Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDApacket__03-26-25_0505_705       NOTICE OF MEETING REGULAR MEETING STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION      Chairman Patrick Garman  Vice Chairman Geoff Yazzetta Commissioner Randy Crader Commissioner Bernie Hoenle Commissioner Nick Proctor Commissioner Joseph Reyes Commissioner Paul Smith    TIME:4:00 P.M. – REGULAR MEETING WHEN:WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2025 WHERE:FOUNTAIN HILLS COUNCIL CHAMBERS 16705 E. AVENUE OF THE FOUNTAINS, FOUNTAIN HILLS, AZ Commissioners of the Town of Fountain Hills will attend either in person or by telephone conference call; a quorum of the Town’s Council,  various Commission, Committee or Board members may be in attendance at the Commission meeting. Notice is hereby given that pursuant to A.R.S. §1-602.A.9, subject to certain specified statutory exceptions, parents have a right to consent before the State or any of its political subdivisions make a video or audio recording of a minor child. Meetings of the Commission are audio and/or video recorded and, as a result, proceedings in which children are present may be subject to such recording. Parents, in order to exercise their rights may either file written consent with the Town Clerk to such recording, or take personal action to ensure that their child or children are not present when a recording may be made. If a child is present at the time a recording is made, the Town will assume that the rights afforded parents pursuant to A.R.S. §1-602.A.9 have been waived.    REQUEST TO COMMENT   The public is welcome to participate in Commission meetings. TO SPEAK TO AN AGENDA ITEM, please complete a Request to Comment card, located in the back of the Council Chambers, and hand it to the Executive Assistant prior to discussion of that item, if possible. Include the agenda item on which you wish to comment. Speakers will be allowed three contiguous minutes to address the Commission. Verbal comments should be directed through the Presiding Officer and not to individual Commissioners. TO COMMENT ON AN AGENDA ITEM IN WRITING ONLY, please complete a Request to Comment card, indicating it is a written comment, and check the box on whether you are FOR or AGAINST and agenda item, and hand it to the Executive Assistant prior to discussion, if possible.   Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Meeting of March 26, 2025 1 of 3            1.CALL TO ORDER – Chairman Garman     2.ROLL CALL – Chairman Garman     3.CALL TO THE PUBLIC Pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.01(H), public comment is permitted (not required) on matters NOT listed on the agenda. Any such comment (i) must be within the jurisdiction of the Commission, and (ii) is subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions. The Commission will not discuss or take legal action on matters raised during Call to the Public unless the matters are properly noticed for discussion and legal action. At the conclusion of the Call to the Public, individual commissioners may (i) respond to criticism, (ii) ask staff to review a matter, or (iii) ask that the matter be placed on a future Commission agenda.     4.REPORTS BY COMMISSIONERS AND TOWN MANAGER     5.CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approval of the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of February 19, 2025.     6.DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Land Use Pillar Strategy of Future Strategic Plan with John Wesley, Development Services Director.     7.UPDATE: Commission Workgroups     8.DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Future Agenda Topics.    9.COMMENTS FROM THE CHAIRMAN     10.NEXT MEETING DATE: Wednesday, April 23, 2025.    11.ADJOURNMENT         Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Meeting of March 26, 2025 2 of 3     Dated this 11 day of  March, 2025. _____________________________________________  Angela Padgett-Espiritu, Executive Assistant   The Town of Fountain Hills endeavors to make all public meetings accessible to persons with disabilities. Please call 480-816-5199 (voice) or 1-800-367-8939 (TDD) 48 hours prior to the meeting to request a reasonable accommodation to participate in the meeting or to obtain agenda information in large print format. Supporting documentation and staff reports furnished the Commission with this agenda are available for review in the Town Manager's Office. Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Meeting of March 26, 2025 3 of 3   ITEM 4. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT    Meeting Date: 03/26/2025 Meeting Type: Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Agenda Type:                   Submitting Department: Administration Prepared by: Angela Padgett-Espiritu, Town Clerk Staff Contact Information: Request to Strategic Planning Advisory Commission (Agenda Language):  REPORTS BY COMMISSIONERS AND TOWN MANAGER Staff Summary (Background) Form Review Form Started By: Angela Padgett-Espiritu Started On: 02/19/2025 04:35 PM Final Approval Date: 02/19/2025  ITEM 5. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT    Meeting Date: 03/26/2025 Meeting Type: Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Agenda Type:                   Submitting Department: Administration Prepared by: Angela Padgett-Espiritu, Town Clerk Staff Contact Information: Request to Strategic Planning Advisory Commission (Agenda Language):  CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approval of the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of February 19, 2025. Staff Summary (Background) The intent of approving meeting minutes is to ensure an accurate account of the discussion and action that took place at the meeting for archival purposes. Approved minutes are placed on the town's website and maintained as permanent records in compliance with state law.   Staff Recommendation(s) Staff recommends approving the minutes of the regular meeting on February 19, 2025. SUGGESTED MOTION MOVE to approve the minutes of the regular meeting on February 19, 2025. Attachments SUMMARY MINUTES AND VERBATIM TRANSCRIPT  Form Review Form Started By: Angela Padgett-Espiritu Started On: 02/19/2025 04:35 PM Final Approval Date: 02/19/2025  TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION February 19, 2025 A Regular Meeting of the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission was convened at 16705 E. Avenue of the Fountains in an open and public session at 4:00 PM Members Present: Chairman Patrick Garman; Vice Chairman Geoff Yazzetta; Commissioner Joseph Reyes; Commission Bernie Hoenle; Commissioner Paul Smith; Commissioner Randy Crader Staff Present: Town Manager Rachael Goodwin; Executive Administrative Assistant Angela Padgett-Espiritu; Economic Development Director Amanda Jacobs; Development Services Director John Wesley TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS SUMMARY MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION February 19, 2025 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Patrick Garman called to order the meeting of the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission at 4:00 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL Members Present: Chairman Patrick Garman; Vice Chairman Geoff Yazzetta; Commissioner Randy Crader; Commissioner Bernie Hoenle; Commissioner Joseph Reyes; Commissioner Paul Smith Members Absent: none Staff Present: Town Manager Rachael Goodwin; Executive Assistant Angela Padgett- Espiritu; Economic Development Director Amanda Jacobs; Development Services Director John Wesley 3. CALL TO THE PUBLIC No one from the public spoke. 4. REPORTS BY COMMISSIONERS AND TOWN MANAGER • Commissioner Reyes: o Attended the State of the Town event, found it informative, and praised Town Manager Goodwin’s role in the event. • Vice Chair Yazzetta: o Attended the State of the Town, highlighted progress on the Dark Sky Discovery Center, with a soft opening expected late summer or early fall. • Commissioner Smith: No updates. • Commissioner Crader: No updates. • Town Manager Goodwin: o Busy with budget planning and working with the new council. o State of the Town event was successful, Mayor Friedel’s first. o Renegotiated MCSO contract, saving a little over $300K • Commissioner Hoenle: No updates. 5. CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Approval of the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of January 15, 2025. MOVED BY Commissioner Paul Smith APPROVE the Minutes of January 15, 2025, Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Meeting, SECONDED BY Commissioner Joseph Reyes. Vote: 6–0 | motion passed unanimously 6. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Economic Pillar Strategy of Future Strategic Plan with Amanda Jacobs, Economic Development Director. Key Takeaways from Fountain Hills Economic Development Discussion: • Rigid zoning regulations deter new businesses due to long approval processes. • A downtown overlay district is being developed to encourage entertainment businesses. • Shea Corridor and Palisades offer opportunities for business growth. • The State Trust Land (2+ square miles) could support a planned community but requires a major investor. • Reputation issue: Fountain Hills is seen as difficult for business approvals. • Multiple property owners in Plat 208 create challenges for coordinated redevelopment. • High housing costs ($1.2M median) limit workforce retention. • Most employers are service-based, limiting economic growth. • Downtown revitalization: Focus on attracting restaurants, retail, and entertainment. • Economic diversification: Potential to attract bioscience, assembly, and tech industries. • Capitalizing on outdoor activities, arts, and Dark Sky initiatives. • Addressing misconceptions about seasonal departures (actual 11-18%). • No property tax limits revenue; sales tax adjustments may be needed. • Strategic business recruitment is critical to balancing growth with community values. • Encouraging development while preserving Fountain Hills’ identity. 7. UPDATE: Commission Workgroups • Workshop Dates & Location: o Saturday, March 15th: 10 a.m. – 12 noon o Wednesday, March 19th: 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. o Both events will be held in the ballroom at the community center. • Purpose & Goals: o Gather community feedback and engage snowbirds before they leave for the season. o Open forum format, similar to last April’s event. o Attendance goal: Increase turnout from last year (40 attendees) to 50 participants per event. • Outreach & Promotion: o Event flyer is being developed by Mike Pelton for marketing. o All members are encouraged to personally invite community members to maximize attendance. • Planning & Support: o Subcommittee: Commissioner Crader and Commissioner Reyes will coordinate event specifics with Vice Chair Yazzetta. o Volunteers are welcome—members are encouraged to attend and assist. 8. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Future Agenda Topics. For the next meeting, the group considered Infrastructure and Land Use as key topics. Infrastructure aligns with the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) review on March 25, while Land Use ties closely to economic development. Quality of Life was postponed due to staffing constraints. Chair Garman and Town Manager Goodwin will finalize the topic, ensuring all key areas are covered in future meetings. 9. COMMENTS FROM THE CHAIRMAN Chair Garman confirmed that all five strategic pillars will be covered this spring, leading to a June workshop where key topics will be organized into a draft plan. Each pillar will have four to five broad topics, and after the June meeting, the group will adjourn for the summer. The next phase of planning will resume in the fall to refine the strategy further. 10. NEXT MEETING DATE: Wednesday, March 26, 2025. 11. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Patrick Garman adjourned the meeting of the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission at 5:19 PM MOVED BY Vice Chair Geoff Yazzetta to ADJOURN the Meeting of February 19, 2025, Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Meeting, SECONDED BY Commissioner Randy Crader CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 1 of 34 Post-Production File City of Fountain Hills Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Meeting February 19, 2025 Transcription Provided By: eScribers, LLC * * * * * Transcription is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. * * * * * CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 2 of 34 CHAIR GARMAN: All right. I'm calling to order this meeting of the town of Fountain Hills Strategic Planning Advisory Commission for February 19th, 2025. Angela, could you do the roll call for us? MS. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Yes. Thank you, Chair. Chair Garman? CHAIR GARMAN: Here. MS. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Vice chair Yazzetta? MR. YAZZETTA: Here. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Commissioner Crader? MR. CRADER: Here. MS. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Commissioner Hoenle? Commissioner Reyes? MR. REYES: Here. MS. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Commissioner Smith? MR. SMITH: Here. MS. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: We have a quorum. CHAIR GARMAN: We have a quorum. Thank you. Any cards or any emails from the public? MS. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: No, there is not. CHAIR GARMAN: I don't see any anybody out here either. All right. So then we're going to move on to agenda item four, which is reports by commissioners and the town manager. So I'm going to start all the way to the left, if I could. MR. REYES: Very short report. A lot of activities, but my favorite is I got to attend the town -- what is it called? Meeting of the state -- state of the town? Yeah. And that was very, very informative. There was a really nice -- if you haven't seen the video in there, Rachael's in it and she was outstanding. Went through a lot of the key departments and what they did. No, well done, well done. It really was very well orchestrated, very informative, took a lot of notes and useful information. That's it. Thank you. CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 3 of 34 CHAIR GARMAN: Okay. Geoff? MR. YAZZATTA: I too attended the state of the town. Great event for Racheal, Amanda, John. Yeah, excellent work. And a lot of things to look forward to in this town. One of the things that was mentioned was the Dark Sky Discovery Center. We've had the observatory and planetarium domes placed in the last six weeks. Progress is moving right along, and we're anticipating a late summer or early fall soft open. So stay tuned. That's all I got. Thank you. CHAIR GARMAN: I'll give Bernie time to sit down. Paul? Nothing? Randy? MR. CRADER: Nothing. Nothing new to report. Thanks. CHAIR GARMAN: Rachael, anything for the -- MS. GOODWIN: It's just been busy. There's been a lot going on. It's budget season for us. There's a lot, you know, our new counsel's seated. So we're navigating that new process and kind of reviewing some of our current policies, things like that. So it has been busy to say the least. The state of the town, I'm glad that you guys were able to make it. The state of the town went very, very well. It was very exciting, especially as Mayor Friedel's first state of the town. So that was a super exciting. And then we've attended a couple of others across the valley. We had a couple other dignitaries here. If you haven't heard, we recently were able to renegotiate the MCSO contract. That resulted in a little over $300,000 in savings to the town on that contract cost, which is a big savings. So that was a -- that was a big win, as well. So budget's really been our focus and remains so probably for the next two -- couple of months. CHAIR GARMAN: How long is the contract for? MS. GOODWIN: The contract was renewed, I want to say, last year. So I want to say it's got a five-year lifespan on it. I don't want to be quoted on that because I don't remember off the top of my head. But it's -- I want to say it's a five-year contract that has renewables. Each year the contract cost is projected and sent to us on behalf of MCSO. So every February we get that projected cost. Never have I seen it gone down. Best case scenario is it stays in a low single-digit number. You know, it goes up by three percent. It goes up by two percent. Never have I seen it gone down before in my time CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 4 of 34 here. So that is a big difference to not only stay status quo, but much less go down in that cost. CHAIR GARMAN: All right. Bernie, best for last. MR. HOENLE: Apologize. Too many meetings today. Did you go over and approve the minutes? CHAIR GARMAN: Not yet. No. MR. HOENLE: Okay. CHAIR GARMAN: That's next. MR. HOENLE: That's it. I'll just do that. CHAIR GARMAN: Yeah. I didn't know if you had any updates or anything from the school or anything. MR. HOENLE: Nothing new. CHAIR GARMAN: Okay. All right. And I'll save my comments or observations for later on just to keep the meeting moving forward. So we're going to go down to agenda item five, which is consideration and possible action, which is the possible approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of the January 15th, 2025, meeting. So before we get into a vote, does anybody have any questions or comments about the minutes from last month? Bernie? MR. HOENLE: Okay. One comment. It was stated that the school property was going to be on sale in February. What we're doing is actually selecting the real estate agent to sell the property in February. Okay. CHAIR GARMAN: Thanks. Any other comments? My only comment, Angela, I know I've said this a couple times, but the quick summary of minutes that you do now, it's outstanding. It's awesome. It's just great. And it has historical value, too, so we can look back on that and not just all of our ums and everything when we're doing the verbatim transcript. MS. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: Good. CHAIR GARMAN: Again, thank you very much. I think it's really valuable. So thank you for taking the time to do that. CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 5 of 34 MS. PADGETT-ESPIRITU: You're welcome. I'm glad it helps. CHAIR GARMAN: All right. Okay. I guess I can entertain a motion now. Is there a motion on the table as far as approval of the minutes from last month? MR. SMITH: I'll make a motion to approve. CHAIR GARMAN: All right. There's a motion on the table to approve the minutes. Do I hear a second? MR. REYES: Second. CHAIR GARMAN: Thank you. All right. Any comments, discussion points, or the motion? No. Okay. We'll move on to a vote. All those in favor of approving the minutes with the one edit that Bernie mentioned from the January 15th meeting, say aye. IN UNISON: Aye. CHAIR GARMAN: Any opposed? The aye's have it. It's unanimous. Thank you all very much. Okay. Now we're going to move on to, kind of, the meat of the meeting today, which is agenda item six, which is a discussion -- for discussion and possible action, but it's last year at our workshop in June, we identified five pillars for our upcoming -- our new -- our economic plan -- or excuse me, economic plan -- a strategic plan. One of those pillars, of course, was finance. We talked about that in January. We selected economics for today or economic development. So that's the name of the game for our discussion today. So I want to make sure I'm nudging everybody please join in the discussion today. If you remember our strategic plan, basically three levels, the big pillars, middle ones, strategic initiatives, and then the tasks, kind of, at the bottom. So this year we are in the middle. So broad topics underneath each one of these pillars. So today is the economic pillar for our future strategic plan. So thank you to Amanda and John for coming today. So they are not doing a presentation today. They're actually here to have a discussion with us. We can talk to each other. We can talk to them about what we think are big topics in the area of CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 6 of 34 economics for the town that might help inform us as far as what we might want to put into the strategic plan going forward. So did you have anything you wanted to start off with? I didn't want to jump right into it unless you had any comments that you wanted to make sure. MS. JACOBS: No, Chair Garman. You can go for it. CHAIR GARMAN: Go for it. All right. Thank you. MS. JACOBS: You're welcome. CHAIR GARMAN: All right. So I'll try to be the traffic cop. If there's a lull, I have a list, just like last month, to try to stimulate conversation. Before I jump in, kind of, to my comments, does anybody have, you know, a comment, a topic that they would like to start the meeting off by talking about? Excuse me. Geoff, you're up. MR. YAZZATTA: Hi, Amanda. Very broad topic, but just want to, kind of, get the ball rolling with the discussion here. What are the largest obstacles to economic development in Fountain Hills? And what should we include in the next iteration of the strategic plan that will help you achieve those goals or overcome those obstacles to achieve the goal of economic development? Again, very broad. MS. JACOBS: Very broad but deep. So Mr. Chair, Commissioner Yazzatta, some of the obstacles we're facing, but we're also trying to tackle. One, I would say zoning. So having more flexible zoning. And so we're working on that with development services. And we'll be going before the planning and zoning commission next month. If there's not too many changes, we'll be going to mayor and counsel in April, but specific to our downtown and creating an overlay district. So adding a true entertainment zone -- CHAIR GARMAN: A what district? MS. JACOBS: An overlay -- CHAIR GARMAN: Overlay. Okay. MS. JACOBS: -- district. Yeah, sorry. Sometimes my laryngitis acts up. So if you don't understand, just holler. So one is a true entertainment zone. I don't like to call out specific industries, but again, to paint the picture. But if we're looking at Avenue of the Fountains, when you look at Fearless Kitty and our real estate agents that continue to CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 7 of 34 move on, it's not very entertaining. And so what we're thinking is bars, restaurants, theaters, galleries. I like to tease axe throwing would be nice. So that's what we're hoping for the avenue and parts of Parkview. And then when we're looking at Palisades, we have some nice industry forming there with the health care, but there's definite opportunity to have some light industrial to try to attract assembly or bioscience. So those are some of the obstacles. Two, I would say what I find unique with -- go ahead, Chairman. