Commission approves special use for Wortman contract construction business with conditions aimed at reducing dust impacts

The Cochise County Planning and Zoning Commission on Oct. 8 approved SU-25-24, a special-use authorization allowing a contract construction business operated by Kyle and Jennifer Wortman on Fort Grant Road near Wilcox, subject to conditions aimed at reducing fugitive dust and off-site impacts.

Planner Mister Taylor presented the staff report, describing four parcels totaling about 16 acres, two of which front Fort Grant Road and contain residences; the other two are used for equipment parking and storage. Staff said the property is zoned R-36, that contract construction services are permissible with special-use authorization, and that the site is in the county’s neighborhood conservation designation, which seeks to protect established residential areas from nonresidential uses. Staff reported receipt of 10 written in‑notification-area letters in favor, five outside-notification support letters, and two written concerns within the notification area focusing on dust impacts.

Multiple neighbors spoke at the hearing. Resident Danelle Cappell described recurring dust accumulation on her property and said a local contractor’s clearing created extensive blow sand she estimated would cost $11,000 to remove from fence lines. She asked that any permit include regular checks, a continuous 7‑foot cinder‑block wall along the south and west property lines, and chip sealing of the 16 acres they cleared.

Neighbor Kevin Castle reiterated health and property‑value concerns, requested a continuous masonry wall and chip sealing, and asked for a six‑month compliance timeline. Rick Northey and Ted Hawes offered supportive statements: Northey said he had witnessed the Wortmans respond by putting in gravel and green belts and supported their business; Hawes said the family provided valued services to the community.

Applicant Jennifer Wortman told the commission the family operates a pump and well service and had spent approximately $10,000 in additional gravel and installed sprinklers to abate dust since the neighbor complaint. She said ongoing measures include gravel, sprinklers and weed control: “Since the notice of this complaint, we have spent an additional $10,000 in gravel…Our efforts to mitigate dust are ongoing and will continue in the years ahead.”

Commissioners pressed staff and the applicant on mitigation. Engineering and planning staff explained standard options (chip sealing, block walls, landscape buffers) and noted the GB district standards call for a 6‑foot block wall adjacent to residential parcels; commissioners and the attorney advised flexibility in the final condition language. After extended discussion, the commission replaced a strict requirement for a 6‑foot block wall with a more flexible condition requiring “solid screening or landscape that achieves the equivalent screening goal over time” along specified property lines, and replaced a chip‑seal requirement with language allowing either gravel or drought‑tolerant/native vegetation for parking/drive areas on the affected parcels.

Final adopted conditions (summary): county right‑of‑way and floodplain permits and hard‑surface driveway aprons as required by engineering; propane and fuel tanks certified by the State Fire Marshal or applicable authority; an emergency response plan submitted with building permits; a requirement that parking, equipment, and materials storage occur only on specified parcels; gravel or drought‑tolerant native vegetation to reduce fugitive dust where parking/storage continue; and solid screening or landscape achieving equivalent screening along the property lines adjacent to specified residential parcels. The commission also required that standard permitting and decommissioning/maintenance obligations for special uses be met.

Commissioners acknowledged the hardship and cost to both neighbors and the applicant; the motion to approve with the amended condition language passed unanimously. Commissioners and staff asked the applicant to comply promptly with the conditions and to continue mitigation efforts; neighbors were encouraged to work with the applicant on site‑specific measures. The commission advised that appeals may be filed with the Board of Supervisors within 15 days.