A rezoning request requires public review and vote by the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council. The proposed rezoning must be in conformance with the General Plan and should not adversely impact the surrounding area.  As set forth below, the proposed zoning is both consistent with the General Plan and will not adversely impact the surrounding area.

The applicant is requesting a zoning change from the current Planned Area Development (PAD) to a PAD Zoning District with an underlying zoning district of MF-12 with a PAD Overlay to facilitate the development of a multi-family development under the existing city of Goodyear Zoning District. An MF-12 Zoning District shall be developed under the Multi-Family and MF-12 Design Guidelines as outlined in the Goodyear Design Guidelines.

The use of a PAD Overlay is justified as the current development standards for the MF-12 Zoning District do not address some of the unique circumstances found adjacent to this multi-family development. There are unique property characteristics such as:
· Adjacency to the Arizona State Route 303 Loop
· The presence of a large open space area between this site and the adjacent single-family development
· Adjacency to a developed and established master planned community
· A planned Canyon Trails Cotton Lane greenbelt trail which will continue through this property (as it ultimately connects from the Roosevelt Irrigation District on the north to Lower Buckeye Road on the south)
· Required Design enhancements for the two-story townhouse style multi-family product.

The proposed PAD overlay will modify the MF-12 Development Standards as follows:

Height:

The Goodyear Zoning Ordinance sets forth the standard for building height within the MF-12 zoning district. Within the MF-12 zoning district, a maximum building height of 25 feet is permitted. Additionally, parapet walls or cornices may extend to five (5) feet above the maximum building height allowed. The proposed modification requests the following: “Parapet walls, cornices, pitched/gable roofs may extend to five (5) feet above the maximum building height limit to provide required screening of mechanical equipment from street view and to add visual architectural enhancements and roof variation;”

Under this modification, pitched/gable roofs will also be allowed to extend five (5) feet above the maximum building height limit. This allowance will accommodate higher ceiling heights, accommodate first floor garages under each unit and allow pitched roofs. Typically, a pitched roof would be considered as a part of the 25 feet of allowable height for a building whereas a parapet would not be considered within the 25 feet of height allowed within the building. This modification allows a pitched roof to be treated similarly to a parapet when considering the height of the building.

The visual impact of the proposed exception (i.e., increase in height) will have minimal impact on the streetscape.  There is a large buffer along the east side of the property in the form of an approximately 100-foot wide greenbelt. The proposed modification is further justified by the fact that the proposed height of buildings on the Property with a pitched/gable roof (30 feet) is equal to the maximum building height of 30 feet for single family residences and is far less than the maximum building height of 56 feet allowed under the current zoning (commercial). 

The proposed Building Height Amendment does not increase the number of units allowed or density that is otherwise permitted on the Property within the MF-12 zoning district.

Setbacks:

Reduced perimeter building setbacks have been requested on the rear side (North) only. A 30-foot building setback would normally be required along this border.  The applicant has requested a reduction in the setback along the northern boundary of the Property. Given that the northern boundary of the property is directly adjacent to land similarly zoned MF-12, the reduction in setback to the requested 20 foot minimum would appear to pose no issues on the nearby properties. Additionally, the property owner will increase the setback along Cotton Lane (the Arizona State Route 303 Loop) Frontage Road to 30 feet and provide for the Cotton Lane Trail. The Property owner is required to provide screening walls along the western portion of the property adjacent to area of the RID property and the setback in this location shall be 20 feet.

Building Separation:

All MF-12 perimeter units would normally require a 15-foot building separation. The minimum building separation between buildings fronting the northern property line and fronting the portion of the western property line shared with property owned by Roosevelt Irrigation District (RID) is being reduced from 15 feet to 10 feet.  In the event of lot split causes the parcel to be split north-to-south into two separate lots, all buildings adjacent to the interior boundary line created by the lot split shall be considered interior lot lines and the minimum building separation between buildings fronting these interior lot lines is being reduced from 15 feet to 10 feet. 

The Property is zoned Multi-family (MF-12) Zoning District with a PAD Overlay.  The terms of the PAD Overlay are set forth as stipulations in the rezoning ordinance.  A description of the modifications to otherwise applicable development standards is set forth below, which includes enhancements offered in support of the PAD Overlay:
 

(the “Cotton Lane Trail”)

 

Subject to the City Council adopting a Land Use Category of Neighborhoods, as requested with the companion application which was approved for a Minor General Plan Amendment, a rezone of this property from a Planned Area Development with Commercial uses to a multi-family residential use would continue to align with the General Plan.

