Buckeye unanimously approves 510-unit net-zero multifamily project and two rezonings

e e e okay we are going to call this meeting to order this is the city of Buckey regular council meeting for December 17th 2024 and we will start with the invocation led by Don chetam forever in a service Ministry uh followed by the Pledge of Allegiance by council member Tony yker thank you for giving me the honor to come and pray with you tonight join with me in prayer if you would please thank you Heavenly Father for your grace and your mercy that you pour out upon us thank you especially for the freedom we have to worship honor and embrace you Jesus I thank you for the city leaders that you have placed in their positions to fulfill their roles and to make decisions according to your plan and purposes for not just the city but most importantly for the people that live here father your word tells us that as Citizens we should pray for the government authorities that are placed over us so father as I usually do I ask holy spirit that you inhabit the mayor and this newly elected Council and bless each of them as they willingly serve this community I believe that this Council will make decisions that will positively influence the future of Buckeye for many years to come I ask great blessings to be poured out upon them their businesses their families for their faithfulness to serve you I ask God that you bless each level of City officials represented here tonight as they also serve in their respective positions Lord Jesus I ask that you give this Council and the city leaders the wisdom of Solomon to govern amid the conflicting interests and growing issues not just tonight but in every decision that they make father give them a sense of the welfare and true needs of the people of Buckeye and its surrounding communities place within each of them discernment and a keen thirst for justice and rightness as they serve you in their respective positions give them confidence in making decisions that are good and fitting for this community and its future Lord I ask that you grant them the ability to work together in harmony with the focus on what's best for the future of this great City I pray that you give each of them Assurance of what would please you and what would benefit those who live and work in and around our beloved city of Buckey I ask that you bless each person with a personal peace in their lives and in the lives of their families so that they will find joy in the tasks you have called them to do in Jesus name I pray amen please join me in the plge of Allegiance PL to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you both uh we have the roll call please council member yker here council member Barry herec member Goodman president council member hestad here member beard here vice mayor hustus here mayor orsborne present thank you very much item number two is comments from the public members of the audience May comment on any non-agenda item of Interest I don't have any speaker request cards do we have any with you speak request okay we'll go on to item number three Awards presentations and proclamations we have none for tonight item number four is consent agenda items in new business approval of items on the consent agenda all items with an asct are considered to be routine matters and be enacted by one motion and vote of the city council there'll be no separate discussion of these items unless a council member requests this section may include the approval of minutes from previous meetings Council for the consent agenda what is your pleasure Mr Mayor I make a motion we approve consent agenda items 4 A as in Adam through four Adam David I'll second would you guys do that on your magic voting machines motion made by councilman houa seconded by council member Goodman uh all in favor you please vote on your machine and signify by saying I I I and opposed or are we Italian motion carried motion carries all right thank you all right thank you m Mr Mayor can I interrupt you I I wasn't sure and I wasn't clear if the clerk heard it did we register council member hagad vote on The Voice he did as I my apologies thank you thank you um item number six is public public hearings and non-consent a new business items 6A Council to hold a public hearing and take action on ordinance number 27-24 amending the zoning map of the city of bucke for approximately 07 Acres located approximately at the southeast corner of Baseline and East Third Avenue from special use Su to downtown residential Dr and Jerick Dunn Jerick this is your first time up here isn't it yes sir all right I'm nervous for you well don't be all good job all right good evening mayor and council members my name is Jerick Dunn planner one with the city of Buckeye and I will be presenting case plzz d24 d007 which is a rezone for 305 East Baseline Road generally located at the southeast corner of Baseline Road and East Third Avenue so a little bit of a project overview um the applicant and property owner is Brian gon uh the site is approximately 07 Acres or 3,240 sare ft and is again located at the southeast corner of Baseline Road and East Third Avenue the request is to change the zoning from special use to downtown residential this would allow for development of a residential duplex the subject property is currently vacant the properties to the North and South consist of single family residences the property to the east is also vacant and the property to the West is Refuge church to speak a little bit about the general plan uh the general plan land use designation designation for the subject property is Activity Center activity centers denote live work play areas that are vibrant mixed use areas providing destination locations the downtown Buckey specific area plan also known as the daap was developed for the historic downtown Bucky activity center and refined land uses and planning concepts with intent to create a regional destination to capitalize on the historical and cultural assets available in the area the proposed use of that residential duplex and Zoning is consistent with the vision of the daap as for zoning as St previously the applicant is proposing to change the zoning from special use to downtown residential the property's existing special use District or zoning District does not permit residential development allowing only for a range of agricultural and specialized commercial uses the special use zoning is not compatible with the vision for development of the area as outlined in the daap downtown residential Zone District allows for development and Redevelopment of properties uh within the downtown Activity Center that are not located adjacent to the area's primary main streets including many of Buckey's older residential neighborhoods the district allows for a variety of residential uses including single family residential duplexes and multifam the proposed residential use does meet the intent of the downtown residential zoning district and as for public particip ipation uh a neighborhood the first neighborhood meeting was uh hosted June 21st 2024 at 12: p.m.

