Planning and Zoning Commission approves downtown overlay, increases allowable residential density to 50 units/acre

The Fountain Hills Planning and Zoning Commission on June 9 recommended approval of Ordinance 25-02, a proposed downtown overlay intended to consolidate existing overlays, encourage mixed use and residential development, and simplify rules for temporary uses and encroachments, the commission’s director said.

The ordinance matters because it rewrites how the town regulates the Avenue of the Fountains and adjacent blocks — combining the entertainment and planned shopping plaza overlays, increasing by-right residential density, and changing which ground-floor uses are permitted close to the avenue. Those changes aim to increase downtown foot traffic, create jobs and make it simpler for property owners and developers to understand allowable uses, Director John West told the commission.

The draft ordinance divides the downtown overlay into three districts: an Avenue District (focused on active ground-floor uses), a Business District, and an Innovation District north of Palisades. Among the principal elements discussed by staff and commissioners were:

- Ground-floor uses: The Avenue District would preserve a wide list of active uses on ground floors but limit some office uses within 50 feet of avenue street fronts. Commissioners ultimately voted to remove a hard restriction on ground-floor uses on the avenue and rely instead on other tools (see action below).

- Re…