Apache Junction council adopts zoning text amendment to route some conditional use permits to council

Apache Junction Mayor Chip Wilson and the City Council on Feb. 18 adopted an amendment to the city's zoning code that routes certain conditional use permits to the council for final action and filed the adopted document as a public record.

Nick Leftwich, planner for the City of Apache Junction Development Services Department, told the council the change was intended to involve elected officials in land-use decisions that have long-term impacts. "This text amendment is focused on involving the city council in the land use decisions for conditional use permits," Leftwich said during the staff presentation.

The council approved Ordinance No. 15-63, which amends Article 1-5 (zoning bulk and use regulations) of the city's land development code, and adopted Resolution No. 25-01, which declares the document "2025 amendments to the Apache Junction City Code, Volume 2, Land Development Code" as a public record. The Planning & Zoning Commission reviewed the draft and voted 7-0 to recommend approval at its Jan. 14 meeting.

Staff described three criteria used in evaluating which conditional uses should be escalated to council review: whether the use is truly conditional and revocable, whether the use has significant or high impact that merits elected leadership, and whether the matter is better addressed as a permanent zoning change (rezoning or planned development). The adopted code includes a footnote identifying which conditional use permits will go to the City Council for final decision.

Leftwich told the council that, as directed at an earlier meeting, staff revised the land-use tables, added column headings for readability and made several specific edits. Among the changes noted in staff's presentation: postal courier and delivery services were modified to be permitted in the B-3 (City Center) zone; amusement parks were reclassified into the B-4/B-5 industrial character zones rather than the general commercial zones; and accessory dwelling units in single-family residential zones were changed to be permitted by right "as the state law requires," a change staff said had been added after the agenda packet was posted and was being included via amendment to the ordinance.

The council voted unanimously on both final actions. Voting "yes" on the ordinance and the resolution were Council Member Soller, Council Member Johnson, Vice Mayor Schroeder, Council Member Nasser, Council Member Cross, Council Member Heck and Mayor Wilson.

The ordinance text repeals conflicting provisions, provides for severability and sets penalties consistent with the code. Leftwich said the ordinance and resolution were split into two agenda items at staff's request: the resolution to make the document public record and the ordinance to adopt the amendments into the zoning ordinance itself.

The council also noted a supplemental chart provided at the dais that reflected the permitted accessory dwelling unit change; staff said that supplemental material was intended to be included with the ordinance approval.

Next steps: the adopted zoning text is now incorporated into the city record; future applications for conditional use permits identified by the new footnote will be noticed and processed with council review per the amended land-use tables.