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Just how does zoning help or hinder what you just explained? When you say more flexible zoning, or do you mean more rigid zoning to define, you know, to -- MS. JACOBS: No, not rigid, not rigid, my friend. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: -- ensure the type of business that goes in? MS. JACOBS: John's coming over. CHAIRMAN GARMAN: Okay. MR. WESLEY: So Chair, Commissioners, good to see you all again. It's been a while since I've gotten to come and speak with you. But we find that at times, because zoning rules can be too rigid, that we have a business come that we want to see in our community. But in order to get them there, they either have to jump through some hoops -- special use permits or whatever it may be -- or just aren't allowed, even though what we want in the area. And so we're looking at ways to provide, as Amanda said, that flexibility so that we can more easily say yes to those things we want while still not being quite so encouraging to the things we don't particularly want. And so I guess along that line, time is money, right? And so if somebody is having to wait to go through some type of approval process that takes five or six months and there's still a possibility of a no at the end, that can be a deterrent. MS. JACOBS: And then so to expand on that and again, looking at the Palisades area, we had a couple of interested tenants who leaned towards assembly or bioscience. And there's not space available. So if I pull in John to attend the meeting and we're talking with the site selector or owner to say, okay, what percentage is an administrative CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 8 of 34 office? What percentage is storage? What percentage is maybe light manufacturing? Some of that can trigger, oh, this is more industrial and right now it's not zoned industrial. So one, we're missing out on opportunities or two, folks find it a bit scary to go through our rezoning process. So right. They have to rely on a seven-member planning and zoning commission and then a seven-member town counsel. And I shared this with one of our newer elected officials and the person was, like, wow, I never thought about it that way. That 14 individuals -- or as you guys are trying to put together our strategic plan -- you guys are helping shape the future of Fountain Hills. So it's a heavy weight, but how can we work collaboratively? That's one of the obstacles. A second obstacle is, and what I find unique in Fountain Hills is the plat 208. That's part of the downtown district. And when we look over at Glenbrook, there are so many owners. There's not one property owner. So to try to get 10 or 20 or 100 people to change something is difficult. And sometimes people don't want to change, right. Change is a scary word. Those are a couple of obstacles. I'll also say, and some of you are used to my frankness, if it's a shock to some of the newer folks, my apologies. But our brand at times is folks feel like we're difficult. Or again, when it comes to rezoning and something new, that we don't have that level of support from the community, and so people are afraid. And John and I have had several conversations with people who are wanting to come here or existing property owners, where they've gone through the process once and was able to stomach it, but a little bit hesitant to go through the process again because sometimes the feedback from the community is not nice. And then as John said, time is money. So putting together plans, going through the process to get to planning and zoning or counsel and then to be told, no, you could have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. So those are some of the big obstacles. Commissioner Yazzatta, let me know if there is something else you had added to that question. MR. YAZZATTA: No, that was a great overview, I appreciate it. A follow-up question is with the overlay districts, are there any other communities in the Maricopa region that CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 9 of 34 have recently implemented an overlay district? And I guess that's more a question for John, isn't it? But how have they fared with that? Has there been a noticeable increase in commerce in those areas? MR. WESLEY: So chair, vice chair, so my experience is maybe somewhat limited, but it was fairly significant. And it comes from my time in Mesa where we did adopt what was known as the Elliott Road Tech Corridor overlay. And it's an area that had a variety of zones on it to begin with, generally along the industrial line, but there are several things there. And it allowed for again, kind of, a variety of things, some of which we wanted and some of which we didn't, but still included some fairly extensive processes to go through to develop just based on that base zoning. And we adopted that overlay. And in that case -- hopefully this isn't too technical. We adopted it as a floating overlay. And so it wasn't directly applied to land. Individual property owners, though, at any time could opt in to it. So it'd just a matter of them signing a form saying, yes, I want this zoning district on my land because it's already been through all the public hearing process and approved by counsel. And when they did that, it came -- what came with it was a set of design guidelines and standards. And so as long as they were willing to opt in to that zone, develop to those standards, they weren't going back to any public review process. So it was -- a six- month process became a six-week process to go from concept to consideration of a building permit. And so that did help. And if you go down on that tech corridor today, you'll see lots and lots of construction going on and a number of projects that have been completed. CHAIR GARMAN: Interesting. Thank you. Can I -- MS. JACOBS: Vice chair, I'm calling you, Commissioner. Oh, sorry, go ahead. MR. YAZZATTA: Does the town own any property on Palisades? Or is that all private property all up and down Palisades? MS. JACOBS: Yeah, off of -- yeah, Commissioner, off of Palisades? No, it's all private development. And then, chair -- CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 10 of 34 CHAIR GARMAN: There's a fire department down there by Shea. And we own the fire department, so there's probably land around there. MR. YAZZATTA: The reason I ask is because you're talking zoning. And it was -- I kind of got the impression it was just one of the little problems. It seems to me like zoning is a huge problem to try to get through the town counsel, so. CHAIR GARMAN: Question? Yeah, go ahead Joe. MR. REYES: Backing up one. As it relates to that plat 208, we had a really good presentation some months ago about that. So that made us familiar with the difficulties, the challenges having so many that have to come together and agree to any change, additional parking stall. It was unbelievable. And it really blocks out a lot of potential development and utilization in that area. No doubt. Recently, I think I saw or heard someone indicate that the -- I don't know if it's the management there, but someone is spearheading making a change to that group's voting process so that only a certain percentage of the total need to vote on any further or future activities. Have you heard anything along those lines? MS. JACOBS: So Chair, Commissioner Reyes, I have not. I'm looking to John to see if he's heard anything. We had started, I would say, like, a bimonthly, quarterly meeting with a couple of the representatives of plat 208, but there's been some changes. So we need to reconvene and see who will be at the table because we're trying to be creative and to try to offer some flexibility based off these 1970s, I think if I'm correct, sort of, like an HOA, but so John's going to jump up to see. He was recently at a meeting. MR. WESLEY: So Chair, Commissioner, I probably shouldn't speculate too much here because I haven't heard anything too definite. But I think they -- I have heard that they are trying to look at, again, some creative ways to look at the rules. Yes, the rules do require 100-percent participation, and I think they're trying to look at different ways to think of that 100 percent. Yes, we've notified 100 percent and if this number comes, then they had their chance kind of approach. But I don't know anything about that is definite at this point. But they are looking, I think. MS. JACOBS: And one of the last suggestions we had was could they go back to their CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 11 of 34 attorney? And to John's point, if -- say, we're going to make changes. You give a 30-day or 60-day notice, and if no one says anything, are you safe? But those are things again, us just trying to put our heads together, be creative and wait to hear back because, of course, they need to follow their rules and procedures and speak to their attorney. Chairman? CHAIR GARMAN: Yeah, we had a little reciprocal meeting where the gentleman that led that HOA came here and spoke to us. And then I went and spoke to their group over in the Chamber of Commerce and it was very interesting. The people that were there were very motivated. But of course, it's the people who weren't there that they're having issues with. So I wanted your opinions, thoughts. Is zoning -- so we have another strategic pillar. A newer one this year is land use -- land development, which is separate. Do you think that zoning falls into the economic development side or the land use -- land development side? Where would you place zoning? MS. JACOBS: