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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994.0505.TCRM.Minutes TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE REGULAR SESSION OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL MAY 5, 1994 A public meeting of the Fountain Hills Town Council was convened and called to order by Mayor Cutillo at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, May 5, 1994, in the Fountain Hills Town Hall Council Chambers, located at 16836 E. Palisades Blvd.,Building C,Fountain Hills, Arizona. ROLL CALL -Following the pledge to the flag and the invocation by Councilman Lawrence,roll call was taken. Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Mayor John Cutillo, Vice Mayor Mike Minarsich, and Councilmembers Don Lawrence, Peg Tibbetts, Frank Clark, Wally Hudson and Bill O'Brien. Also present were Town Attorney Bill Farrell,Town Manager Paul Nordin,Town Clerk Cassie Hansen, Director of Community Development Gary Jeppson,Associate Planner Loras Rauch and Current Planner Jeff Valder. Mayor Cutillo read the consent agenda which included: AGENDA ITEM#2. - ACCEPTANCE OF THE MEETING MINUTES OF APRIL 21, 1994. AGENDA ITEM#3.- CONSIDERATION OF THE LIQUOR LICENSE APPLICATION SUBMITTED BY KAREN E. RUSSO FOR THE MIRAGE BAR AND GRILL. THE APPLICATION IS FOR A CLASS 12 RESTAURANT LICENSE. AGENDA ITEM#4. - CONSIDERATION OF THE SPECIAL EVENT REQUEST SUBMITTED BY THE SUNSET KIWANIS FOR A DUATHLON TO BE HELD ON SUNDAY, MAY 22, 1994. THE EVENT IS SCHEDULED FOR 5:00 A.M. TO 9:00 A.M. AGENDA ITEM #5. - CONSIDERATION OF THE EXTENSION OF PREMISE/PATIO PERMIT SUBMITTED BY ALBERT POMA FOR POMA'S RISTORANTE ON SUNDAY, MAY 22, 1994. THE PERMIT WILL TEMPORARILY EXTEND POMA'S LIQUOR LICENSE OUTSIDE FOR A JULY 4TH SPAGHETTI DINNER FUND RAISER. AGENDA ITEM#6.-CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION 1994-16,ABANDONING WHATEVER RIGHT, TITLE, OR INTEREST THE TOWN HAS IN PORTIONS OF THOSE CERTAIN PUBLIC UTILITY EASEMENTS AND DRAINAGE EASEMENTS AFFECTING ALONG THE NORTHWESTERN LOT LINE OF LOT 22,BLOCK 7,OF PLAT 111 FOUNTAIN HILLS,ARIZONA,AS RECORDED IN BOOK 150 OF MAPS, PAGE 12,RECORDS OF MARICOPA COUNTY,ARIZONA,AND; THE SOUTHERN LOT LINE OF LOT 22, BLOCK 7, PLAT 111, FOUNTAIN HILLS, ARIZONA, AS RECORDED IN BOOK 150 OF MAPS,PAGE 12,RECORDS OF MARICOPA COUNTY,ARIZONA,AND;THE NORTHERN LOT LINE OF LOT 23,BLOCK 7,OF PLAT 111 FOUNTAIN HILLS,ARIZONA,AS RECORDED IN BOOK 150 OF MAPS, PAGE 12, RECORDS OF MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA. AGENDA ITEM#7.- CONSIDERATION OF REPLAT OF PLAT 111,BLOCK 7,LOTS 22 THROUGH 26, CASE NUMBER S94-43. AGENDA ITEM #8. - CONSIDERATION OF MIRAGE CONDOMINIUMS XXXVI THROUGH XXXIX AND LI THROUGH LVIII, CASE NUMBERS S94-31 THROUGH S94-42. AGENDA ITEM #9. - CONSIDERATION OF THE SPECIAL EVENT REQUEST OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS GIRL SCOUTS TO CONDUCT A "BRIDGING CEREMONY" ON THE AVENUE OF THE Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 05/05/94 Page 1 of 8 , FOUNTAINS BETWEEN VERDE RIVER AND LA MONTANA ON SUNDAY,MAY 15, 1994 FROM 4:00 P.M. TO 5:00 P.M. Councilman Clark requested that Agenda Item #2 be removed from the Consent Agenda. Vice Mayor Minarsich MOVED approval of the remaining consent agenda and Councilman O'Brien SECONDED. A roll call vote was taken with the results as follows: Councilman O'Brien aye Councilman Hudson aye Councilman Clark aye Councilwoman Tibbetts aye Councilman Lawrence aye Vice Mayor Minarsich aye Mayor Cutillo aye The motion CARRIED unanimously. AGENDA ITEM#2. - ACCEPTANCE OF THE MEETING MINUTES OF APRIL 21, 1994. Councilman Clark MOVED to accept the minutes subject to the addition of discussions reflecting a change in priority for the Kiwanis building and botanical garden from moderate priority to high priority and low priority to high priority, respectively. Councilman Hudson SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. Mayor Cutillo declared a recess to the regularly scheduled Council meeting at 6:37 p.m. and declared a public hearing open. kir AGENDA ITEM#10.-PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER A SPECIAL USE PERMIT APPLICATION TO ALLOW A GUEST HOUSE TO BE LOCATED AT 12033 ORGANPIPE CIRCLE,AKA PLAT 423,BLOCK 2, LOT 12. No one came forward in favor or in opposition, so Mayor Cutillo declared the public hearing closed at 6:37 p.m. and reconvened the regular Town Council meeting. AGENDA ITEM#11. - CONSIDERATION OF A SPECIAL USE PERMIT APPLICATION TO ALLOW A GUEST HOUSE TO BE LOCATED AT 12033 ORGANPIPE CIRCLE,AKA PLAT 423,BLOCK 2,LOT 12. Councilman Hudson MOVED approval of the special use permit and Councilwoman Tibbetts SECONDED the motion. The motion CARRIED unanimously. AGENDA ITEM#12. - DISCUSSION OF POSSIBLE ACCEPTANCE/ACQUISITION OF THE WASHES FROM MCO PROPERTIES. Mr. Nordin said the item had been placed