Flagstaff planners preview change to resource‑protection rules that would exclude all street rights‑of‑way

City planning staff on Dec. 11 told the Planning and Zoning Commission they plan to amend the resource protection overlay so that resource calculations for slope, floodplain and forest "do not apply to the area within the public rights of way for streets and major utilities." The item was presented as a work session preview with a public hearing set for Jan. 8, 2025.

The change replaces language that exempted only "major or minor arterial roads" with a broader exclusion of all street rights‑of‑way. Staff said the narrower arterial‑only exception has left street areas counted against the resource preservation requirement, reducing the land available for housing and making some subdivisions infeasible under current standards. "We're asking to make this small change ... so we don't lose out on the 10, 15 additional homes," staff said, framing the amendment as a short‑term measure while consultants help craft a larger overhaul.

Staff walked commissioners through maps and subdivision examples to illustrate the effect. Using recent developments as examples, staff said public rights‑of‑way commonly occupy 10–20% of a subdivision's acreage and argued that exempting those areas still leaves a substantial portion of a site subject to preservation requirements. Staff also explained that residential slope‑and‑forest thresholds have historically been higher than commercial thresholds and that the overlay, as written, can act as a barrier to achieving higher densities now sought to address a local housing shortage.

The presentation also addressed wildfire and tree management. Staff noted the overlay tends to preserve Ponderosa pines and Gamble oak and said the city is coordinating with the Fire Department to develop defensible, science‑based standards: "we are currently working with the fire department on our larger changes to the resource protection overlay," staff said. Staff emphasized that trees inside existing rights‑of‑way are difficult to preserve and that Firewise guidance requires defensible spacing around homes.

A resident who identified themself in the record as Maria Master Simone raised broader housing‑stock and short‑term‑rental concerns during public comment, saying her street "is flooded with Airbnbs" and that one owner controls many units. When commissioners asked whether the city could regulate short‑term rentals, staff responded that regulation of short‑term rentals is largely constrained by state law and that "we do not have the ability to legislate Airbnbs" at the city level, as read in the meeting.

Staff acknowledged community concern about the proposed change, said they have met with a local stakeholder group called "F Cubed," and announced site tours and outreach before the Jan. 8 public hearing. The Commission asked technical questions about tree‑size weighting, sampling and whether street‑width standards would need separate fire‑code amendments to allow narrower public streets; staff said those are part of a broader code analysis and changes to multiple departments' standards may be necessary.

The Commission took no final action on Dec. 11; staff said a formal public hearing and possible vote are scheduled for Jan. 8, 2025.