held at uh Buckeye Public Library the coyote branch and the second neighborhood meeting was hosted October 1st 2024 at 6 p.m.

on a zoom meeting all notification and public participation has been met as shown here and in the staff report three residents were present for the first neighborhood meeting one resident expressed concern about the feasibility of a septic system on the lot which was addressed by the applicant assuring the resident that he is working with a septic engineer to address any sizing issues the other two residents present had no further comments there were no members of the public present at the second neighborhood meeting for future development in emergency services uh P pending building permit review uh for residential duplex development and the property will receive city services with the exception of sewer on-site septic to be provided due to the lack of city sewer in this area the duplex will go through a design review with City oversight at the permitting review stage so recommendation mayor and council members our request to you this evening is to conduct a public hearing and adopt ordinance 27 ordinance number 27-24 approving plzz d24 d007 subject to conditions a through I for the following reasons it furthers goals of the Buckeye General plan and contributes to a vibrant Historic downtown Buckeye activity center with residential density appropriate to an activity center it conforms to the Buckeye development code and no outstanding issues from reviewing departments with the conclusion of my presentation the applicant has chosen not to present but is available for questions in addition to staff okay thank you Mr Dunn uh so item 6A we need to open a public hearing uh we are in a public hearing do we have any speaker request cards there are no speaker requests okay anybody from the public wishing to speak I'm seeing none we will close the public hearing and any questions or comments from Council I'm seeing none Council 6A what's your pleasure Mr Mayor I make a motion we approve agenda item 6 a is an adom second I have a motion uh hold on I have a motion made by councilman hustus seconded by council member Yonker uh all in favor vote on your voting machine and signify uh by saying I I I I and opposed and Carri is unanimous all right Mr dun thank you all right Council to hold a public hearing on 6B and take action on ordinance number 30-24 declaring is a public record that certain document on file with the city clerk entitled city of Buckey December 2024 development code article 8 update and for this our staff leison is Mandy [Applause] Woods all right good evening mayor and members of the council my name is Mandy woods and I'm a senior planner with uh the city of Buckeye tonight I'm going to be presenting this development code Amendment which pertains to the administrative completeness of rezonings and the case number is pzm 24 -107 some basic overview on this proposed um text Amendment we are the applicant as the city um and the request is amendments to development code article 8 um specifically sections 8.2 and 8.5 which um adds language regarding administrative completeness for rezoning applications which is in accordance with um a recent State Statute change which is ARS 9- 462 um 10 um to give some background of the request um there was a bill that passed um and signed by the governor in April of this year Senate Bill 1162 um which amended State Statute to add um this particular section and this new section of Statute requires that municipalities adopt a text amendment that um will address administrative completeness of uh residential resoning applications by by January 1st of 2025 and just because I know that some of you are aware most of you perhaps are aware of an ongoing larger development code update that um the city is working with the consultant on that is still underway and the only reason that we kind of broke this apart from that is because of that deadline that's on the slide there so this is kind of a housekeeping item that just based on the the state mandated deadline that's why this is going separately and then for Simplicity purposes um even though the state statute says that this require this applies only to residential resoning applications um we're just going to apply this to all of our rezonings just for ease of administration and then to kind of summarize the the content of this change for an initial rezoning application that comes to um the city the city must determine that it is administratively complete within 30 days any subsequent submittals or resubmittals the the city is going to be responsible for determining that same administrative completeness within 15 days um and then there's also a CL a new clock that's added into this um a new time frame which pertains to approval or denial within 180 days of the initial determination of administrative completeness and the statute allows for certain parameters of extensions um which we've added into our Lang as well so the city May extend this time frame once um not to exceed 30 days and then the applicant can also um request extensions 30 days each um and there's some exceptions to this this shot clock so to speak which pertains to some more complex Properties or projects particularly pads and anything that's designated in a historic manner um and just to explain kind of what administratively complete means it doesn't necessarily mean that all of the substance of um the application is 100% correct it just means that in terms of the checklist items everything has been provided it doesn't necessarily mean that all accurate or uh agreed as far as impact to the current process um the good news is we pretty much already do this um as part of our day-to-day operations um the planning division has project coordinators that follow a very similar procedure for application completeness on all entitl applications so yes we will have to modify some things and create a process to monitor that um 180 day clock um and then those extensions but otherwise we're not anticipating much procedural impact