities):

For any existing Use Permit or Special Use Permit approved for a the above referenced uses, the property owner would be entitled to give up the Use Permit or Special Use Permit and benefit from the proposed regulation or alternatively, can keep the rights granted by the Use Permit or Special Use Permit and continue to abide by any stipulations imposed as a condition of granting that Use Permit or Special Use Permit.

Evaluation Criteria:

As previously noted, Section 1-3-1 (Amendments) of the Zoning Ordinance provides evaluation criteria for text amendments. The criteria and accompanying staff analysis (italics) are provided below:

A. Documentation indicating inconsistencies in terms of the Ordinance or problems and/or conflicts in implementation of specific sections of the Ordinance that will be resolved by the amendment;

The amendment is intended to streamline the development process. If approved, several months (approximately 4-6 months) of processing time will be removed from the development process which will result in a time and financial savings to the customer. The amendment also provides clarity to residents as to where uses requiring additional evaluation may locate.

B. Whether amendment is needed to respond to changes in the law, statutory or case law;

This text amendment is not being driven by a change in law, statutory or case law; rather this staff-initiated amendment is a proactive response to streamlining the development process.

C. Whether amendment is needed to address zoning and/or development issues or to improve processes for addressing such issues;

With this text amendment, there will be additional certainty for nearby resident and business owners as to what might locate on certain properties within the city, clarity for the development community as to where certain uses may locate by-right.

D. Whether amendment will to promote implementation of goals and objections of the City’s General Plan;

The following 2025 General Plan Goals support the proposed Zoning Ordinance Tex Amendment:

Objective GD?1?1. Establish a land use hierarchy and community form that maintains a broad variety of land uses and responds to the community’s vision and needs.

Objective GD-2-4. Protect community assets from encroachment and incompatible land uses.

Objective CC-1-1. Create and foster complete neighborhoods.

Objective CC-1-3. Foster the creation and maintenance of attractive, high quality neighborhoods.

E. Any other factors related to the impact of the amendment on the general health, safety or welfare of the citizens of the City and the general public.

The text amendment should not have any adverse impacts on the general health, safety or welfare of citizens or the general public. The proposed text amendment provides clarity as to where uses requiring additional evaluation should locate.

On March 13, 2024, the Planning and Zoning Commission held a Work Session to discuss the proposed changes requested within a draft proposal for a Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment and provided city staff with feedback.

On March 18, 2024, the City Council held a Work Session to discuss the proposed changes requested within this Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment and provided city staff with additional feedback and recommendations for the creation of a proposed Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment.

This Zoning Ordinance text amendment requires public hearings before the Planning & Zoning Commission and City Council. Notice for these public hearings included a full-size legal notice published in the Arizona Republic on March 29, 2024. Information on this text amendment was also posted to the current development applications section of the city’s website and distributed to members of the Goodyear Development Advisory Forum on March 27, 2024.