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Commission backs rezoning and approves impound yard special use on Denham Road
Summary
The commission recommended approval of a rezoning from R-36 to RU-4 for a 40-acre Denham Road parcel and approved a concurrent special use permit for a family-owned impound yard, with conditions addressing maximum impound area, setbacks, floodplain permitting, screening and site surfacing.
On Feb. 12 the Cochise County Planning and Zoning Commission voted to forward RZ24-26, a rezoning request for a 40-acre parcel on Denham Road from R-36 to RU-4, to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation of approval and to approve SU24-25, a concurrent special-use authorization for an impound storage yard on one proposed 10-acre lot.
Staff reported the property is largely undeveloped, has permits issued for a septic system and well, and that the applicant proposes to split the 40 acres into four 10-acre parcels, three expected for residential development and one intended for the impound yard. Staff noted that a significant portion of the property lies within a flood zone and that site access is limited to an unimproved local road that the applicant has been maintaining. Staff recommended forwarding the rezoning and approval of the special use with conditions.
Applicants Pedro De Castro and Maria Moreno said they operate a family-owned tow company currently located offsite and wish to move the impound operation closer to home to reduce rental costs and better oversee operations. The applicants told commissioners they typically remove impounded vehicles within three months (six months was cited as an upper bound) and said they already perform road maintenance on Denham Road. Commissioners pressed for limits on hours, screening and floodplain mitigation. The applicants confirmed the business operates 24 hours and said they would pursue floodplain use permits and traffic-impact statements as required.
The commission approved the rezoning recommendation and voted to approve the special-use permit with conditions that include a 10-acre maximum for vehicle storage, a minimum 20-foot setback of stored vehicles from property lines, required floodplain use permit and traffic impact statement at permitting, a landscaped six-foot solid wall along the impound yard street frontage, requirements for screening on remaining property lines, on-site surfacing using 2-inch gravel to reduce dust, and an adjustment extending certain permitting timelines from 12 to 24 months. The actions will be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors (rezoning) and the applicant must comply with permitting and site-improvement conditions.