just got to follow this uh this mandate and make it uh part of the code itself as far as public participation uh legal notice was uh provided on November 9th 2024 um this was for both of the hearings that were part of this request um and no other um public participation or noticing is required as part of this text Amendment and we have received no public comments on this um proposed language thus far as far as recommendation uh recommendation for tonight is to conduct a public hearing and then um staff would recommend adoption of ordinance number 30-24 approving plz m4- 0107 that concludes my presentation I'm happy to take questions okay thank you Mandy uh we will open a public hearing and do we have any speaker request cards for 6B no speaker requests anybody from the public wishing to speak on 6B seeing none we will close the public hearing uh any questions from Council I'm seeing none I just have one do do we know from a uh just a buckeye perspective how many times we've gone over over that 180 day shot clock for reson I don't have a number I don't know that we have a number of that um don't don't know that we have ever gone over the 180 okay I think that's what two guys behind you there are shaking their heads yes to that I'll confirm it on okay perfect hello mayor members of council Adam copelan um principal not principal planner I'm a deputy director planing uh well I'm going back in time I don't know I thought she was going to BMT me or something but uh no mayor we we have not exceeded that 180-day shot clock we actually uh process things uh administrative completeness within a couple days we've never taken that long on an application um so I think we're in good shape okay great thank you all right uh item 6B Council what is your pleasure Mr Mayor I make a motion we approve agenda item Six B is and boy I'll second I have a motion made by councilman houa second by councilman Goodman all in favor say I I I I and make sure you record your votes uh and all against say nay and we are unanimous on this one also thank you very much Miss Woods thank you won't go too far all right yeah don't leave Council to hold a public hearing on 6C and take action on summer 29-24 mending the zoning map of the city of Buckey for approximately 17.89% is uh the West Filmore High Street multif family reone project uh the case number is plzz 24-9 the applicant on this project is Katie browns with cadence group um she is present tonight um and she's here on behalf of High Street Ventures and then um High Street West Filmore 2024 Apartments that's the developer and the new owner um of the project and the parcel the location is approximately 1,000 ft east of the northeast corner of Vado way and Filmore Street and then the request tonight is to rezone from Commercial Center or CC which is one of our obsolete districts to multif Family 2 or mf2 the size of the parcel is approximately 18 Acres Thunder um and as you can see in the red outline um that's the the subject parcel um up for rezoning tonight the to the north is Summit Community Church and until recently they were also the owner on the on the property but that has recently changed the South um is is vacant land East also vacant West vacant but um is anticipated as the future mixed use commercial and multif family residential project called the mix which went for uh pad resoning and was approved recently as well as far as general plan land use associated with this area um this is perhaps timely given the the workshop that we had today um this is in um an activity center area identified in our general plan but specifically um this is in what we are now calling the landing um for which we are working on a specific area plan which is going to be um envisioned as an employment educational and entertainment Hub that serves the greater West Valley region offering diverse living opportunities um and given kind of that Vision the proposed use and the proposed zoning is very consistent with the vision of of this area and as previously stated the existing zoning of the parcel is a commercial center and the proposed is multif Family 2 for public participation on this rezoning request um the applicant did hold a neighborhood meeting um back in late August which was held at at the suit Community Church so right next door great location for this um there were no participants that showed up outside of the project team and and then obviously City staff representation as well um the legal notices have been completed in compliance with all requirements the site was posted um and mailing notices went out also in accordance with um code requirements and no public comments have been received to date staff on this as far as future development infrastructure even though the focus um tonight of course is on the rezoning just for your information there is a pending site plan review for for this site um for a 510 unit multif family residential Community um the proposed density of that is about uh 28.5 dwelling units per acre and that's that's going um through review right now and is expected to go before Planning and Zoning commission soon uh the developer of course will complete any required Transportation water and sewer and all infrastructure improvements which will be um as determined by that site plan approval as far as school impact um the applicant has been diligently working with the affected school districts um they've sent all of the required noticing and donation agreements between the developer and the districts are pending for um the recommendation on this case um um we recommend that uh the council conduct a public hearing and then we also recommend adoption of ordinance number 29-24 approving plzz 24-9 subject to conditions a through J for the following reasons it furthers the goals of the general plan um as well as the proposed landing area um it's in conformance with the development code um consistent with the um Luke Air Force the graduated density concept and then um um also the Gateway Activity Center we have a policy that pertains to that GDC as well that policy