Planning commission approves Hilltop Church PD with 30-foot exception for main building, limits future pads

Lake Havasu City Planning & Zoning Commission on Aug. 7 approved a planned-development rezone for Hilltop Church that grants a 30-foot height exception for the primary new building while limiting future buildings on the site to 15 feet above their eventual pad elevations. The commission voted 7-0 to recommend approval to city council (Land Use Action 192097).

The commission’s vote follows staff analysis that established a maximum site grade of 115.5 feet to measure height from existing development elevations. Stu Schnelling, who presented the item as Development Services staff, said staff set that figure from existing building pads and benchmarks and recommended the commission allow the single 30-foot exception at the top-of-hill location but keep other future pads lower to reduce neighborhood impacts. “We came up with the max grade of 115.5,” Schnelling said during the presentation, explaining how height measurements are derived from benchmark elevations.

The site is the Hilltop Church property east of Bermuda Avenue on McCulloch Boulevard and covers about 6.1 acres. Schnelling described a substantial slope: the property drops roughly 30–33 feet from the church pad down to the rear of the parcel. Because of that fall, where a future building pad is established affects how tall a structure will appear from surrounding streets and residences.

Staff recommended allowing the immediate building (labeled A in staff diagrams) to be built up to 30 feet above the max grade established for the property while requiring future pads labeled B, C and D to be limited to 15 feet above their proposed pad elevations. Rick Boucher of RB Design, representing the church, said the congregation’s near-term priority was the main hall (Building A) and that later phases could come years in the future. “We’re looking at building A would be our new main hall,” Boucher said. He and the church representative also told the commission future pads would require civil plans, drainage and parking plans when proposed.

A handful of neighbors attended the hearing. Resident Ron Austin, who lives across the street, urged the commission and applicant to address driveway geometry and traffic flow because of the site slope. “That might have the potential of somebody losing it and not stopping,” Austin said, describing the steep driveway approach and asking for design safeguards if future changes redirect exiting traffic toward nearby homes. The applicant responded that planned parking will be primarily to the west of the site and that, if and when later phases are proposed, the project team would submit detailed civil and parking plans for review.

Commission members discussed how to balance the applicant’s desire for a usable church building and the public’s interest in minimizing visual and traffic impacts on adjoining residences. Several commissioners and staff noted the difficulty of pinning long-range PD conditions when later phases may not be built for 10–15 years and when future applicants could be different.

Motion and conditions The commission approved a motion to recommend approval of Land Use Action 192097 with two conditions: (1) Building A shall be no taller than 30 feet from the maximum grade established for the property (115.5 feet); and (2) future buildings B, C and D shall be no taller than 15 feet from their proposed pad elevations. The motion was made by Commissioner Nelson and seconded by Commissioner Hardy and passed 7-0.

Votes at a glance - Land Use Action 192096 (Showplace Storage preliminary plat, 6550 Showplace Ave., creating 60 storage condominium units): motion to approve; Development Review Committee recommended approval; commission vote recorded as 6-0 in favor. (Approved) - Land Use Action 192090 (Riverwalk Condominiums preliminary plat, 2042 Swanson Ave., creating 13 residential condominium units): motion to approve; Development Review Committee recommended approval; commission vote recorded as 7-0 in favor. (Approved)

What the decision means now - The PD rezone and height exception for Building A moves forward to city council with the commission’s recommendation and the two conditions above. Staff and the applicant said future proposed buildings will need separate civil, grading and design-review submissions in order to set actual pad elevations, drainage and parking plans. Those later submissions will trigger formal review and public notice at that time; the city’s review would enforce the pad-based height limits adopted with this motion.

Next steps - The commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to Lake Havasu City Council for final action. The commission’s next meeting was listed as Aug. 21, 2019 for routine business.