It impacts both. MR. WESLEY: Right in the middle. I mean, it is both. It's definitely both. I'm not sure really how you separate that out too much. Because obviously you have to build consistent with the zone or change the zone. And that comes back even to the general plan that sets the -- kind of the goal of the bar for what can happen and what zones can go in different locations. MR. YAZZATTA: When it comes to zoning, how does Fountain Hills compare to other municipalities with rigid to flexible zoning? And I know that -- the process just having watched the P and Z hearings in the city -- or town counsel meetings. It does seem daunting to potential developers and employers. Are we very rigid? Are we -- I know we're not flexible, super flexible. But where do we land on that continuum? MR. WESLEY: Chair, vice chair, I'm not sure I can answer that very well because all zoning is, in a lot of senses, very similar. You've got your commercial, industrial, residential zones of various kinds. For as small a town as Fountain Hills is, particularly on the residential side, it seems like we've got way too many zones. Our industrial CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 12 of 34 zones that we have here are not used much to begin with, and they're probably a little bit antiquated. It's another project on my -- I'm not sure if it's all the way on the back burner, but it's a side job, I guess, is reviewing all of our zoning districts and trying to update them because they really haven't been comprehensively updated since they were formed in 1990. And so there's a lot of kind of out-of-date approaches to things. So and a lot more use here for special-use permits than I've seen other places, which in some respects is good, but gives the citizens a little bit more control of some things that might be a direct impact. But then it slows down the process for other things that maybe we really want to see. So I'm not sure if that's more rigid or less rigid, but it does have some things. Again, I think that Amanda and I and my staff will be working on as we have time to try to improve upon. Again, we want to -- when we identify what we want and where we want it, we want to make those things as easy to happen as possible. And those things that we don't particularly want, to make those as hard as possible and let it go from there. CHAIR GARMAN: Thank you. I think before we move on, I'm going to -- put yourself in peril these days by defending the bureaucracy a little bit. But sometimes the rigid zoning can reflect the will of the community to a certain extent. Right? I mean, sometimes that's by design. So I think people in the community want to make sure that the businesses that are coming in and out are vetted and we have guidelines. Right? Because recreational marijuana and some of these places that sell questionable things that children can get into. So I do know there's some apprehension about what comes in and out as far as businesses go. So just thought I'd get that in the verbatim minutes, as well. So because I know the zoning is a tough board or commission to be on, but I'm sure -- I think they get a lot of help from the community sometimes as far as thoughts. Okay. That was my attempt. Okay. So Bernie, over to you. MR. HOENLE: Okay. Has anyone been discussing or talking about the State trust land and expansion of the footprint of the town? I got a whole list of things that would go with it, but go ahead. CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 13 of 34 MR. WESLEY: Chair, Commissioner, yes, there is an individual, and right now his name is going to slip my mind, who, some months ago, started approaching staff about the State trust land and going through all the files. And he's been talking to the State trust. He's been talking to some developer connections that he knows and trying to put together some interest and energy behind development of that property. Will it come to anything? Don't know at this point. But again, there is a person out there that is trying to push it and see if we can't get some development happening there. MR. HOENLE: So the second part of that, since I have you there, is looking at other development of planned communities around the valley. Has there been any consideration of that? I'm talking about like Anthem or Buckeye or Blossom Rock is one of the latest, Estrella, even Adero Canyon. Is there any possibility? And that takes up a lot of land. But to be able to come in with housing and recreational things, that would be all part of somebody developing an area. MR. WESLEY: So Commissioner, I'm not sure I quite caught the first part of that, what the actual question is there. MR. HOENLE: A planned community situation -- MR. WESLEY: Okay. MR. HOENLE: -- where if you've got acreage and you get a developer to come in with -- I think the town started out with a pretty good overall general plan -- MR. WESLEY: Right. MR. HOENLE: -- and it looked like it was going to develop as a planned community -- MR. WESLEY: Right. MR. HOENLE: -- with the community center and swimming pools and theaters and population up to 70,000 and all that. So when that didn't happen, it sort of just dissolved, disappeared. And there's still -- you have segments. You have an industrial -- sort of industrial area, you've got a downtown area, you've got the park. Everything evolves around the park. So I'm just trying to ask the question if there's any place else where something of a planned environment bringing homes in, bringing in shops or like what is at least the apartments that were built on Avenue of the Fountains now. Is CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 14 of 34 there consideration for another one of the setups like that in another area? MR. WESLEY: Another area of Fountain Hills or -- MR. HOENLE: Yeah. MR. WESLEY: Okay. Yeah. So Fountain Hills itself, really we're pretty well developed out -- platted, zoned, developed. There are scattered residential lots around. But there's not any big area for something like that to happen except for the State trust land. MR. HOENLE: Okay. MR. WESLEY: And certainly if that moves forward, the feedback I'm still getting is that the State trust land is not interested in parceling that out. Somebody is going to purchase and develop the whole thing or nothing. And that's over two square miles in size. So that's a good size development. And so it would have that opportunity there, as it did before, to -- MR. HOENLE: How many square miles did you say? MR. WESLEY: Two, a little over two. CHAIR GARMAN: So we're going to talk about this again when we get to the land use in months in the future. But I think what Bernie's saying, is it large enough to have a -- is it large enough to be a planned community? Or is it just the size of, like, Adero? It's just going to be at some point a developed residential neighborhood? And I think what he's saying is right? Is it big enough that not only would it be houses, but another shopping area or pools or things like that that are part of a town? MR. WESLEY: Sure. CHAIR GARMAN: I just didn't know if it was that big or not. MR. WESLEY: Right. And so yeah, it is. CHAIR GARMAN: It is? MR. WESLEY: The existing zoning out there includes a variety of commercial, residential. I think there's a piece set aside for lodging in what's currently zoned out there from when it was almost purchased before and went through that zoning process and was annexed into the town. And so yes, it's certainly big enough for a mix of uses, not just CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 15 of 34 residential. One of the challenges, though, like the rest of the town, is a topography which creates some limitations to how you can actually make that work. And so the nonresidential areas that have been proposed before are right along the extension of Fountain Hills Boulevard there by the school, where it is a little bit flatter and easier and has a greater access and then the residential kind of radiates out from there. CHAIR GARMAN: So I bring it back to economics. But I'm going to make this a -- you guys probably didn't know that this is going to be a participation exercise. So I was going to ask the commissioners their thoughts on a couple of things. Who wants to -- Joe, you look like you would start and give me an answer. So as far as our town goes, as far as economics goes, I mean, do you see goals of the town to be service industries? Manufacturing? Tourism? Where do you -- where do you see Fountain Hills? A bedroom community only. What is the economics? MR. REYES: Well, it's all of that. And even in this nice little booklet that we see that, we see it incorporates tourism, all of those elements. I guess, is your question -- CHAIR GARMAN: What's the golden goose for Fountain Hills? MR. REYES: That's it. I think that there's probably maybe two major approaches as to how best to approach that with respect to some of these larger developments in particular that we've been talking about. There's one side that would like to let's just kind of like go along the way we are and see if we can get more. In fact, you mentioned, like, some of the housing that we have down the street or up the street and bring in some other elements to it entertainment-wise and then so on. But I don't believe that there are any large enough other than the trust land that we talked about and the foregone target. Other than that, I don't think there are a lot of available sites that can be built from that standpoint. Which then begs and opens the question, so maybe shouldn't we look at getting smaller multiple or -- and it might be by variance, I don't know. But to attract some of those other types of industries in a mixed fashion that can be on smaller plats, property areas. So I see that still as really a big challenge, where on the one hand we'd like to bring in as many as we can that have things already ready to sell, ready to go, and let's get them up CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 16 of 34 and in and signed up, because it obviously provides a little bit of a cash flow into our coffers, so to speak. And the biggest challenge, as I see it when I came to this town with respect to all of these issues, is that we don't have enough coming in because we don't have any property tax for -- as one source. And even our sales tax, I believe, is -- there's some gyrations going on right now to possibly raise that a smidgen. And I think really it's almost by necessity that we should give that strong consideration. That's just my opinion, given the fact that we do have some limited -- such limited income sources. We got to pay the bills. We got to do the things and we're looking to develop more. It's going to take a lot of work. These folks here really are -- they're the ones that are going to make it happen one way or the other, by