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Sahuarita council selects mayor and vice mayor, adopts 2025 legislative priorities and two zoning ordinances
Summary
At a regular town council meeting, members selected Tom Murphy as mayor and Kara Egbert as vice mayor, unanimously adopted the town's 2025 legislative priorities, approved a consent agenda and passed two zoning text amendments affecting backyard fowl and rezoning timelines.
Tom Murphy was selected as mayor and Kara Egbert was reelected vice mayor during the Town of Sahuarita council meeting, after council members nominated and voiced unanimous support for the slate of candidates.
The council unanimously adopted a staff-prepared list of legislative priorities for the 2025 state session. Management analyst Mina Marcos told the council the priorities are guided by three core objectives: protecting local control, preserving state shared revenue, and advocating for Sahuarita’s needs as it grows. The priorities include active stakeholder engagement, pursuit of state funding opportunities, workforce housing conversations that protect local control, and seeking sustainable transportation funding that includes local roadway networks.
Council also approved its consent agenda by unanimous voice vote.
On ordinances, the council adopted Ordinance 2024-177, a zoning text amendment to conform the town code to the new state law on backyard animals (referenced in the presentation as “HB 23 25”). Staff explained the change requires allowing up to six fowl on single-family detached lots — including mobile/manufactured-home (MH) lots — and limits coop setbacks to 20 feet in line with state law; regulations addressing manure composting and rodent-proof feed storage were also added. The council opened and closed the required public hearing and adopted the ordinance by voice vote.
The council also adopted Ordinance 2024-178 to align the town’s rezoning procedures with state timelines (discussed in the presentation as “SB 11 62”). The amendment formalizes time limits for administrative completeness reviews and a statutory 180‑day processing window for rezoning applications and standardizes protest petition language across rezoning and specific-plan procedures. Planning and Zoning recommended both code changes prior to council consideration.
Action notes: selections and ordinance adoptions were carried by unanimous voice votes; the legislative priorities motion was moved, seconded and approved without roll-call tallies recorded in the public proceedings.
The council’s next regular meeting was announced for January 27, 2025.