on the agenda for discussion at the request of Mayor Cutillo and Councilwoman Tibbetts. He said Mr. Jeppson would briefly address the item and if the Council desired further investigation, staff requested appropriate direction. telow Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 05/05/94 Page 2 of 8 Councilman Clark asked Mr. Nordin if he had had an opportunity to gather the assessed value for the area and determine the potential tax loss to the Town,the school district,the sanitary district and the fire district. Mr.Nordin said he had not had an opportunity to do so and Councilman Clark said he thought it would be important information to be aware of. In response to Vice Mayor Minarsich, Mr. Baldwin of MCO said the taxes were between $6,000 and $8,000. Councilman Lawrence asked Mr.Jeppson what the areas were zoned and Mr. Jeppson answered that they were in every zoning district the Town had. Ms. Susan Raiphe, Chairwoman of the Committee to Preserve the Natural Environment, said her committee urged the Town to take over the washes and combine that with a preservation effort at the Town level. She said she didn't feel that use of the washes should be determined by a parks or departmental plan. The policy should be formed by the Council and have it trickle down to the departments. She suggested removing all references to the washes from the parks plan and deal with both the parks and the washes as separate issues. Mr. Arnold VanRuitenbeek said he,too,would like to see the washes in the possession of the Town,but he would like to see them opened up for use as hiking paths. Mr. Tom Antone said he was in favor of the Town taking possession of the washes,but opposed any development of them. Ms. Irene Kirshkoff asked if there was any danger of MCO abandoning the washes to avoid tax liabilities. Mr. Bob Thomas said, regarding abandonment, that there would be two to three years before a property would be put to public auction, so the Town would have plenty of time to step in and pay any back taxes or such and save it from the public. Mayor Cutillo directed staff to prepare and return to the Council a concise plan for acquisition of the washes. Noir Mayor Cutillo again recessed the regularly scheduled Council meeting and declared a public hearing open at 6:59 p.m. AGENDA ITEM #13. - PUBLIC HEARING ON THE SUNRIDGE CANYON AREA SPECIFIC PLAN (GPA94-01) WHICH, IF ADOPTED, WILL AMEND THE FOUNTAIN HILLS GENERAL PLAN BY PLACING DIFFERENT LAND USE DESIGNATIONS AND REGULATIONS ON 950 ACRES LOCATED NORTH AND WEST OF PALISADES BOULEVARD,WEST OF GOLDEN EAGLE BOULEVARD,SOUTH OF THE NORTH HEIGHTS AREA LOCATED SOUTH OF SIERRA MADRE DRIVE; NORTH OF THE CITY OF SCOTTSDALE AREA KNOWN AS "EAGLE RIDGE"; AND EAST OF THE McDOWELL MOUNTAINS. Ms. Rauch made a presentation per the attached. She said the application would be the first of many anticipated in the Sunridge Canyon area. An amendment to the General Plan was necessary because the applicant desired to develop the property in a diverse manner from the single family very low and the single family low zonings. She said the overall density range would be within the planned density,but there would be areas that were higher than the single family very low and low. She said density was one of the major considerations in reviewing the project. The project was presently zoned R1-43. She said the proposed area specific plan was laid over the General Plan and an allowable density range of from 700 to 1600 units was arrived at, so the proposed 1100 units would fall within the General Plan. Staff wanted to set a density cap rather than a proposed range, so they used zoning codes and the General Plan to arrive at a maximum density of 1230 units. The plan being presented was for 1143 dwelling units,with a request for 10%allowance for deviation in the parcel size and a 10%allowance for density fluctuation Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 05/05/94 Page 3 of 8 within the parcels,but at no time would the total number of approved dwelling units be exceeded. Staff and MCO had agreed that there would be no fluctuation of density in Parcels B,E, and H due to their proximity to adjacent developments. Ms. Rauch said staff had requested a traffic study of the area which was conducted by an outside engineer and the town engineer agreed with the results. The Planning and Zoning(P&Z)Commission recommended approval of the project but with two agreed-upon areas where the Commission and MCO agreed to disagree. The first item was that MCO proposed to make all the improvements on Palisades Blvd.from Shea to Sage and one-half of the improvements from Sage to Lost Hills and the P&Z Commission recommended that MCO be required to make the full improvements from Shea to Lost Hills. The second item was that MCO requested to have 130 single family units on Parcel C and be allowed to