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Council tables two extraterritorial development requests after staff warns Larsen zone has no available ERUs
Summary
Councilers paused action on linked McAtee and Desert View development ETA applications after staff and consultants said Department of Health counts show zero available ERUs in the Larsen pressure zone; staff recommended denial and council voted to table the requests pending additional system data and analysis.
Councilors on Wednesday declined to approve two linked extraterritorial agreement (ETA) applications that together would allocate 239 equivalent residential units (ERUs) in the Larsen pressure zone, saying the city lacks demonstrated water capacity under current Department of Health metrics.
Assistant Public Works Director Lee Ramsey summarized the applications: Desert View seeks 60 ERUs and McAtee requests 179 ERUs (with an unspecified commercial component). Ramsey said the requests were submitted before the council's ETA policy, but staff negotiated the agreements and were presenting them for council action.
Civil review manager Corey Davidson and staff explained the technical constraint: DOH's permitted ERU calculation relies on maximum daily demand metrics and a 20-hour pumping assumption that leaves the Larsen zone with no available ERUs today. "We are recommending that we deny these," staff told council, saying the ETA policy provided a cadence that allowed periodic resubmission once capacity data improved.
Developer-representative Mr. Dormeyer (who addressed council during public comment) urged a conditional approach—delaying any active connections until Well 29 is online and imposing conditions such as irrigation controls to mitigate peak demand. Council members asked whether DOH would accept a re-submittal using updated, lower pumping averages; staff cautioned DOH typically asks for two years of improved system data and that hydraulic limits (pipe size, elevation and fire flow needs) create additional constraints.
Several council members said they favored more housing but felt unable to approve the applications under current DOH determinations and infrastructure limits. One council member recommended tabling to gather the end-of-summer system data and consider possible mitigation steps. Staff confirmed the ETA policy provides two submission windows a year and that applicants could return later with updated information.
The council ultimately agreed to table further action on the McAtee and Desert View ETAs to allow staff and consultants to assemble additional data and options, including consideration of conditional connections timed to infrastructure improvements.