and then there's no outstanding issues from reviewing departments on this rezoning that concludes my presentation the applicant is here um she does have a short presentation um if that's your pleasure for her to present um I'll let you decide I guess what order if we decide to do that but thank you thank you you excited about getting up and presenting okay um let's run through a quick presentation then wasn't going to force you to do it but since you're happy to yeah I'm happy all right do you have one of these I don't no all right well good evening uh mayor and council members I am Katie rounds um and I am with the Cadence group uh here this evening on behalf of High Street Ventures who as Mandy had mentioned is the new property owner of this parcel just to the south of the um Summit Church along Filmore just north of verado way um I would first like to thank the amazing Buckey staff um from planning to building to engineering to Legal I have um very much monopolized their time I feel like over the last few months and their guidance and assistance on this project has been really appreciated so thank you um we are before you this evening of course to request um approval for the rezone of this project from the existing CC obsolete zoning to the mf2 to allow this project to occur um just a quick introduction I am the only team member here this evening um but as part of our team um we High Street ventor again property owner are architect on this project is Todd and Associates our civil engineering firm is hilgart Wilson now known as colier engineering um Landscaping is also by Todd and Associates um and then traffic engineering by the locah group um before we jump into the project details I just wanted to take a moment to introduce the property owner um and developer of this project as they are new to the United States and new to Arizona um so High Street Ventures is a British Columbia based real estate develop velopment company um that develops and builds environmentally Advanced Apartment Homes across British Columbia um and now in Arizona high Street's passionate about developing smarter real estate that makes a real impact by focusing on quality finishes and environmental sustainability um that enables their residents to feel good about their homes with approximately 5,200 Apartment Homes and cond Condominiums developed and owned across British Columbia High Street is a committed multifamily developer and long-term holder of all developed communities so their intent on this one is they will continue to develop own operate uh through the life of the project um to High Street quality finishes mean more than quartz countertops and high-end Cabinetry quality means everything from the inside out is engineered to bring Comfort pride and no carbon emissions um so their design and construction team focuses heavily on the design of the building envelope from The Mechanical plumbing and electrical systems um and site features such as solar electrical vehicle charging goes above and beyond any building code green requirements by minimizing energy consumption through this Focus all High Street communities have the potential to fully offset their energy consumption in the future as solar electricity and Technology improves our focus on the West Filmore development in the Buckey Community is to um is set to be one of a first of its kind in Arizona which is going to be a fully net zero multif family community where all energy consumed by this pro project is going to be offset by the energy that it's creating um was a bit about High Street um as Mandy had mentioned um that is a our subject site there um just located at the southeast corner of Rado and Filmore and that undeveloped parcel um shown here on this aerial photograph um about 18 nut Acres um to our immediate north of course is Summit Church um who we purchased this property from and who hosted our neighborhood meeting and was uh a great supporter of the project and continues to be um to our immediate West and south are both the undeveloped Parcels both planned for some mixed use and multifam um and then to our immediate East is the tut Hill um wash which is um part of the flood zone area um I think you're familiar now with the adjacent um zonings as Mandy had previously outlined um so let kind of skip through that um so just some quick project highlights although I know we're here for a rezoning I just wanted to get the city excited about this project um so as Mandy had mentioned it's 510 um apartment homes with um about 40% of them are either going to be Studio or one-bedroom 60% of them being um two bedrooms um ranging from two to three stories in height and so the real Target demographic here is going to be the future young professionals that are going to be working in the area and working at the medical campuses and the retail centers around us um and we're trying to cater towards that demographic by including um some in addition to it being Net Zero and having the elect elect vehicle charging stations and the solar on the rooftops and the canopies um there's going to be a great Community Clubhouse and fitness area we're going to have it a really unique indoor bike Cafe storage area um that's going to encourage people to use electric um bikes and have a spot to store safely store mountain bikes if they're going out on the wash and enjoying the outdoors um there's going to be rain harvesting garden beds throughout the property an event lawn with outdoor lawn game shade structures and barbecues a dog walking path along the entire perimeter of the property that connects it to Filmore and the Tutt Hill wash um so we think that the walkability of that um is going to be a great benefit to our residents um and with that I will conclude my presentation and happy to answer any questions okay any questions from Council councilman houes yes ma'am what is going to be or is anyone going to widen Filmore to accommodate 510 units it is that's a great question um and so we are in conversations um getting finalized very close probably next week as to