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Planning commission recommends Sundance CMP amendment to add 8.3‑acre parcel for multifamily development
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Summary
The Planning & Zoning Commission recommended approval of PLZZ‑25‑0012 to add 8.3 acres (Parcel 34C) to the Sundance Community Master Plan with a commercial/multifamily designation, allowing about 156 units and a site‑specific 21‑unit exception; the recommendation goes to city council subject to conditions A–P.
Mandy Woods, principal planner in Development Services, presented PLZZ‑25‑0012 on behalf of staff and asked the commission to recommend the amendment to city council.
The request would add an 8.3‑acre site identified as Parcel 34C (west of Yuma Road and Dean Road) to the Sundance Community Master Plan with a commercial land‑use designation that, under the CMP standards, would allow multifamily residential. Woods said Parcel 34C is proposed to develop with roughly 156 units and be paired with adjacent Parcel 34B (about 32 units) for an overall project of about 188 units. She said the CMP’s planned‑unit total would increase from 6,798 to 6,954 and that the application requests a parcel‑level exception that would permit 21 additional units limited to Parcel 34C (the CMP maximum unit cap of 6,933 would otherwise constrain totals).
Woods described a narrowly tailored revision to the development code’s step‑down (height‑transition) provision: because a 90‑foot HOA tract and wash between the site and adjacent single‑family lots already provides separation, the proposed language measures the step down from the nearest single‑family use property line rather than zone boundary for the subject parcel. She said the change would apply only to Parcel 34C. Woods also noted staff’s required traffic analysis was submitted and approved, city emergency services would serve the site, and the applicant completed adequate‑school‑facilities notifications.
Applicant representative Jeff Bliley told commissioners the parcel already carried older commercial‑center zoning that allowed three‑story multifamily and said the rezoning would trade obsolete zoning language for updated CMP standards, greater setbacks and more design control. Bliley said the project would be financed using an Arizona program (stated in the record as “Arizona 40”) and that the developer would record 30‑year deed restrictions limiting rents to households at about 60% of area median income.
Commissioners asked about half‑street road improvements and pedestrian access to the nearby library; the applicant said he would complete any half‑street improvements adjacent to the property and anticipated a pedestrian rather than a vehicular connection. Commissioner Bassler raised concerns the Buckeye Union High School had not signed the certification of adequate facilities; planning staff said the city provides growth projections to school districts and that the districts themselves plan and secure funding for capacity through bonds and state funding.
With no public speakers signed up, the commission closed the public hearing and voted to recommend approval of PLZZ‑25‑0012 to city council, subject to conditions A through P as described in the staff report. The matter will proceed to council for final action.
The commission’s recommendation does not alter the record that one neighboring district (Buckeye Union High School) did not sign the project’s adequate‑facilities statement; commissioners discussed monitoring and coordination with school districts during the development review process.
