Cochise supervisors approve rezoning for port-of-entry logistics area, strike 100-foot buffer requirement

The Cochise County Board of Supervisors voted June 3 to approve a comprehensive-plan amendment and zoning change to convert about 369 acres roughly 2.5 miles west of Douglas from rural to developing and to rezone two parcels (tax parcels 408-34-004A and 408-34-004D) from RU-4 (one dwelling per 4 acres) to LI (Light Industry). The board adopted Resolution 25-12 (docket CPA25-02 and RZ25-04) as amended, keeping right-of-way dedications and a required wildlife survey but striking a Planning & Zoning Commission recommendation for a 100-foot landscape buffer along property lines shared with established residences.

The matter proceeded as a public hearing. Matthew Taylor, Cochise County Development Services, described the request as intended to “facilitate the rezone to industrial” in anticipation of a new commercial port of entry, and said the subject area is surrounded in part by parcels already designated developing under the 2013 comprehensive plan. Taylor said staff had originally recommended a 20-foot landscape buffer but that the Planning & Zoning Commission recommended increasing the buffer to 100 feet; he noted the commission’s recommendation could be supported by the board as a modification to staff’s recommendation. The county also required right-of-way dedications along Kings Highway and a connector road and a wildlife survey from the Arizona Game and Fish Department during permitting.

Michael Marks, the applicant’s presenter, told the board the project is intended to provide “warehousing and logistics support as a critical component to the port of entry” and that the developer wanted to be a “good neighbor.” Marks said the applicant preferred a smaller buffer — proposing 40 to 50 feet in discussion — and asked that any unusually large buffer be reconsidered if adjacent residential parcels later changed ownership or land use.

Taylor corrected an earlier statement about required building setbacks, saying the minimum industrial building setback adjacent to rural zoning is 80 feet under the county’s zoning regulations. “That setback would only relief permissible for that setback would be an application for a variance before the Board of Adjustment,” Taylor said, distinguishing the mandatory building setback from the discretionary landscape buffer, which the zoning code does not fix at 100 feet and typically requires only 5% of the site be landscaped and a 5-foot street-front buffer.

After discussion, the applicant and planning representatives agreed the landscape buffer depth could be addressed at permitting through vegetation type and density instead of a fixed 100-foot requirement. Supervisor Kathleen Gomez moved to strike the Planning & Zoning Commission’s condition requiring a 100-foot landscape buffer; Supervisor Antonori seconded the motion. The board then voted to approve the rezoning as amended. The motion to strike the 100-foot-buffer condition passed on a voice vote and the rezoning passed as amended with all supervisors voting aye.

Discussion vs. decision: The board’s formal action was to approve the comprehensive-plan amendment and rezoning as amended and to adopt the related ordinance; the record shows the board kept two conditions (right-of-way dedications and a wildlife survey) and removed the 100-foot landscape buffer requirement so the final buffer depth will be determined at permitting.

The board and applicant emphasized that the setback required by zoning (80 feet) remains in force and that landscape buffering is a separate, negotiable condition tied to permitting rather than a mandatory ordinance-level setback.

Why it matters: The change converts a sizeable area from rural to light-industry zoning in an area earmarked for a commercial port of entry, which could bring warehousing, truck traffic and related industrial development near existing single-family residences. The board’s decision to remove the fixed 100-foot landscape buffer means mitigation will be negotiated at the permit phase rather than set by the rezoning approval.

What’s next: The applicant will proceed to permitting; the county will require a wildlife survey and the specified right-of-way dedications before final development approvals.