how film is going to be fully built out so there is additional RightWay dedication which is part of a plot I think that you just approved this evening for the parcel to our West so the majority of Filmore is all going to be now dedicated to the city so we're going to be able to fully construct Filmore to its ultimate width um with an improved Center median for Aesthetics and a signalized intersection at Filmore and verado as well and those improvements will be completed by our team thank you that's all I have Mr Mayor okay thank you councilman any other uh councilman Yer have question uh Mandy on you you brought up on your presentation that there was um vacant property East West whichever I think it was three or four different sections with those that are that are marked as vacant on that what are they zoned and the second layer of that is are any of those do we have applications for either uh rezone or any buildings that are going to be going on that so that we instead of saying it vacant so we can compare it to what we're looking at on the whole area right there yep excellent question let me navigate back to the zoning map that is probably the easiest way to answer that question and of course it starts me over even though I got right to the slide um okay so this map hasn't been updated yet um because of the pad that was recently approved to the west of the subject parcel which is the the mix project that P pad zoning has been already approved so that's to the West um and there is a site plan in process for that it's not yet approved it is moving forward with so it's vacant but we already have okay there's there's plans in process for it it's not to be particular but when we do these presentations like this when we have this particular situation can we note that in there so that we can see that on there I mean just recall all the all the things that we're talking about as it moves forward that's all I'm at thank you of course um and to the South there is um another project I don't believe it's quite as far along um I believe it's called green light communities green light verado um which I believe is also um an anticipated mixed use project it's not as far along um in the the processing but one is I believe my my question is deared towards I know all those things that course but whenever we have an open meeting like this for the general public to come in and see this for the first time so that they are aware of what that whole area will look like that's my that's where I'm leading that question to thank you I understand thank you and I appreciate the intent behind that question okay uh Council MC Goodman hi Katie um Net Zero so I'm assuming and pro will there be battery storage on site or are you going to just sell that back to APS and yeah exactly zero out that way yeah it's a good question I'm still learning a lot about what zero means and how to create it but um so through the solar generation on the rooftops it will either go and feed the individual panels where the tenants are residing so theoretically right there electrical bill could be would be zero um and then any exess would be then sold back I think it's they do net we're working with APS very closely on this and their interconnections team so there is a way at a small rate you buy you sell it back to APS but they will get power from APS when it's nighttime or yes yes yes it will be fully equipped uhuh yeah and the solar will offset it our goal is is that we will be Net Zero or net positive on this but in the event that we have a very cloudy month consistently for 30 days and there is no solar it comes straight from the aps grid and in that case they would likely have a power bill that month okay thank you okay any other questions for Katie all right thank you Katie you all right we we need to have a uh public hearing on this we'll open a public hearing any speaker speaker request cards for this item request okay and anybody from the public wishing to speak seeing none we will close the public hearing and item 6 C Council what's your pleasure Mr Mayor I make a motion that we approve agenda item six C is in Charles I'll second we have a motion would you like on your magic voting machine your motion vice mayor hustus and a second went away the second by councilman Goodman uh all in favor say I and vote i i i and oppose I think I heard councilman hagestad you voted I correct yes okay thank you all right uh passes unanimous thank you Mandy thank you all right item 7 C comments from mayor and councel do we have any comments tonight yes sir yeah vice mayor I would just like to officially for the first time welcome our two new council members that are up here with us tonight it's their first time sitting with us officially for a council meeting and I'd like to welcome them and um thank you very much for running for office and winning all right thank you vice mayor uh councilman Goodman yeah I'd just like to Echo that sentiment and welcome to council member beard and council member um Barry and I think today was like drinking from a fire hose for these two so you get to see what the other side looks like so welcome aboard happy to have you thank you okay you're good yeah okay right all right on to agenda item number eight city manager report and sumary your current events I mayor uh just one item this evening uh thank you to all that attended this year's Cotton Fest and glow and Monroe holiday events cotton Fest had an estimated 2700 attendees glow and Monro had an estimated 10,000 attendees uh so just want to congratulate all the staff and everyone that helped put on those events it's great attendance that's it thank you that's excellent can ask just a quick question on that how does that compared to last year uh um Miranda is Miranda back in here similar what a non-answer ARs and wck math it's like you know right a very thoughtful answer you had there great it's insightful all right I item number nine proposals for future agenda items any from mayor council okay see none uh item 10 with nothing else on the agenda we are adjourned