Board approves reduced minimum lot size and setbacks for horse keeping on Rainbow Ranch Road

The Cochise County Board of Adjustment approved a variance (docket BAR25-04) reducing the minimum required parcel size for keeping horses and authorizing reduced setbacks for a corral and shade structure at 10193 South Rainbow Ranch Road in Miracle Valley.

Planning staff presented the application, saying the applicant is Rhonda Jo Wilson and the property is tax parcel 10446370 in a multifamily zoning district identified in the record as MH72. Staff said the parcel is within Miracle Valley Unit Number 3 (platted in 1968) and is roughly three-quarters of a mile north of Highway 92. Staff described an existing corral area of about 9,600 square feet and noted that the parcel has three street frontages, including an 80-foot right-of-way along Rainbow Ranch Road. Staff said they mailed 20 notices and received two responses in opposition.

The application asked to reduce the zoning requirement that parcels be at least 36,000 square feet to keep livestock down to 23,522 square feet and to reduce corral setbacks from 50 feet to 0 feet along the east, west and south property lines; staff also recommended allowing a shade structure setback of 7.5 feet (the standard setback for the zoning district) along east and west lines. Staff recommended approval with conditions requiring regular cleaning of the corral to prevent odors and flies and limiting the property to no more than two horses.

Applicant Rhonda Jo Wilson spoke to the board and described her circumstances after buying the property three years earlier. Wilson said she believed the lot was “horse property” when she purchased it and described interactions with neighbors and one incident of threatening behavior directed at her that left her frightened. “I was crying. I was scared,” Wilson said, describing a vehicle where a person made a threatening gesture and took pictures; she said she called 911 and reported a broken window. Wilson told the board she has two elderly, retired horses she wants to keep on the parcel and does not intend to add more livestock.

Sherman (planning staff) told the board the nearest residence is more than 100 feet from the corral and listed the factors for and against variance approval; staff concluded the request met six of the criteria for a variance. After discussion, a board member moved to approve docket BAR25-04 with the conditions recommended by staff; another board member seconded the motion. The transcript records the board vote as “Aye. Motion carried.” Individual roll-call votes were not included in the transcript.

Why it matters: The approval allows the applicant to retain two horses and limited structures closer to property lines than zoning rules otherwise permit, while imposing animal-number and maintenance conditions intended to protect neighbors from odor and flies and to address animal welfare.