increase that number by the 10% fluctuation. The P&Z Commission recommended a limit of 89 single family units on Parcel C with no option to increase the total number. P&Z's recommendation was for a total of 1102 units versus the 1143 requested by MCO. She said if the Council granted the plan,they must be willing to grant the developer zoning designations upon request to achieve the number of units approved in each parcel in the Area Specific Plan. She said the P&Z commission had a problem with that with regard to Parcel C. A new zoning classification for Parcel C would have to be developed--either an R1-5 district or a P.U.D.which allowed a minimum lot size below 6000 square feet. The P&Z Commission did not want to make a recommendation for a parcel for which there was no zoning classification on the books. Councilman Clark said he was a little surprised that there was no discussion regarding incorporating the mountain just west of the planned area to take care of protection of that mountain once and for all. Ms.Rauch said there had been some discussions early on,but the P&Z Commission did not desire to hold MCO up any further as they had time constraints they were hoping to meet. Councilman Clark then asked, regarding the alignment of Thunderbird Rd., how close it was to the project. Ms. Rauch said Mr. Harrel and Mr.Baldwin had been speaking with the City of Scottsdale on that matter. Councilman Clark said MCO had not been successful in negotiations with Scottsdale to de-annex that portion of land,and he said he thought approval should be contingent upon that de-annexation and annexation being successful, since it was important for the town to have control over the roadway,the maintenance,and the subdivision entrance. Ms.Rauch said MCO had held discussions with the City of Scottsdale that if Scottsdale would not de-annex the entire 28 acres, at least de-annex that portion of the roadway since it would be to Scottsdale's benefit not to have to maintain that roadway. Mr.Ray Baldwin of MCO was called on to give a presentation. Mr.Baldwin said the difference between his project and the others recently reviewed was that the others were subdivisions--MCO's project was for a community,made up of numerous subdivisions, a golf course and was a separate community unto itself in Fountain Hills. When the project was originally submitted in November 1993, the request was for 1900 units. He said the current plan was the result of input from and discussions with a lot of concerned groups and individuals. The three main parts of the plan were the land use element, circulation, and recreation. The key element under recreation would be the golf course,which would achieve several things,among which would be recreation and,more importantly,would be the ability to dispose of the effluent which the community would generate. He also said there would be a lake area near the golf clubhouse. He then reminded the Council that the P&Z Commission had given approval with the exception of the two items where they and MCO had agreed to disagree, which Mr. Baldwin also explained. The first was density counts in Parcel C. The second was the paving of Palisades. He said MCO felt from Shea to Sage,MCO would be responsible for the entire paving of that stretch. The portion of Palisades from Sage to Lost Hills was adjacent to existing Fountain Hills and MCO felt only a 50% responsibility for that portion. Mr. Baldwin said the project would not be total production housing. Several parcels would be single family, one builder homes,but the rest would be normal custom homes. Mr. Mike Heasley,Committee for Sensible Development, said MCO had been extremely good about meeting with them and other concerned groups and listening to their concerns. He said his committee had no problem with production housing, but they felt the development should fit into the existing area, and the project had some areas that did not come close to fitting in with the existing homes and topography. He gave as an example North Heights Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 05/05/94 Page 4 of 8 , where the minimum lot size was approximately 1/3 acre as compared to the 6000 square foot lots being proposed. His group had concerns with sections A,C and G. He suggested a minimum of one-quarter acre lots so the homes would blend in better,which would require a reduction of 68 homes. He also recommended that MCO be requested to specify which additional plots of land might be developed into production homes and that they not be given a variance. He said he also agreed with Councilman Clark that the mountain should be deeded over to the Town and preserved. Mr. VanRuitenbeek said the North Heights property owners association had held two meetings with MCO, which had been very helpful, and the entire association fully supported the proposal as presented. Ms. Kathy