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El Mirage planners outline development-application process and zoning code basics
Summary
City staff reviewed the development application workflow, pre-application meetings, technical advisory committee reviews, Planning & Zoning and council approvals, fees, extensions, zoning map categories, overlays, and types of applications including PADs, site plans, conditional use permits and variances.
City planning staff described the city's development-application process and gave an overview of Chapter 154 (zoning) during the March 18 El Mirage Common Council work session.
Senior Planner Jose Macias explained that projects typically begin with informal inquiries (phone, email, over-the-counter) and that applicants are encouraged to use a pre-application meeting to provide a project narrative, site plan and traffic information. He said the city holds technical advisory committee (TAC) meetings with representatives from public works, police, fire, economic development, zoning, engineering and code enforcement to review applications before they are scheduled for Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council consideration.
Macías said pre-application meetings are low-cost, roughly one hour and cost $500; the subsequent development application fee is roughly $1,450 and covers zoning review and public-notification mailings. He said in 02/2024 the city logged 10 pre-applications and 4 proceeded through the full process. He described entitlement timelines: an applicant approved by council generally has one year to submit construction documents, and staff said extension options exist (staff mentioned potential extensions of six months or 18 months) and that a small extension fee (described as about $100) may apply.
On zoning, staff summarized El Mirage's form-based code (adopted in 2011) and explained nine zoning categories in the city's map, from natural reserve and rural to suburban neighborhood, mobile home park, mixed-use, urban corridor, transit-oriented, commerce park and employment/industrial zones. Staff reviewed overlays, including the Thunderbird Road overlay (design character for Thunderbird Road) and airport-related overlays: noise contours and an accidental potential zone tied to Luke Air Force Base, which restrict some residential and higher-risk industrial uses in affected areas.
Staff described common application types the council sees: planning area development (PAD) agreements that allow flexibility for large projects; site plans and site plan amendments; final plats for subdivisions; conditional use permits (also called special use permits); and variances, which are heard by the board of adjustment (city council acting in that role). Macias emphasized that legal nonconforming ("grandfathered") uses can continue but cannot be expanded and that abandonment of a use for a year can remove that status.
Councilmembers asked about where and how surveys and outreach were distributed for the general plan, the fee schedule and what happens if an approved developer does not submit construction documents within a year. Staff said they would provide the outreach materials and explained the options for extensions or for a new developer to start the application process anew.
