Bullhead City planners review City Center District PAD zoning; commissioners question setbacks, heights and parking

Bullhead City Planning and Zoning Commission members met Jan. 2 in a workshop to review a planned area development (PAD) zoning application for the City Center District, a proposed mixed-use redevelopment on roughly 246–247 acres. The meeting was informational only and no votes were taken.

The PAD application, presented by applicant representative Jay Quarter and lead consultant Jason Sanks, asks the city to adopt a set of tailored zoning districts and several deviations from the standard Bullhead City zoning code to enable a compact, walkable downtown-style development. Property owner Ali Salas participated by video and the commission asked detailed questions about setbacks, parking, building heights, open space and housing affordability.

Project team members said the PAD repurposes the citys standard open-space calculation by reallocating the required 5% into a central, diagonal gas-line easement that the developers propose to convert to an open-space trail. The team also described a separate retention area in the southwest corner of the site that they expect to serve both stormwater detention and park-like functions. "Were not simply deleting requirements; were reallocating them," Jason Sanks said.

Commissioners pressed the team on several points they said felt unclear in the PAD text. Commissioner Mel Steiness and others expressed concern that commercial areas labeled…