coming up with some mix of things that are going to attract more business along the way, and it all gets back to the source of you've got to get them to come in. You've got to make it easier in order for them to do that. And they've got to still either be the types of industries that we would like to see in our town. That's kind of my overview. CHAIR GARMAN: So I wonder -- MR. SMITH: Yeah, I was just -- I was going to comment that from an old resident, through the years, Fountain Hills has had a very difficult time growing because it seemed to me -- looking back through the 30 years I've been here, it seems to me like there was too many people. I want to maybe say it that way. That has just say we like Fountain Hills where it's at. We don't want it to grow. We don't want any growth. We don't want to have any challenges to our little world. And that brought us back to the bedroom community. And we talked about that and at one time I'd formed a group, and I won't go into that, but we had tried to challenge that type of thing. It was a very -- it was very difficult to challenge and to get some added growth going in this town. So I really feel like we're against the wall. Let's see if we can't get off of it at this point in our -- CHAIR GARMAN: So Randy, if -- I mean, do we -- see, it's kind of a vicious circle. We want to bring stuff in, but it's like if you're a restaurant -- you open a restaurant, you CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 17 of 34 need people to eat there, right? But if you don't have people to eat there, you're just going to close. So but you're only hiring waitresses or waiters or, you know what I mean? And those folks don't tend to -- this is going to sound terrible, but live up in Adero, right? So do you see us as some of these -- and I see this in this great glossy, do we need to import things into Fountain Hills like people, or do we need to make something and export out of Fountain Hills? MR. CRADER: Well, as a newer resident, I would say we need to import. When I think about it and it's really what are we building for the future or for the people who are coming next? Right? And which is what led me to get involved with this commission in the first place. Young families or just couples who are here by themselves without a family, that's a family in itself. The elements that I love about Fountain Hills was that it was quiet and peaceful and it felt like a real community. So where my mind goes to is, is how do you maintain that feel and those elements. But also knowing that economic development is obviously -- is very important to the future. So how did the -- how do we blend those two things where we draw people in for the future, but also maintain the elements of business and those things that we do also need to keep the structure and the economic stability of the city itself. Do we need to be something where we export? Another portion of where my mind goes is workforce and are we set up for even industries, bigger or medium size, to keep them afloat and keep them here for a long time? Because obviously retention is just as important as attraction. So there's a lot of obviously pillars to solve on all of those things, and those are just some of the things that I'm curious about or how we can tackle in a better way. I don't know if that answers your questions, but it's kind of where I think about it. Yes, we need new residents. But also I think it's important to maintain that same community feel that I think people when they visit do feel that sense of community, that sense that people actually care about the community and each other. So not losing that at the same time of also growing in the right way. CHAIR GARMAN: Any other comments? I know we have too much retail space for the CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 18 of 34 folks we have. At least that was the case a couple years ago -- a few years ago anyways. Has there been any thought? I see here -- and we talked about this years ago at the last plan. Something that we do here that we can export or that people come in here for like health care, like specialty health care, like wellness, like things that put together tourism, health care, beautiful environment. Is that a zone? Is that an economic zone? Or is that just like a cloud that has no substance? MS. JACOBS: So Chairman, I wouldn't say a zone. The town was partnering -- it recently ended -- with the Canadian Arizona Business counsel. And one thing that they were promoting was Project Medical. And so Canadians coming into town and then because they saw health care was an industry, they thought, oh, what a natural fit. Unfortunately not because we don't have a hospital. We have an emergency room. We have doctors' offices. That's not what folks from Canada are coming for. So it could be for cancer treatment. It could be something neurological, I can't speak. So they're going to Scottsdale or they're going to Phoenix. So unfortunately, we're not capitalizing on that for the health care industry or the tourism where they're staying, where they're recovering, so it wasn't a natural fit. But again, could we try to again target something to fit that niche under health care? Of course. CHAIR GARMAN: Any other comments? Yeah, Randy. MR. CRADER: How much of a hindrance is the seasonality of Fountain Hills of just residents not being here for a portion of the year? How much is that a hindrance in the economic development or either retention or attraction for you? MS. JACOBS: So Chairman, Commissioner, when I first started, businesses -- when we were doing our business retention site visits. And so we do that in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce is some of our businesses, especially the retail. They said when we first arrived, right, it was a shock and that first year and into the second year because they just were not used to it. And so for marketing purposes, when there's events, then they try to just capitalize on those things so that they can survive. But again, I would hear this information, half our population is leaving. So again, to you from an economic standpoint, okay, I'm hearing that, where's the data to support it? CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 19 of 34 And so we actually, through grant funding, did a tourism impact study, and it's about 11 to 18 percent, and so it's not half. So one we have to -- we're all ambassadors. We need to correct that messaging. Because then too from a business attraction side and retail, there was somebody that wanted some specialty shop we'll just say. I'm not going to name any names. And so I went on a Friday. They're in Scottsdale and so I said, hey, you need to come locate in Fountain Hills. And I ended up meeting the owner. And he goes, oh, he goes, I live right outside of Fountain Hills. I was thinking of relocating there because I live just in close proximity. But he's like, I went and was doing some research with the businesses and everyone said half the population left. He's, like, so I said goodbye. Don't want to place my business here in Fountain Hills, and so he went to Scottsdale. So the whole point being us as ambassadors and our messaging matters and you don't know. You could be talking to someone who's looking to be a resident or a business owner. And so I'll say we're trying to change some of that messaging. But for some industries, it's just a reality where they're feeling it, especially the retail. And then as the chairman's asking about industry, it is important to note that right now, all of our top ten major employers are service based. So that's what we have. We can throw in Fountain Hills Medical Center, but it's still not quite the diversity that we're wanting. And then so, Commissioner, you raise a good point, and I guess we'll say too is another obstacle but is workforce. It is hard. Again, we're thinking service based. When you are making -- the national average salary is less than 40,000, you are not living in Fountain Hills, you are commuting. And so with that low of a wage, if there's again, a restaurant that you can work in Mesa or Scottsdale, that's where you're going. And I'll say, too, some of you are familiar with FTS, the watch company that was in the former biz hub and school. And so some of the challenges is one we couldn't find space. They wanted way, way, way below market rent. We have no control over that. That's private. But third, we would be there. So John and myself, Mayor Friedel, when he was a council member, where the employees were chiming in to our site visit and just saying wow. It's tough to commute here from Chandler or Mesa. And so they were really CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 20 of 34 advocating for the president and CEO that when they were looking for new space, to be closer for them. And so they ended up in Mesa. And so it's unfortunate for Fountain Hills. We're glad that we retain them in the state of Arizona, in Maricopa, but those are certainly challenges. But when we look at bioscience, assembly, there could still be challenges depending on the level of workforce. But when you're looking at managers, president and CEOs, they're going to live in Fountain Hills. And so we dealt with that. So I come from Oro Valley, which is three miles north of Tucson. And so there's lots of similarities between Fountain Hills and Oro Valley. So where we had Ventana Medical Systems, that's now Roche Tissue Diagnostics. We had Securaplane Meggitt, which is an aerospace company, or you have Caterpillar locating in Tucson. Their high-level executives were choosing Oro Valley to live because they could afford it. And then some middle managers could afford to live in the community. So we could do it. But will there be challenges with workforce? Yes. And that has to become a national issue that we're all trying to deal with. But it was interesting. Myself and our new PIO were meeting with Doctor J, the superintendent, and he had just met with the real estate group, I think, last week or two weeks ago. And so he had asked them, what's the average price of a home? Do you guys want to guess? Since the chairman likes to be interactive, you can't say Bernie. He knows. He's trying to help you guys. It was 1.2 million. Yikes. CHAIR GARMAN: It's gone up considerably in the last five years. MS. JACOBS: So of what is on the market today and what they're selling. If then you step back from that, it's between 600 and 700 grand. Who can afford that? I can't. Don't want to. So it's a struggle. MR. CRADER: So you touched on a lot of things that we do around the town. What do we do best and how can we grow that aspect and become a boutique for that area? I mean, I'm thinking of Discovery Center. That could be a hook for a lot of build on and spin-off. You've got some effort on developing and getting certified as