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Downtown training center owners press city on conditional-use, parking and structural requirements
Summary
Owners of a proposed downtown indoor turf training facility told the council they face shifting requirements for a conditional use permit, structural engineering review and upgraded parking; city staff said a phased approach and safety concerns are guiding reviews.
Owners of a proposed indoor, multi-sport turf training facility told the City Council on April 15 that they face what they called inconsistent direction from the city as they seek a downtown location.
The applicants said the facility — described by its owners as a turf surface for youth and school teams with retractable batting cages and pitching tunnels — has been told it must obtain a conditional use permit because of the baseball-related components. “We’ve been asked to go through a conditional use permit process due to the baseball training aspect,” Nancy O’Connell said. She and co-owner Lisonbee Smith said they have submitted requested materials but keep encountering new requirements, including a structural engineer’s stamped approval and upgrades to a nearby unpaved lot the city considers part of their parking plan.
The project team said the batting and pitching cages will be retractable nylon systems anchored to existing framing. “These are retractable nylon cages. These are new age. This is not the archaic cage you would have seen years ago,” Smith said, adding the owners plan to phase operations to start with turf use for speed, agility and fielding instruction while permitting questions are resolved.
City staff described the planning concerns that trigger extra review. Christian (Development Services Director) told the council many downtown buildings in the area are unreinforced masonry and that condition requires structural evaluation for attachments. He said safety concerns — particularly the placement of pitching tunnels and batting cages near a heavily used pedestrian avenue — are the principal reason staff is pursuing a conditional-use path rather than an allowed “by right” review.
Staff also said parking and circulation issues matter for the downtown specific plan and ADA accessibility. The applicants said a neighboring gym uses an unimproved lot for customer parking and that inconsistent enforcement is part of the delay. City staff said the ownership of the adjacent lot is not clear and that any additional required parking spaces generally must be upgraded to meet current standards.
Council members and the mayor responded that city administration will connect with the applicants to clarify outstanding items and to pursue a phased approach the owners requested. The mayor said the administration will work with the applicants to “help alleviate and facilitate this process.”
Why it matters: owners and some council members emphasized the facility’s potential to provide year‑round training during extreme valley heat and to support school programs. City staff emphasized that public safety and structural integrity — particularly in older downtown masonry buildings — limit what can be approved without engineering documentation.
The council did not take any formal vote on the project at the meeting. Staff said the applicants should expect a conditional use permit review with roughly a 30-to-45 day processing interval once the formal application is complete, and that staff will explore a phased approvals sequence so turf-only uses could begin sooner.
The owners and staff agreed to keep talking; city staff will follow up to clarify what parking, structural and safety documentation is required.
