Oro Valley council votes 6-0 to enter executive session on Church of the Nazarene height appeal

The Oro Valley Town Council voted 6-0 Feb. 5, 2025, to enter an executive session under Arizona Revised Statutes §38-431.03(A)(3) and (4) to obtain legal advice concerning an application by the Oro Valley Church of the Nazarene for additional building height and the applicant's appeal of a Planning and Zoning Commission denial on Jan. 14, 2025.

Mayor Winfield moved to convene the executive session and named the staff members to be present: the town manager, deputy town manager, town attorney, legal services director, director of community and economic development, planning manager and town clerk. The motion was seconded and then approved 6-0.

Council discussion before the vote focused on limiting the number of people present in the closed session and allowing staff to “come and go” as needed to answer council questions. As Councilmember Green put it, the preference was to “keep the number of people in executive session minimal and have those who need to answer questions available to do so as counsel needs.” The council agreed that staff invited to the session could be excused if their presence was not required.

After the vote, Mayor Winfield moved to adjourn the special session; the motion was seconded by Vice Mayor Barrett and approved. The council did not discuss the merits of the appeal in public; executive sessions held under Arizona law are closed and no public record of the session’s deliberations was made available in the meeting transcript.

The action recorded at the special session was limited to the council’s decision to seek legal advice in a closed session on the Church of the Nazarene’s appeal of a planning decision; no public votes on zoning, permits or other dispositive matters appear in the transcript of the open meeting.