Peoria planning commission recommends rezoning for Lake Pleasant veterinary clinic to City Council

The Peoria Planning and Zoning Commission on Feb. 20 voted unanimously to recommend approval of rezoning case Z24-09 — a Planned Area Development (PAD) to allow an approximately 8,000-square-foot veterinary clinic and other low-intensity office-commercial uses on a roughly 2.5-acre vacant parcel south of the southeast corner of Lake Pleasant Parkway and Pinnacle Peak Road.

Michelle Navarro, a planner with the City of Peoria, said, “The proposed rezoning seeks to change the designation on the property from general agriculture to planned area development in order to allow for office commercial uses with the additional allowance of a veterinary office and clinic.”

The commission’s recommendation sends the PAD and accompanying development standards to the Peoria City Council for final action. The item was presented to the commission as a rezoning from General Agriculture — a holding district created after annexations decades ago — to a PAD tailored to the City’s Office/Local Commercial (O-1) general plan designation.

Staff described the site context as predominantly commercial to the north and northwest (AutoZone and Circle K), the City of Peoria Pinnacle Peak Public Safety Facility to the west, and single-family residences to the east and south. The applicant’s conceptual plan proposes a single-story, roughly 8,000-square-foot veterinary clinic with a maximum building height of 29 feet and a shared access drive with the AutoZone to the north.

Navarro said the PAD would adopt Peoria’s O-1 standards with additional conditions specific to veterinary uses. Key clarifications and conditions discussed during the meeting and added after public outreach include an enhanced landscape buffer (increasing the tree ratio to 1 tree per 25 linear feet), a prohibition on outdoor animal runs, limits on illuminated signage facing east, and an explicit prohibition on crematoriums in the PAD document. Navarro told commissioners, “A crematorium use is expressly prohibited in the P.A.D. Document and the current site plan under review has not proposed this use.”

A neighborhood meeting was held Jan. 15 at Sunrise Mountain Library; Navarro said three citizens attended along with the applicant team, planning staff and a city council assistant. Concerns raised at that meeting and in staff outreach included signage, screening, building height, hours of operation, and potential odors or smoke related to a crematorium. Navarro said staff revised the PAD to address several of those items.

Commissioners asked about typical setbacks and future development potential. Navarro confirmed that the development would share the AutoZone access off Lake Pleasant Parkway and that the current application is specifically for the veterinary clinic; other office proposals exist elsewhere along Lake Pleasant Parkway but were not part of this case. Navarro also said property owners within a 600-foot radius receive mailed notice of a rezone and homeowner associations within one mile are notified.

Commissioner Cottrell commented, “The vet clinic here is needed and I appreciate it — I might use it myself,” and Commissioner Myers said he appreciated the applicant’s sensitivity to neighbors and the added screening measures.

A motion to recommend approval of Z24-09 to City Council, subject to the conditions of approval and Exhibit 1, passed unanimously (5–0). The commission record showed no written comments in support or opposition received by staff at the time of the hearing.

The case now moves to the Peoria City Council for final consideration. Council hearing date and any additional submittals required by staff were not specified at the commission meeting.