County staff proposes moving development-standard relief from special-use hearings to variance process

Cochise County staff presented docket R2602 at a July 28 work session, proposing to move development standards that currently trigger special-use review into the site-development standards section so requests for relief would be handled through a variance at the Board of Adjustment. Staff said the change is intended to treat height and setback relief as site-development questions rather than land-use questions and to align processes with the state statute that delegates variance authority to the Board of Adjustment.

"The goal with this one was to eliminate the special use requirement when it's simply based on a development standard such as height or setbacks," said the staff member presenting the draft changes. Staff emphasized the amendments do not make those uses more restrictive but relocate standards into section 2.51 so they apply consistently under the variance process. The board and staff noted the Planning and Zoning Commission will review the draft for recommendations before the county schedules a public hearing.