Lake Havasu planning staff reports broad outreach on general plan update; waterfront amendment to begin hearings Oct. 1

Lake Havasu City planning staff presented a progress report on the 2026 general plan update to the Planning and Zoning Commission on Sept. 17, saying the outreach effort has yielded more than 18,800 website views, 148 subscribers and 831 survey responses but that no regulatory changes are being adopted at this meeting. "The general plan update is a long range planning effort that will shape the city's goals and objectives for growth and development over the next decade and beyond," Mister Gilbert, a city staff member, told commissioners.

The update is currently in the envision phase of a multi-step process managed with consultant Logan Simpson Design Incorporated. Gilbert said the process so far has completed the launch and discover steps and is wrapping up envision; staff have begun early work on the next phase, called build, but it was not part of the presentation. He emphasized the general plan is a strategic guide and "does not change the current development code or the zoning map," and said any future zoning or code changes would require a formal legislative process and public hearings.

The presentation summarized public participation: 13 drop-in events with about 750 residents engaged in person; 63 in-person and 85 virtual attendees at the first workshop; 831 online survey responses; and nearly finished stakeholder interviews with three interviews remaining. From those inputs staff reported seven themes, later condensed into five aspirational statements that align with the 17 planning elements required by state law: land use and growth; connected community (services, water, energy, circulation); prosperous economy; thriving neighborhoods (housing and neighborhood preservation); and healthy environment (open space, recreation, safety).

Gilbert said the technical advisory committee — city staff from multiple departments — is reviewing materials for technical accuracy, and a steering committee of community appointees has met twice with a third meeting scheduled Oct. 15. Upcoming public events listed in the presentation include two public open-house visioning sessions at the city library on Oct. 29 (1:30–3:30 p.m.) and Oct. 30 (11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.). Staff said they will analyze the plan audit, continue listening sessions, begin drafting a future land-use map and return with additional drafts for review. "Once the full update is completed early next year, the general plan will be placed before voters for ratification in the November," Gilbert said (the transcript did not specify the calendar year for that November).

Commissioners asked no substantive questions and no members of the public spoke during the hearing. The commission took no formal action on the general plan update at the Sept. 17 meeting; the item was presented for information and public input only.

In announcements before and after the report, staff said city council recently approved a planned development (PD) zone at 4669 Lake Havasu Avenue. Staff also announced a separate, agenda-limited meeting on Oct. 1 at 9 a.m. in the old meeting room at the Police Building to start the public hearings on a proposed major general plan amendment for a waterfront/island project. Staff said that Oct. 1 session will be the first of two hearings (no action will be taken at that first hearing) and that action on the major general plan amendment is scheduled for Nov. 5; following that decision the rezone component would be presented.

The meeting approved the minutes of the previous session earlier in the agenda by a 7–0 vote. The commission's next regular meeting after Sept. 17 was announced as Oct. 1 at 9 a.m., at the Police Building meeting room, with media-staff coordination planned to determine remote broadcast capabilities.