City attorney briefs El Mirage council on House Bill 2447 changes to site-plan and subdivision approvals

The City of El Mirage’s city attorney gave the council a high-level briefing on House Bill 2447 on Oct. 7, describing its effect on local land-use approvals and the steps the city will take to implement the changes.

The attorney said the new state law “requires that all cities and towns in the state of Arizona delegate the approval authority for site plans and subdivision plats to administrative staff, taking it out of the public process,” and that this change covers nondiscretionary approvals where the applicant either meets code standards or does not.

The briefing explained the bill also requires design-review standards that result in written decisions to be objective — measurable criteria such as setback distances, coverage ratios, counts, measurements and other benchmarks — and not subjective tests like “fits the look and feel of the neighborhood.” The city attorney illustrated examples of objective standards (setbacks, lot coverage, parking ratios) and explained subjective criteria that would have to be reworked.

The attorney said the bill permits but does not require optional programs such as expedited review for repeat compliant applicants, self-certification by private architects/engineers or at-risk grading permits; he cautioned that self-certification raises liability and indemnity concerns and said his recommendation to the council was not to adopt a self-certification program in the code. He said a common alternative is an applicant-funded third-party plan-review program.

Staff said the planning commission is scheduled to review proposed municipal code amendments next week to implement the bill’s mandatory changes and that a draft ordinance would come to council for consideration in November. The law’s effective date is Jan. 1, 2026. No formal action was taken by council at the briefing.