The Yuma County Board of Supervisors voted on Oct. 6, 2025, to return two related items to the Planning and Zoning Commission: a proposed amendment to the Yuma County 2030 Comprehensive Plan to add an "influence area" for military installations and a text amendment to the Yuma County Zoning Ordinance to add the same definition and incorporate corresponding boundaries into the official zoning map and GIS zoning layer.

Senior planner Javier Barraza told the Board the amendments respond to changes in state law—House Bill 2548, effective Sept. 14, 2024—which expand notification requirements and define an influence area as all properties within a two‑mile radius of a military installation’s perimeter. The statute requires local governments to notify military commanders when land‑use applications (comprehensive plan amendments, rezoning, subdivisions) are deemed complete and to receive military comment prior to public hearings.

Staff presented a proposed yellow‑shaded influence area map for Yuma County and draft glossary text to define "influence area of a military installation, range or Arizona National Guard site." The initial staff map excluded certain federal lands (for example, areas in neighboring La Paz County and Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge) but was revised after input from Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) to include additional boundaries.

Barraza summarized staff’s recommendation: return both items to the Planning Commission to initiate the formal amendment process to add the influence‑area definition to the glossary and incorporate the mapped boundaries into Section 14 (Regional Coordination) and the official zoning map index. Barraza said YPG and Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (MCAS Yuma) both supported the proposed change.

Supervisors asked whether the action was mandated by state statute; staff confirmed that the update is required to align county procedures with HB2548. The Board voted unanimously to return both the comprehensive‑plan amendment and the zoning‑ordinance text amendment to the Planning Commission for initiation of the amendment process.

The action will start the formal review sequence at the Planning Commission and, if recommended there, return to the Board for a public hearing and final decision. Staff emphasized that the county will not be required to deny applications solely for proximity to military sites but must add the notification and mapping protections described by state law.