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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993.0401.TCRM.MinutesTOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE REGULAR SESSION OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL APRIL 1, 1993 A public meeting of the Fountain Hills Town Council was convened and called to order by Mayor Cutillo at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, April 1, 1993, in the Fountain Hills Town Hall, located at 16836 E. Palisades Blvd., Building C, Fountain Hills, Arizona. ROLL CALL - Following the pledge to the flag and the invocation by Councilman Fox, roll call was taken. Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Mayor John Cutillo, Vice Mayor Bill O'Brien, and Councilmembers, Charlie Fox, Peg Tibbetts, Wally Hudson, and Frank Clark. Councilman Mike Minarsich arrived late. Also present were Town Manager Paul Nordin, Community Development Director Gary Jeppson, Town Attorney Bill Farrell, Town Clerk Cassie Hansen, Associate Planner Loss Rauch, and Administrative Assistant Marcia Jewett. AGENDA ITEM #2. - CONSIDERATION OF THE MEETING MINUTES OF JANUARY 13TH, MARCH 16TH AND 18TH, 1993. Councilman Hudson MOVED approval of the minutes. SECONDED by Councilwoman Tibbetts and CARRIED unanimously. AGENDA ITEM #3. - CONSIDERATION OF THE LIQUOR LICENSE APPLICATION FOR POMA'S RISTORANTE. AL POMA IS INCORPORATING AND TRANSFERRING THE LIQUOR LICENSE TO THE CORPORATION NAME. Mayor Cutillo MOVED approval, SECONDED by Councilman Fox and CARRIED unanimously. AGENDA ITEM #4. - UPDATE ON THE FOUNTAIN HILLS BLVD. DESIGN STUDY Randy Harrel, Town Engineer, made a presentation on the status of the design study of Fountain Hills Boulevard. Stanley Consultants had made its first submittal which included four (4) alternatives: 1. Ultimate improvements - which the staff would like; 2. Phased sequencing of the ultimate improvements; 3. Bare bones widening - save as much as possible and keep costs down; 4. Spot improvements - this would suffice for the next five (5) to ten (10) years. The existing roadway was deficient in several areas: the horizontal curves, crown on the roadway, drainage and pavement structure. The fast submittal centered on the ultimate improvements concept and the others would be worked in future submittals. The design speed for the ultimate improvements would be 45 mph and include rebanking of curves; Pinto to Arroyo Vista would consist of a 16 foot wide landscaped median, two -lanes each direction, a four (4) foot on -street bike lane, and a 12 foot clear zone to the top of the slope. A meandering 6' wide sidewalk would be added north of Arroyo Vista to El Lago. Councilman Hudson asked if there was enough right-of- way. Mr. Harrel said the right-of-way was 110' feet (55 and 55). The improvements would be put within the right- of-way, there would be substantial slopes outside the right-of-way, and/or retaining walls and slopes would need to be regraded. A meandering 6' wide sidewalk would be added to the west side on El Lago to Palisades and would encompass landscaping. The median would create some problems on some of the side streets and some realignment Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 04/01/93 Page 1 of 5 , AGENDA ITEM #13. - ADJOURNMENT. Mayor Cutillo called for a motion to adjourn. Vice Mayor O'Brien MOVED to adjourn. SECONDED by Mayor Cutillo and CARRIED unanimously. The Town Council adjourned at approximately 7:30 p.m. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS ATTEST: 1. 6. LIA� Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk PREPARED BY: Marcia M. Jewett, Admin. Assist. CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Regular Meeting held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills on the 18th day of March 1993. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED this � day of April 1993. Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 03/18/93 Page 6 of 6 would need to be done. South bound left turns would not be allowed in certain areas. Vice Mayor O'Brien asked why the medians couldn't be cut to allow access to Arroyo Vista and the Catholic Church. Mr. Harrel said interference with the turn pockets from the Catholic Church and a revamping of the Catholic Church would need to be done. Mayor Cutillo asked if consideration was being taken for median and sidewalks for Fountain Hills Boulevard north of Palisades and Mr. Harrel said that was not being done in the study. The study was limited to the area between Shea and Palisades. The five (5) year plan for 1994 would include a box culvert north of Palisades. Councilwoman Tibbetts said meandering sidewalks should be a priority north of Palisades because it was already an established residential area. Mr. Harrel said that would be considered in the box culvert design. Mary Petrov, El Pueblo Boulevard, wanted to see it extended to El Pueblo