Heasley said she couldn't accept the claim that the project would satisfy diverse housing income levels. She said it was easy to see that production homes in some of the higher density areas may start at a reasonable price, but due to the waterfront, golf course and mountainside lots, any developer would charge significantly higher lot premiums for those, so the idea that the project would be a solution to lower income housing was not acceptable. Mr. Bill McGivern,also a member of the Committee for Sensible Development, said he commended the amount of good, logical thought put into the project. Ms.Karen Myers, 15735 Sunflower Dr.,said in P&Z discussions with MCO,the mountain had been brought up and a request for a school site made. A school site was negotiated, but discussions regarding the mountain were discontinued. Mr. Mike Heasley said there was not even an average of one full acre of land on each of the lots,even in the area designated low density. He said the project had gone from one acre zoning for the entire parcel to not one section averaging an acre. Mr. Bill Tessmer said that Mayor Cutillo,in the televised debate,had said the Town Council had not increased any zoning densities and that it had no plans to do so. He said approval of the project would set a precedent. Ms.Rauch said staff had overlaid the plan with the general plan and merged it with the general plan land use and had arrived Nosi at a range of 717 to 1641 units as the number of units that could be on the property given the current general plan designation. Ms. Betty Antone, Golden Eagle, asked what type of housing was proposed for the orange area on the map. Ms. Rauch answered that the area was zoned single-family medium,requiring at least a 5000-square foot lot. It would be single family, not condominiums, but with small lots. Mayor Cutillo closed the public hearing at 7:45 p.m. and reconvened the regularly scheduled Council meeting. AGENDA ITEM #14. - CONSIDERATION OF RESOLUTION 1994-17, DECLARING THAT CERTAIN DOCUMENT KNOWN AS THE SUNRIDGE CANYON AREA SPECIFIC PLAN, APRIL 29, 1994, FOR THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS, A PUBLIC RECORD PURSUANT TO A.R.S. 9-801. Councilwoman Tibbetts said a 5-acre park was to be donated and wondered whether a site had been determined. Ms.Rauch said staff had not been made aware of a site,only that MCO had indicated they would designate the site at the time of the first rezoning case. Mayor Cutillo said he was concerned about Palisades Blvd.and though he thought MCO's proposal to pave Palisades to the entrance of the project sounded reasonable, he thought the amount of traffic from Shea due to opening up Palisades would need to be considered. He said the Town could barely afford to do the two lanes on Fountain Hills Blvd., so Palisades would take the brunt of traffic into the community. He said he wanted to pressure MCO to reconsider their position and see if they could pave four full lanes on Palisades. Vice Mayor Minarsich said he Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 05/05/94 Page 5 of 8 agreed and said he was uncomfortable with the plan unless MCO could agree to the full paving. He said he had some concerns with the density transfers,but he felt he was getting mixed messages from the citizens and asked Mr. McGivern to clarify his position. Mr. McGivern said he thought the project had looked at surrounding impacts, the need for a variety of housing,left a certain amount of open acreage,and with the exception of the high density in the orange-colored area the project made some sense. He said the project was headed in the right direction and he would be in favor if it adhered to the P&Z stipulations. Vice Mayor Minarsich then asked Mr. Heasley if, though he was on the same committee as Mr. McGivern,he did not favor the project. Mr. Heasley answered that there were three areas with densities way too high. He said he thought that a quarter acre should be the minimum size. He said a lot of people were concerned with how Palisades Blvd. would be resolved. He said his big concern was the production housing. He wasn't comfortable with MCO having four unspecified tracts that were to be production housing. He didn't think they should be given a variance of four to eight but should be asked to specify the tracts they intended to develop as such. He said his final concern was deeding over the land involving the mountain and that across from Sierra Madre. Councilman Lawrence said he had concerns with the proximity of the high school to the project and the volume of traffic on Palisades. He said the volume of traffic generated by the high school and other sites being developed by MCO also needed to be considered. He said the Town was struggling to determine what to do with Fountain Hills Blvd. and certainly did not need another major boulevard to struggle