a blue zone that would tie in with health, that would tie in with walking and pedestrians and cycling and CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 21 of 34 trails and everything else. You talked about, not as much this time, but about artists -- a fine arts-type campus area. We have artists all over the town, and some of them have open studios, but most of them are just in a couple shops. Two places I'm thinking of coming from Virginia you had in Alexandria and then down in Fairfax. They turned a prison into an art studio and all the cells were different artists. Then you'd lease it out for a couple of months or whatever it is and you could sell from there. They would have -- in the courtyard, they'd have concerts on the grass and that sort of stuff. It was really unique. They converted a torpedo factory off of the Potomac into an art studio, and they did the same thing, leased out little shops. Artists were there. People come in and see them. They could stay there. So long as they're doing a good business, they would stay for a while. Some of them were residents, some of them were just temporary. But we really have some great artists in town, and some of their bigger studios are in Scottsdale and they sell their art there. So it's like we have them here, also. So are we getting the most bang for the buck from and for them? Flutter at the Fountain, we have people that design those butterflies that are just phenomenal and they auction them off. And it's a great fundraiser because the money goes back into the town. But that's just another example of one event that comes up that shows the talent that we have here. So I guess long story short or long is how do we build on health care? How do we build on Discovery Center? How do we build on the art that we have? We already got the trails, the connections, the trailhead up in Adero, things like that. And they continue building new trails cutting through the mountains. So that's my two cents. No answer. But how do we do it? CHAIR GARMAN: Well, let's answer some of that. MR. CRADER: Yes. CHAIR GARMAN: So what do you think? I don't want to put you on the spot. I'll put everybody on the spot, actually. What do you -- what do you think Fountain Hills does well? What does Fountain Hills do well? CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 22 of 34 MS. JACOBS: So I agree with what the Commissioner is saying. And of course we can capitalize on the Dark Sky. So right now it's in the building phase. We, of course, know ASU is excited. The University of Arizona is excited. So I had -- I think it was last year -- told folks, so when I met with University of Arizona and some people think, oh, you're just talking to them because you're from Tucson. But University of Arizona obviously has a presence in Phoenix and Chandler. Some people actually -- I was shocked -- didn't know that. But when they heard about the Dark Sky Discovery Center, they were super excited. But some of it is sort of that wait and see, especially when you see -- yes, you're seeing the building, but when you're still raising funds, some of that then becomes a little bit of a hesitancy on behalf of other partners. So some of it is wait and see, but yes, it's definitely a target. As far as the fine arts, we agree. We're trying to capitalize on that, market it more, add it more to social media. But sometimes when you're dealing with artists is then what they're hoping for is if we're looking at a space that the town is going to pay for that. And then so Commissioner Reyes was wise into when we're looking at, okay, we don't have a property tax, we just have the local sales tax and bed tax that we're relying on. Not to be doom and gloom. And then you're hearing from myself and John we're close to build out, those are serious conversations this group, our counsel as staff, we need to talk about. Because can we continue to add? Or do we start looking at older areas and then you get buy-in to redevelop. And so sometimes, too, that is a scary word to redevelop a certain area. CHAIR GARMAN: So Joe what do you think Fountain Hills does well? MR. REYES: Well -- CHAIR GARMAN: Just one thing. MR. REYES: One thing. CHAIR GARMAN: One thing. MR. REYES: Of those places that have survived since I've been here, I have to -- I have to pick restaurants. CHAIR GARMAN: Restaurants? CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 23 of 34 MR. REYES: Because you either make it or you don't and you find out real quick. And I don't know, obviously, start with all the things that you need -- a good product, good this, that, and the other, management. But I think there's one other element, but I'm not sure. Maybe some of those restaurants either bought the areas they're on or they got really good deals on their leases and that holds them here. And we see very commonly -- not just here, but in a lot of places -- it's one of the main reasons why restaurants go under. They get in, they're doing well. And all of a sudden a year later the lease is up and the rent goes so high up, they just decide to forget it. We're moving and they'll go somewhere else. So that's an easy one for me to throw your way and say I wish we had more. CHAIR GARMAN: Geoff, what do you think Fountain Hills does well? MR. YAZZATTA: I think we have the most volunteers per capita of any city or town in the United States. Having worn many volunteer hats in the three-and-a-half years that I've been here, it is astounding just how many people want to step up and participate in some way to make this town a wonderful place. So trying to figure out how to project that image on the town, or of the town rather, I think is important. Because from the outside looking in, I think we do get a reputation of being kind of challenging for development and employment. But trying to really figure out how to market these high points -- the outdoor recreation, the volunteer aspect of it -- I'm not sure how we package that up and sell it to others, but that's what comes to mind for me. CHAIR GARMAN: So I think parks and rec is a huge selling point for our town. I think the baseball -- what you've done with the baseball fields. I think the skateboard park. I don't know, you could probably do more. There's the potential over at the soccer fields. In other words, bringing people in. They have a tournament they love. It's a long ways. They go to Fountain Hills, they have their baseball/softball tournament for the weekend, then they go home. And they come in and they might be kids right now, but they're buying some stuff, they're spending, they're buying gas, they're doing whatever, but then they leave. You know what I mean? So it's not like you have to attract them and they have to live here. So anyways, that's part of it. I think the parks and rec, and I CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 24 of 34 know I'm going to have two, but also the recreational trails, the hiking trails, too. I mean that's something that is just -- we get used to it. It's amazing when you come from other parts of the country. Bernie, what do you think the town does well? MR. HOENLE: Well, when anybody comes to visit, we go to the fountain and we walk around the fountain. It's just the thing to do when you live here. So the fountain is a draw. I don't think we've made the best use of sales or events or things to have people hang around, other than seeing the fountain go off and go -- when does it go off, they ask, and they say, okay, it's for 15 minutes. Then they leave. So it's like, okay, you got to figure out how to keep them here. But then my real thing after that is hike and bike. It's the outdoor things for the town. And we always take a hike around the hill behind the fountain through there and they see that area. Then we go up to Adero and take the hikes -- the different trails out of there. And then of course, myself, I have a road bike, but as far as mountain hills biking, it's on trails around here. Dixie mine, they go out to McDonald Mountain Park. McDonald Mountain Cycles makes use of the riders coming in and they hold events and they have different groups going around. So that is a draw for this area. It's just really good for the outdoor activity. CHAIR GARMAN: Paul? MR. SMITH: We're rehashing things that have been rehashed over and over again for many years here. I really think that we have so much to offer, but we're saying, what's the key to keeping people here? We don't have the jobs. I'd like to move up to Fountain Hills. It's beautiful. We can go hiking there, but I can't work up there. And it's the cart before the horse sometimes. We have wonderful, wonderful facilities for outdoor activities, but we can't live there. So we have to look at this from a different perspective, I think. We got a lot of things in place for the people to use and people to do. But again, it goes back to how do we keep them here? Well, we've got to figure out how to have jobs and stuff and that kind of thing. We had -- years back, they talked about we're going to put a college up here. Well, that CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 25 of 34 was -- and so the whole idea, well, maybe we can just put something smaller up here and see if we can make it work. When -- and forgive me for the names of the schools, but the one we're getting ready to sell, Four Peaks. We tried that a little bit with businesses, moving some businesses in there, and my son had also had a business in there, so I was familiar with that. It was a great idea, but we just don't seem to be able to keep businesses. Why? I don't know that I have an answer. I've worked on that for a lot of years, and I don't think I have an answer. But that's where the key -- the key are the businesses to -- in order to have -- employ people. You've got to have money to live and especially up here. CHAIR GARMAN: Randy, what do you think the best thing to draw from Fountain Hills? What do we do well? MR. CRADER: Probably the community events. CHAIR GARMAN: That's a good one. MR. CRADER: We have one coming up this weekend. It's a great thing we do. I was disappointed the car show got moved, but rain and cars on grass, I understand that aspect, too. It's coming at some -- soon. But I think the community events again from a -- with the father of a small child, there's always something to go do. But everybody leaves right afterwards, to your point. But it's also great exposure for the community. And I think obviously it brings in some revenues and stuff like that. But I think -- I've lived in a lot of different places, and I think the community shines through and I think the community does a great job with the events that we do put on. CHAIR GARMAN: Thanks. So I know we're starting to get on time. I want to -- MS. JACOBS: Chair, I think the town manager had some feedback. CHAIR GARMAN: Well, I just didn't want