because there was a lot of pedestrian traffic south to Palisades. She also asked if the medians would be flat or raised. Mr. Harrel said they would be raised, similar to Saguaro and Palisades, west of Fountain Hills Boulevard and Golden Eagle, south of Bainbridge. Erna Charles said there were two (2) places on Fountain Hills Boulevard that banked the wrong way, one at the bottom of the hill on Inca and the last turn before Palisades and asked if that would be considered. Mr. Harrel said those curves would be corrected. Mary Petrov said one of the major problems on Fountain Hills Boulevard was Ashbrook and asked if the level itself would be raised Mr. Harrel said that was not a part of this study. A separate project scheduled for fiscal year 1994 would include a box culvert at Ashbrook Wash on Fountain Hills Boulevard Mayor Cutillo said that was scheduled for 1994 because it would be done with Federal Funds. AGENDA ITEM #5. - CONSIDERATION OF ORDINANCE 93-08, AMENDING THE TEXT OF THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS PURSUANT TO ARTICLE XXXI OF THE ZONING ORDINANCE_ FOR THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS, BY REVISING ARTICLE XL PLANNED SHOPPING PLAZA OVERLAY DISTRICT AMENDING SECTION 40.8 AND ADDING SECTION 40.9, USES SUBJECT TO SPECIAL USE PERMITS. Mr. Jeppson said if there was an objection or a request for public hearing, Council would schedule a date for a public hearing. Ms Rauch said the applicant was Marshall Varnar who requested the text amendment to the planned shopping plaza overlay allow for outdoor display. Staff recommended it be done through a use permit process to allow a case -by -case reviewal. The use permit process for outdoor display included six (6) criteria: the outdoor display must be completely under a roof; said roof must be a permanent roof and conform to the adopted building code; the roof structure would be functionally attached to and integrated with, the primary building within the buildable lot area; the detail of the roof structure of the outdoor display area would continue the character or theme of the primary building; the outdoor display area would be contained entirely on the lot owned or leased by the applicant; equipment such as, but not limited to, vending and ice machines would be screened from public view and placement areas designated for their use as an integral part of the project; and, a minimum of ten percent (10%) of the lot used for an outdoor display area would be devoted to landscaping. The language along with the special use review would allow for the creation of pedestrian oriented activities and provide a monitoring process. Councilman Fox asked if consideration would be given for wrought iron or lattice work with vines for the roof. Ms Rauch said the lattice work was a permitted roof structure through the building code. The intent was to have the roof structure look like an integral part of the building. Councilwoman Tibbetts asked if staff felt the lighting would need special attention. Ms Rauch said that question was brought up at the Planning and Zoning Commission and staff stated that would be part of the submittal requirement with the site plan and evaluation process. Vice Mayor O'Brien said if it was to be a part of the permanent structure and then not be utilized it would look as ugly as open air structures without any covers. Mayor Cutillo asked if anyone had objections to this ordinance. Donna Bayo, N. Kings Way, said she had objections. Mayor Cutillo MOVED to schedule a public hearing on Ordinance 93-08 for May 6. SECONDED by Councilman Fox. Councilman Minarsich stated that would hold up a small businessman for several weeks and congratulated staff on their outstanding solution for the problem. Mayor Cutillo concurred that statement for the record. The motion CARRIED unanimously. Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 04/01/93 Page 2 of 5 , AGENDA ITEM A. - DISCUSSION OF CHAPTER 6, SIGN REGULATIONS, OF THE PROPOSED ZONING ORDINANCE. THIS IS A DISCUSSION ONLY ITEM - NO ACTION WILL BE TAKEN. Mr. Jeppson said staff had provided the Council with the Planning and Zoning recommendation for sign regulations and revised zoning ordinance. Council had deliberated on this chapter before and there had been a request for further discussion. Legal council provided information that dealt with the outcome of signs in the right-of-way and staff provided information on political and ideological signs and recommended not having any regulations beyond what the current sign code allowed. Section 6.11 would not be a part of the chapter. Mr. Nordin said Section 6.08 F. dealt with off -premise signs and signs located in the right-of-way. Staff had extended to Council the most appropriate option to allow off -premise signs be placed in the public right-of-way and took away the ability for people to put out cardboard signs. Councilman Fox