with. He said he would be inclined to request MCO have responsibility for the full development of Palisades, end to end, in a timely fashion,before approving the project. Councilman O'Brien asked for clarification as to whether a certain parcel was developed as production homes or custom lots could be restricted by the area specific plan or zoning restrictions and Mr.Farrell answered it could not be restricted. Councilman O'Brien then MOVED to pass the resolution incorporating the recommendations of the P&Z Commission relative to paving Palisades and limiting Parcel C to a R1-6 zoning. Councilman Clark SECONDED the motion. It was agreed to add a cap of 105 to Parcel D as part of the motion. Mr.Baldwin said,regarding Thunderbird Rd.alignment,that Fountain Hills,if unable to de-annex that portion from Scottsdale, should be able to condemn it to allow maintenance to it. He then said, regarding the matter of the mountains, that MCO was willing to discuss it whenever the Town felt the need,but to pick out one mountain that might affect other development parcels might not be in MCO's best interest from a land development standpoint. He said his main concern was the requirement that MCO pave Palisades. He said when Palisades opened,no traffic would come from Sunridge Canyon onto Palisades but would come from existing Fountain Hills and for MCO to pay the full share wouldn't be proper. If the council really felt like MCO should pay the full share,he said he would like to continue the discussions at a future time so the economic impact on the project could be measured. Councilman Lawrence said he felt the Council's hands were tied--there was no money,even if the desire was there-- but he would support a continuance to give MCO an opportunity to get some figures together. He said he didn't agree entirely that MCO was not generating traffic when,in fact,they were opening up areas which would contribute to Palisades. Councilman Clark said he was not open to a continuance since there was nothing to discuss. He then referred to a March 23 letter from Mr. Walt Dunne which stated that the school district and MCO had come to an agreement on potential school sites but that some negotiations were continuing. He asked if all negotiations had been completed. Mr. Baldwin answered that one site had been agreed upon and another site was 'floating' in the downtown area as a result of the town center planning effort. It had been identified that a school site would be included,but since the plan was still evolving,an exact location had not been pinpointed. Councilman Clark then asked what the land near the Aspen school site would be used for. Mr. Baldwin said it had been identified that additional land was needed for recreational facilities and MCO had agreed to give the land. Law Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 05/05/94 Page 6 of 8 Councilman Clark asked Mr. Farrell if the Town could be assured that the entrance to Sunridge Canyon would be in Fountain Hills. Mr. Farrell answered that the Town could not order MCO to account for an act of another governmental body. The Town could own and control property outside of its corporate limits,but nothing could be 411110 done without cooperation from Scottsdale. Councilman Lawrence said the Town would not suffer from granting a continuance and that it would be an act of good will to do so. Councilman Hudson said if MCO had not proposed the project,the question of paving Palisades probably wouldn't have come up for several more years; therefore, the developer should bear the burden of the paving. Councilman Hudson MOVED to TABLE consideration of Resolution 1994-17, as amended, until the next regular council meeting; Councilman Lawrence SECONDED the motion. The motion CARRIED with six aye votes to one nay vote by Councilman Clark. Agenda Item #15 was subsequently tabled as a result of the previous motion. AGENDA ITEM#16 -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.) No one came forward. AGENDA ITEM#17. - ADJOURNMENT. Vice Mayor Minarsich MOVED to adjourn and Councilman O'Brien SECONDED. The motion CARRIED unanimously. The Town Council adjourned at approximately 8:16 p.m. vt) Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 05/05/94 Page 7 of 8 L TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS By: John Cutillo, Mayor ATTEST: C • �cu Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk PREPARED BY: Rosalyn Rucker, Admin. trative Assistant CER 1T1 ICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Regular Session Meeting held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills on the 5th day of May, 1994. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED this 2nd day of June, 1994. 0A1-44-A - . Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk Nor Minutes of the Regular Session of the Town Council 05/05/94 Page 8 of 8 •