to put you in that spot of saying what you dislike or like about the town. MS. GOODWIN: No, I agree with everybody. I mean, I think what we do is pretty darn awesome. What I really wanted to touch on is one thing. I think Paul mentioned it and Joe, you mentioned it, too. But the conversation around you come and hike on our trails. I love it. You come and bike in our roads, I love it. But then you go home and you CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 26 of 34 didn't eat in a restaurant or stop and get gas or that. We want the people here, but we need to give that -- we have to push past that idea of we want them here, we want them to be part of our community. But there is a revenue generation conversation that needs to be part of this that intersects with this. The Dark Space is awesome. It's a beautiful building, but it's also a nonprofit. It's not a revenue driver. It's the residuals that we hope will be the revenue driver. The school district, it's the largest employer in our town. It's not doing so great financially. So we can have these things that are anchors, but yet they're not stabilizing us, right. They're not serving us in the full context of what we can do. And so what Paul was talking about, there was a conversation about wanting our community to stay the size it is and maintain this quaintness that we all love and why we chose to be here. But there's a cost associated with that that we don't have a mechanism built into to address. We don't have that. So economic development has really served in that capacity to sort of bridge that gap. So I think it would be amiss if we didn't at least acknowledge that and understand one of the primary drivers behind this economic development and what the strategic plan needs to accomplish is bridging that gap in a financial sense as much as anything else. So I just wanted to throw that out there. CHAIR GARMAN: I'm glad you brought it back to, like I say, nuts and bolts. And that's why I brought up, though. You said top 11 businesses are service. We just service -- we just provide services for each other in the town. And it's that circle. Why aren't people coming in? We're just working for folks who live within the town. That's why I kept bringing up -- I mean, inarticulately exporting. Things we build, make, laboratories, things that we do here and then -- but we export them. We put their businesses that service the outside world and don't just service Fountain Hills. So last question. I'm sorry for keeping everybody late for me. But what about when you talk about this? There's not -- maybe not a lot of tolerance or patience for inconveniences in the town area, downtown area like trucks coming through, manufacturing or things coming through. But the Shea corridor, which is part of our CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 27 of 34 town, is -- I think there's a little more tolerance for people coming in and out and businesses that have vehicles coming in and out. And it's also an artery for people to get back to Scottsdale or get back to 101 or get over to the 202. You mentioned the downtown. What about the -- we've talked about the Shea corridor a lot. I know this talks about apartments and stuff, but there are some businesses -- kind of a mini business park over there. Is that someplace that can -- we can generate some services to the outside world and not just Fountain Hills specific? MS. JACOBS: And Chair, that is included, obviously, in the general plan and in the community economic development strategic plan. So this document I gave you is what we heard from the community. It was to focus on the downtown, Shea corridor, Fountain Hills Boulevard, and Glen Brook. But what we've heard constantly is having the downtown as the priority. And two, when you're trying to attract business, you want a lively downtown. Again just off of my experience in Oro Valley, we would hear, too, folks that would come to Oro Valley but also commuted to LA. They're like, where's your downtown? I'm having to travel all the way to Tucson. You're shutting restaurants down at 8. Some that were popular, maybe 2:00. I think that's state law. But again, those similarities. I would say with Four Peaks Plaza, the Target shopping center, we're starting on the piece of Shea corridor, maybe not as people are imagining. But again, because of that economic development strategy, within a couple of days after council unanimously approved that, John and I received a call, we went to Scottsdale to meet with Sandor (indiscernible), and they're like we want to rock and roll to revitalize. And so of course, there's a portion that will be -- it's rezoned and will be redeveloped, but then feeding life and revitalizing and redeveloping the commercial side. And so Chair, to your point, there are some businesses behind in a small industrial park and there's a little bit of land left. And I think a recent exercise with development services, John, as well as your GIS analyst, I think there's .5 acres? Yeah, massive .5 acres. Bernie gets my joke. So not a lot to work with. CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 28 of 34 So then there's that conversation and we'll take a lot of work, staff time, community buy-in, and some of our residents who've been here 30, 40 years have shared. But of course, they have to be my ambassadors. And when the rubber meets the road to join us in where they say Saguaro or Shea needs to be redeveloped because again, redevelop is change. That's a scary word. That is sometimes completely tearing things down and starting over. But again, there's residents who have been here 30, 40 years and they're like Amanda, we need to do this. And I'm like, okay, well, when it's time to start working on that and when we have the capacity, then you better be standing there with me, behind me. CHAIR GARMAN: The apartments are going through over there, right? The -- MS. JACOBS: So that has been approved. We'll speak with Sandor every few weeks. I'll tell you at least once a week, sometimes multiple times a week, I receive questions of is this still happening. Right now they're working on the commercial site and a huge tenant we're hoping to announce and they're working with their architects, engineers, et cetera, to put those plans together to put in a formal submittal with development services to go through the permitting process. CHAIR GARMAN: How many folks? How many apartments do you think? How many -- MS. JACOBS: So there's over 300 units. And so estimating about 700 new residents. CHAIR GARMAN: Thanks. MS. JACOBS: You're welcome. CHAIR GARMAN: Bernie? MR. HOENLE: So how do we build on the talent that's around here to try and come up and develop? I know you're working with Betsy and the chamber and different groups and organizations and spreading the word. Appreciate you coming to Kiwanis. To be able to -- do we have to go out and hire a consultant? That's not easy to do around here. But how do we gather that sort of strength and effort? I mean, there's people in the town that have retired, done business development and stuff like that, too. So how do we get that energized? MS. JACOBS: So some of it, Chair, Bernie, is having those people contact me or again, CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 29 of 34 not to pick on Geoff, but a couple of leads I had. I'm like, Geoff, you're a younger gentleman. You're new here. You support the vision. I'm handing you off and I am entrusting you with X developer. Now don't go question this guy because I'm calling him out. But where I can depend on him. Same thing with Betsy at the chamber of has that shared vision. I'm handing you over or you know, speaking with resident and former mayor Jay Schlum. There's folks that I can contact. There's also a big fish here in Fountain Hills. I have not gone to that big fish because until we do what we need to do with the downtown and overlay, I'm not going to approach that person. And some people disagree with that methodology. But this happened to me in Oro Valley, so I have not told this person, hey, big fish. I moved in Oro Valley, but again, we had them. They're like, yes, talking with our counsel, we're going to rezone, we're going to do XYZ. And then rubber met the road and was, like, oops, sorry, and they had huge investors. And so do you think they ever came knocking back at our door? No. They went to Marana or Sahuarita who's also growing and who mean business. It's like if you're saying this, then that's that expectation. And so I've been burned -- not here, but just in my career too many times. And so once we have all those pieces, that's when too, you can approach some of these developers that can make magic happen. But again, if there's folks -- and I do get calls and I'll write down that, hey Amanda, if you need XYZ, I'm your guy or gal. I'm retired and we do want to see a change. And so I would say -- and I had this conversation with Doctor J. Because sometimes when we're doing our public speaking, we're feeling sort of torn of, okay, are we growing or are we a bedroom community? I feel with the strategic plan, your guys' strategic plan, we're working on the downtown strategy. I feel like the community has made it known that we do want to grow, but at the same time keep that charm. And so I believe it was Paul that sometimes it's like, well, didn't we just talk about this a year or two ago? And so I tell Doctor J. is I'm like, no, quit asking that question. You tell. Because again, we have the evidence, we have the data, we're growing. So again, we have to be ambassadors and sing the same tune. Because again, if we're ambassadors and trying to attract or we're talking to other CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 30 of 34 residents and we're saying we don't know who we want to be when we grow up, is that a lot of confidence? It's just a question back at you, but you don't have to answer. CHAIR GARMAN: All right. Thank you. I'm looking to my left and right. I don't see any lights on. I know we're past time, so I think we're going to move on to the next agenda item. Thank you for the conversation and the patience by the way. Thanks for the patience. Okay. So I'm going to move on to the next agenda item. Before we move on, I just want to let all the commissioners know I'm going to return here at the end of the -- at the end of this meeting and ask you what pillars you might want to review at our next meeting next month. So be thinking about whether you want to review land use, quality of life, safety, or infrastructure in March. All right. So let's move on to agenda item seven, and it's a commission work groups update. And that really has to do with Geoff. Geoff, how's the workshops going? Work groups? MR. YAZZATTA: Workshops are coming up. I have reserved a ballroom for Saturday, March 