Bullhead City planners approve 3-foot side-yard setback for City Center residential lots

The Bullhead City Planning and Zoning Commission on July 2 approved an amendment to the City Center development that reduces the residential side-yard setback from 5 feet to 3 feet for specified lots, a change the project’s master developer said will give home builders more design options and modest cost efficiencies.

Jay Korda, master developer for Mantle Investments, told the commission the City Center master plan is a mixed-use, walkable downtown-style project and that many first-phase residential lots are only 40 feet wide. He said the reduced setback “gives them more variation from the elevations” and allows builders to deliver floor plans that better meet market demand, adding that homes would still be built to code and that lots will be managed by an HOA. “It’s not gonna save $20,000 on a home, but you’ll certainly save some money on the back end that will ultimately filter down to the homeowners,” Korda said.

Commissioners pressed for technical and aesthetic safeguards. One commissioner asked about placing air-conditioning condensers in a 3-foot side yard; Korda and staff said mechanical equipment would generally be required at the rear or roof and that the zoning code requires minimum clearances for mechanical units. Staff also noted fire-department clearance requirements and building-code measures (stucco-wrapped eaves, plan review) that would apply at the building-permit stage.

A resident who spoke during the hearing said incremental reductions in setbacks felt like a “slippery slope” and urged the commission to defer such changes until actual home plans are submitted. Staff responded that the general plan designates the area for medium- to high-density residential uses and that similar patterns already exist in other local subdivisions.

Commissioner (13) moved to accept the amendment as written; after a second the clerk announced the motion carried with five votes in favor. The commission’s action changes the setback standard for the identified City Center lots; other zoning and development standards, including building code and fire requirements, remain in force and will be enforced during plan review.

The action is intended to give home builders more flexibility on narrow lots in the City Center project and to speed ability to construct once final plats and permits are in place. The developer said the first phase is already under grading and the commission asked staff to ensure that code protections for mechanical equipment, utilities and fire clearance are enforced at the plan-review stage.