The subject property is relatively flat and devoid of any topography that would hinder development such as washes, hillsides, natural features that may be worthy of preservation, existing protected wildlife, and existence of high voltage power lines or other utilities.   Having been recently farmed, there are existing irrigation canals that will be either abandoned and removed or placed in underground piping.

Current and future uses and development of the properties surrounding the subject property include:

North – Vacant property zoned residential (MF-12);
South – Vacant property zoned residential (MF-24);
East – Canyon Trails greenbelt and Canyon Trails single-family residential and condominium/townhouse-style (PAD);
West – Arizona State Route 303 Loop and Roosevelt Irrigation District Facility;

The property has limited access with a single right-in/right-out driveway along Van Buren Street and a single right-in/right-out driveway along Cotton Lane which serves as a northbound freeway frontage road.  There are other vacant parcels in the immediate area that are better situated to serve as locations for retail, services, and offices to provide for the surrounding neighborhoods.

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 the proposed zoning, base operations will not be adversely impacted by this development.

Phoenix-Goodyear Airport:

The property does not fall within the Phoenix-Goodyear Airport DNL.

Demand in Goodyear is very high for quality rentals especially such as that proposed with close access to the freeway network. Given that it is a new zoning category, it is unlikely there is existing vacant land in the area already zoned for this use.   As noted previously the property is currently zoned for commercial with other properties already in the area, with better vehicular access, to accommodate that demand.

School Districts:

The subject property is located within the Avondale Elementary School District and the Agua Fria Union High School District. Both school districts have been notified of the rezoning request.

Fire Response:

Emergency response times and distances are provided below:

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:

The Engineering Department has created stipulations to address traffic issues caused by the development of this property. Those stipulations address traffic signals, roadway construction and access to needed and adjacent streets.

Water/Wastewater:

The subject property will be served by city of Goodyear water and wastewater utilities.

The proposed rezoning is within proximity to existing public services. The property owner and/or developer will be responsible for the costs of making the necessary connections to these existing services.

Public Participation, Public Comment and Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting:

An in-person neighborhood meeting was conducted for this proposal on March 29, 2022. Notice of the neighborhood meeting was sent to property owners within 500 feet of the property to provide ample opportunity for input prior to noticing the public hearing itself, those notices were mailed on March 12, 2022; a sign advertising the neighborhood meeting was posted to the site on March 14, 2022. During the neighborhood meeting, residents asked questions about traffic, building heights, access to the adjacent freeways and recent growth in the area. No formal opposition has since been 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 May 11, 2022 appeared in the Arizona Republic Southwest Valley Edition April 22, 2022; postcards were mailed to adjoining owners on April 16, 2022; and the sign(s) on the site were updated on April 21, 2022 to notify residents of the scheduled public hearings.

At the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting the Northeast Corner of Cotton Lane and Van Buren Street Minor General Plan Amendment and this rezoning case were presented under one presentation.  Two residents spoke in opposition to the General Plan Amendment and this proposed rezoning case. The two speakers live in the same household and were from the adjacent Canyon Trails community. They both expressed concerns with a potential loss of property values and economic impact, safety, parking, traffic, lighting, setbacks from the adjacent developments and the amount of rentals within Canyon Trails.

After public discussion, and a vote on the Minor General Plan Amendment, the Commission voted (6-0) to recommend approval of the proposed rezoning and stipulations, as reflected within the attached Ordinance.
 

The subject property is within a quarter mile of existing development and located within the proximity of City services and infrastructure. 

The subject property is a short distance from the Loop 303 freeway and this proximity brings with it the potential for negative impacts due to noise from freeway traffic.  Pursuant to the Zoning Ordinance requirements, a Noise Study has been prepared and submitted as part of this application. 

Results of the study have concluded that an 8-foot tall noise wall along the western perimeter will have the effect of reducing exterior noise levels by 1 to 6 dBA and all modeled receivers would be equal to or less than the 64dBA standard specified in the Zoning Ordinance.  Dwelling construction methods will further reduce potential noise impacts from the freeway and nearby Luke Air Force Base.

As of the writing of this narrative, there have been no other unique factors identified at the pre-application meeting or as part of the first review of the rezoning application.