15th, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. And then Wednesday, March 19th in the afternoon from 4 to 6 p.m. So we're trying to capture feedback from people and also cast the wider net before people start to leave and go back to wherever their home states are if they're snowbirds. I will be communicating through Angela, just getting assignments. But it will be very similar to the forum that we had last year in April where it's going to be just an open event. You can come through, share your feedback, and I will work with Randy and Joe on the specifics, our little subcommittee on that event. So that's the update. I've also emailed Mike Pelton to put together a event flier that we can use to market the event. I would ask everyone to reach out and make personal invitations. I want to say we had about 40 people show up last year. I think a good goal for both events would be to get 50 people to show up. So if everyone kind of rose in the same direction as far as outreach, hopefully we'll hit that number. That's a quick overview that I have. CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 31 of 34 Does anyone have any questions that I can answer? CHAIR GARMAN: All right. And you already have the reserved over in the community center, right, for -- MR. YAZZATA: Yes. CHAIR GARMAN: -- both those days? That's excellent. Thank you. So yeah, we'll all stay tuned. If you need -- I know you have a couple folks who volunteered. Appreciate it. And if you have others, the rest of us last time, we all kind of showed up. Okay. Sounds great. Okay. So we're going to move on then to agenda item eight, which is what I just mentioned earlier. Discussion possible action future agenda topics. So I don't know if -- we did finance last month because it was pretty straightforward. We did economic development at this meeting because Amanda and John could be present and have the discussion with us. Is there any thoughts on what we want to do in March as far as the next agenda item or pillar that we want to talk about? MR. REYES: Well, I think after this session today, I think we should be looking at infrastructure. CHAIR GARMAN: What structure? MR. REYES: Infrastructure. CHAIR GARMAN: Infrastructure, yeah. Yeah. Anybody have any other comments? What do you think? MR. YAZZATTA: We did a little work on infrastructure, and I know we need more. When we're ready to move to the next, I think I'd like to see or hear things around the land usage. Land development kind of also goes somewhat hand-in-glove with a lot of the things that we talked about here today. CHAIR GARMAN: Okay. MR. SMITH: My vote would be for the land use as the next one, just because it dovetails. And we're kind of touching on a number of those topics today. So I don't know if the group feels we should move away from land use or if we should stick with CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 32 of 34 land use just because it goes so closely with the economic development side. CHAIR GARMAN: Yeah, I'll probably look at Rachel to help me with that, as well, to see what kind of support we can get for either of those two topics from the town. So I don't know if we need to make a decision today or if you have any thoughts. But either one of those infrastructure and land use is on the table for March. MS. GOODWIN: And I don't think either of those would be problematic. Let me just reach out to the associated staff to see if they're available. The only one I was going to suggest we don't do would be quality of life, which is really our community services. And that's because they're in the thick of event season. They've got their hands full right now. So it may be better to let them sort of get that off their plates before they plan to join us here. So that was the only one I was going to suggest pausing on. But I think either land use or infrastructure. One would be John returning; obviously he's our land use and any potential members of his staff. And then infrastructure would really be Justin. As a preview to that, it sort of dovetails-- two days before our SPAC meeting -- two days -- one day -- the day before -- the evening before -- on March 25th, we will be in here reviewing the capital improvement plans -- the suggested capital improvement for FY '26. So that will also -- that will give you a preview of infrastructure and upcoming things obviously a little bit more timely, not quite as long range that we're going to talk about, but that will actually be a preview there, too. So we can go either way. CHAIR GARMAN: Sounds good. Okay. So the commissioner is okay with kind of like we did with this one. Rachel and I will work it out and let you know. It sounds like infrastructure might be an opportunity, but we're going to get to them all this fall. All right. Thank you for that discussion. I'm going to move on to just the comments from the chairman. I don't have any comments. We're after the hour. I've put in all my comments during the meeting, so I'll just move on. Thank you. You know that where we're moving, we're going to cover all five of these pillars this spring, and then we're going to have a workshop in June to put together these topics CITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FEBRUARY 19, 2025 STRATEGIC PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING Page 33 of 34 that we're going to include in the draft of the plan. So in other words, when we adjourn after our June meeting, we're going to have five pillars. And then we're going to have one, two, three, four, five topics underneath of those pillars, kind of broad topics. And then we'll adjourn for the summer. And then we'll pick up and do the next level when we start back up in the fall. Okay. So the next meeting -- I'm going to move down to number ten. The next meeting is going to be Wednesday, March 26th at the end of the month. I look forward to seeing everybody there. Is there any motion on the table? I think we're ready to adjourn. If there's no more topics to discuss. MR. YAZZATTA: I move to adjourn. CHAIR GARMAN: All right. And is there a second to adjourn? MR. REYES: Second. CHAIR GARMAN: We got a second. Any discussion? Any close outs? All right. We'll see everybody. Sorry. Let's move on to a vote. All in favor of adjourning today, say aye. IN UNISON: Aye. CHAIR GARMAN: I got ahead of myself. Any opposed? No. Okay. It's unanimous. We are adjourned. I'll see everybody next month. Having no further business, Chairman Patrick Garman adjourned the Regular Meeting of the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission held on February 19, 2025, at 5:19 p.m. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS _______________________ Patrick Garman, Chairman ATTEST AND PREPARED BY: ____________________________________ Angela Padgett-Espiritu, Executive Assistant CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Regular Meeting held by the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission of Fountain Hills in the Town Hall Council Chambers on the 19 day of February 2025. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED 26 day of March 2025. ____________________________________ Angela Padgett-Espiritu, Executive Assistant ITEM 6. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT    Meeting Date: 03/26/2025 Meeting Type: Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Agenda Type:                   Submitting Department: Administration Prepared by: Angela Padgett-Espiritu, Town Clerk Staff Contact Information: Request to Strategic Planning Advisory Commission (Agenda Language):  DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Land Use Pillar Strategy of Future Strategic Plan with John Wesley, Development Services Director. Staff Summary (Background) Form Review Form Started By: Angela Padgett-Espiritu Started On: 02/19/2025 04:35 PM Final Approval Date: 02/19/2025  ITEM 7. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT    Meeting Date: 03/26/2025 Meeting Type: Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Agenda Type:                   Submitting Department: Administration Prepared by: Angela Padgett-Espiritu, Town Clerk Staff Contact Information: Request to Strategic Planning Advisory Commission (Agenda Language):  UPDATE: Commission Workgroups Staff Summary (Background) Attachments Presentation  Form Review Form Started By: Angela Padgett-Espiritu Started On: 02/19/2025 04:35 PM Final Approval Date: 02/19/2025  Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Community Input Sessions Saturday, March 15th, 2025 Wednesday, March 19th, 2025 Event Overview •Goal: Gather feedback from community members to determine what topics should be considered for the “Signature Strategy” section of the next Strategic Plan iteration. •Event Layout: •Welcome Station (Strategic Plan Overview) •Feedback Station 1 (Infrastructure) •Feedback Station 2 (Land Use & Development) •Feedback Station 3 (Economic Development) •Feedback Station 4 (Quality Of Life & Safety) •Feedback Station 5 (Financial Stability) •Event Statistics: •50+ residents participated across both events •162 notecards collected Feedback – Raw Data Feedback - Themes Feedback – Word Cloud Questions? ITEM 8. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT    Meeting Date: 03/26/2025 Meeting Type: Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Agenda Type:                   Submitting Department: Administration Prepared by: Angela Padgett-Espiritu, Town Clerk Staff Contact Information: Request to Strategic Planning Advisory Commission (Agenda Language):  DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION: Future Agenda Topics. Staff Summary (Background) Form Review Form Started By: Angela Padgett-Espiritu Started On: 02/19/2025 04:35 PM Final Approval Date: 02/19/2025  ITEM 9. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT    Meeting Date: 03/26/2025 Meeting Type: Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Agenda Type:                   Submitting Department: Administration Prepared by: Angela Padgett-Espiritu, Town Clerk Staff Contact Information: Request to Strategic Planning Advisory Commission (Agenda Language):  COMMENTS FROM THE CHAIRMAN Staff Summary (Background) Form Review Form Started By: Angela Padgett-Espiritu Started On: 02/19/2025 04:35 PM Final Approval Date: 02/19/2025  ITEM 10. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS STAFF REPORT    Meeting Date: 03/26/2025 Meeting Type: Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Agenda Type:                   Submitting Department: Administration Prepared by: Angela Padgett-Espiritu, Town Clerk Staff Contact Information: Request to Strategic Planning Advisory Commission (Agenda Language):  NEXT MEETING DATE: Wednesday, April 23, 2025. Staff Summary (Background) Form Review Form Started By: Angela Padgett-Espiritu Started On: 02/19/2025 04:35 PM Final Approval Date: 02/19/2025