clarified the off -premise signs would need to be removed each and every night at sundown and put up at sun up and asked if that included political signs. Mr. Jeppson said the content was not being regulated. Councilman Hudson said he did not want to see signs on the public right-of-way except signs established by the Town. Within Fountain Hills boundaries, he had counted 25 different miscellaneous cardboard signs on Shea Boulevard. He felt it created a hazard that the Town shouldn't be exposed to. He felt the Town should establish signs that designated points of interest, i.e. the fountain, Junior/Senior High School, etc. and thereby clean up the Town. Councilman Minarsich said he was in support of the ordinance. He felt the realtors and other businesses should not be punished because of the way streets were laid out and it was difficult to find some of the sub -divisions without proper signage. He felt there were too many government regulations. Councilman Clark said in addition to political signs in commercial areas, political signs in residential areas could be left for the entire election. Mr. Jeppson said Section 6.11 dealt with political signs on private property in residential areas but not in the right-of-way which would need to follow the rules for off -premise signs and be taken down every night. Councilman Fox asked why the Town didn't use the state law of 45 days rather than 60 days. Councilman Fox proposed in Section 6.08 F.6.a.,b.,c., and d. the words "not to exceed" be changed to "shall be" and the amount in a. be changed to 150.00" and b. to " $75.00". Mayor Cutillo asked Mr. Farrell if that could be done and he said it could. Councilman Minarsich said the purpose for the language was to provide flexibility to the Magistrate in levying the fines. He asked Councilman Fox if he felt the fines should be higher and Councilman Fox said yes. Councilman Minarsich said he felt in the early stages it would take some time for people to get the message and the fine amounts should be left the way they were. Councilman Hudson asked Mr. Farrell to define fast offense and how many signs that included. Mr. Farrell said the permitting system was not being established, and it was permitted in a specific location, each sign would be an offense. Councilman Minarsich asked Mr. Farrell if the Magistrate would have flexibility in levying no fine. Mr. Farrell said the "shall" would mandate a fine but he would have the discretion to not mandate anything. Signs were permitted under the ordinance within three (3) feet of the curb in certain situations and within ten (10) feet in other situations and each sign that didn't comply would be an offense. The only alternative would be to adjudicate them not guilty of a civil offense. Councilman Minarsich said he was concerned for the first time offenders who might not be aware and this would leave the Magistrate no alternative but to fine the person. Councilman Fox said the Town Marshal would give a warning and explain the situation. Councilman Clark felt that was too rigid and agreed with the wording presented by staff. Mayor Cutillo agreed. Councilman Minarsich agreed, based on the multiple sign issues the language should remain the way it was. Councilwoman Tibbetts said she recognized the need for businesses and real estate agencies but was concerned about what it might lead to. Under municipal law, the signs could say anything and she felt research should be done to provide another way of informing people where the new homes were. Many governmental jurisdictions prohibit signs in the road right-of-way and she felt that should be researched. The Town and taxpayers would be forced to deal with it if a liability situation arose. Councilman Minarsich said the public body could change the rules if organizations were unable to self -police the ordinance. The ordinance would eliminate the ugly signs and there would be more consistency in the quality of signs. He felt the industry should be given the opportunity to police itself using these guidelines and if it didn't work changes would be made. Vice Mayor O'Brien pointed out the real estate industry was not the only industry involved Councilman Minarsich said signs would be put up and taken down at a certain time and if the ordinance was in place Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 04/01/93 Page 3 of 5 , and enforced there would be less signs. Councilwoman Tibbetts said this would place additional burden on staff, monitoring the community not only daytime but to be sure signs were taken down at sundown. Mr. Nordin said the issue was not scheduled for final vote until May 20 and he suggested an amendment be drafted for Council to consider. Councilman Hudson said Section 6.09D. stated "If no time limit is established, all such signs shall be removed on completion of the initial sale of the houses or lots of the subject subdivision." and