Prescott Valley commission backs rezoning for two speculative commercial buildings, attaches fire and utility conditions

The Prescott Valley Planning and Zoning Commission voted on June 8 to forward a rezoning request for about 2.2 acres at the State Route 69/169 corridor to Town Council, recommending approval with conditions.

Urban Planner 3 Chris Norlock told the commission staff recommended approval of ZMC 26-00001 (referred to in the packet as Woodmill/Windmill Farms), describing a proposed rezoning from RL-70 to Commercial General Planned Development (CGPD) for parcel 402-02-048E to permit Retail A/B and Service A/B uses. "Staff recommends approval of ZMC 26-00001 Woodmill Farms and I will take any questions," Norlock said. The submittal shows two speculative buildings of roughly 9,000 square feet each and 85 parking spaces; the General Plan designates the site as PAD 5-2, which staff said supports corridor commercial uses.

Commissioners raised several conditions before forwarding the case. One commissioner asked whether the applicant had obtained a "no conflict" letter from APS for an easement crossing the parcel; Norlock said no such letter had been received and recommended a stipulation requiring the letter prior to action. CAFMA (the local fire authority) had submitted a June 1 letter identifying concerns about fire-flow and hydrant spacing: commission discussion flagged that a single hydrant on a dead-end main could make achieving 1,500 gallons-per-minute fire flow difficult for certain building types and urged consideration of a looped main and additional hydrants during buildout. The town engineer noted that "a project like this would will require a traffic impact analysis or traffic impact statement which will go to ADOT for review," and ADOT may ask for joint access if nearby development warrants it.

Applicant Gordon Bowers, representing Dave & Associates, said the submittal is for a zoning change only, not final site-plan approval, and confirmed there is a third hydrant shown on the plan. "We are committed to ... we'll be sprinkler[ing] all the buildings as is code," Bowers said, and said a landscape architect will prepare a formal landscape plan in advance of final development applications.

The commission incorporated specific conditions into its recommendation: submission and review of a landscape plan meeting town code; a letter of no conflict from APS; and attaching CAFMA's June 1 letter to the project stipulations for further review during engineering and permit review. Commissioner Kaden Graci disclosed an APS-related connection and recused himself from deliberation and vote.

A motion to forward ZMC 26-00001 to Town Council with the stated stipulations passed (Commissioner Graci recused; Commissioners King, Colossimo, Evans, Griffith, Vice Chair Joe Huitt and Chair Ted Herb voted yes). The commission noted that, if the final site plan differs from the plan submitted with the rezoning request, the project could return to Planning & Zoning for further review; otherwise the rezoning and recommendation will proceed to Town Council.

The Town Council is the decision-making body for zoning map changes; the commission’s action is advisory. The rezoning packet record includes the applicant’s site plan, engineering notes about drainage (applicant engineer Ben McFaden described proposed retention basins to meter runoff), and CAFMA’s June 1 letter. Town staff indicated additional technical reviews — including CAFMA fire-flow calculations, utility coordination and an ADOT review of access — will occur during permit and development-plan review.