asked if time limits were placed on subdivision signs. Mr. Jeppson said no time limits were set. Councilman Hudson felt the wording should be changed so signs would not stay there forever. He asked staff to clarify wording and state a time period. Hank Lickman, Sunburst Drive, represented the brokerage community and the result of meetings with the Chamber of Commerce. He presented findings from national studies by the National Association of Realtors and subdivision sales and information obtained from buyer profile questionnaires. From a national study it was found that 42% of people purchased real estate from for sale signs and 38% from off -premise open house signs. Another study showed in a subdivision that had restrictive signage covenants, the average marketing time was 20.4 months, compared to 5.6 months for the adjoining subdivision that permitted signage. 44% of all sales for the first quarter of 1993 was from directional signage and drive -by traffic. He pointed out that directional signage, especially in Fountain Hills, was important in order to get people around. W. Lickman requested this be given an opportunity to work. Bruce Hansen, President of the Chamber of Commerce, said the Board of Directors of 15 people had voted unanimously to support and recommend the passage of this ordinance. They had agreed that signage required controlling but that in order to operate, the business community needed signage. Dori Wittrig, E. Windchime Drive, felt that realtors sold many people on the idea of living in Fountain Hills. Betty Winn, Everview Realty, said open houses were very important. John Albach represented Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce Public Affairs Committee, said they supported Fountain Hills MLS Sub -Committee position on the signage. Terry Saverson, Chamber of Commerce, said this was not just a real estate issue, the Chamber represented approximately 274 businesses and it was an important issue for all businesses. Mary Petrov, El Pueblo, said she did not need signs to fmd her way around when she came to town and wanted the town kept clean. Bill Wintersteen, manager for Century 21-Anderson Group in Fountain Hills, said 60% of all Century 21 business had come from signs. He felt there should be an opportunity for businesses to be given a chance. John Evancho said he objected to three (3) or four (4) different signs showing where an open house was being held. Councilwoman Tibbetts said she agreed with the effectiveness and efficiency of signs but wanted to know if it was necessary for signs to be in the public right-of-way. Mayor Cutillo said the sign regulation should be given a chance, allow the signs to continue for at least another year and the businesses needed the opportunity to let people know where they were. Councilman Hudson asked if hand painted signs, i.e. advertising for pancakes, hot coffee, etc., would be allowed on the public right-of-way. Mr. Jeppson said if there was a special event the Council, at the time of reviewing the special event, would establish signage rules and the signs would come down at night. AGENDA ITEM #7. - CONSIDERATION OF SETTING A DATE FOR THE PUBLIC HEARING ON THE GENERAL PLAN AND THE REVISED ZONING ORDINANCE OF FOUNTAIN HILLS. Mr. Nordin recommended May 6 for the General Plan and May 20 for the Planning and Zoning Ordinance. Councilman Minarsich MOVED acceptance of those dates as directed by staff. SECONDED by Councilwoman Tibbetts and CARRIED unanimously. Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 04/01/93 Page 4 of 5 . AGENDA ITEM #8. - CALL TO THE PUBLIC. (PUBLIC COMMENT IS ENCOURAGED BUT PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THE COUNCIL HAS NO ABILITY TO RESPOND OR DISCUSS MATTERS BROUGHT UP DURING THE CALL TO THE PUBLIC AS SUCH DISCUSSION IS PROHIBITED BY THE ARIZONA OPEN MEETING LAW.) Erna Charles asked if there was a rule for access onto Fountain Hills Boulevard and could someone make access from his house onto Fountain Hills Boulevard legally. Between MCO and Fountain Hills Boulevard someone had filled up a lot of dirt to put in his own driveway. Mayor Cutillo asked Mr. Harrel to look into it. AGENDA ITEM #9. - ADJOURNMENT. Mayor Cutillo called for a motion to adjourn. Councilman Minarsich MOVED to adjourn. SECONDED by Councilwoman Tibbetts and CARRIED unanimously. The Town Council adjourned at approximately 8:00 p.m. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS By: J M. Cutillo, Mayor ATTEST: Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk PREPARED BY: 5)Lla�— Marcia NL Jewett, Admin. Assi t. CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Regular Meeting held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills on the lst day of April 1993. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED this I E+4- day of April 1993. Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 04/01/93 Page 5 of 5