TITLE
The Mayor and City Council shall hear public comment regarding a request to amend the San Travasa PAD Ordinance 05-14, approved on November 15, 2005 (and a subsequent minor administrative amendment), to eliminate the CR-3 and CR-5 zoning districts, expand the CB-2 Commercial area, and introduce the TR Transitional Zone with modifications to the permitted uses and development standards. This request amends approximately 343 acres of the prior approved Zoning and PAD and includes the former Cotton Gin Site not previously a part of the PAD, and excludes the Legacy Charter School site that is a part of the prior approved PAD.
AGENDA ITEM DESCRIPTION
The subject property is located at the southwest corner of Bowlin Road and White and Parker, north of Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway. This property was initially approved in 2005 for residential attached and detached development, with commercial fronting Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway. Since the original approval in 2005, the area surrounding the property has been largely planned and developed for commercial and institutional uses. The Wal-Mart Commercial development and Banner Health facility was developed to the west of the site. The Legacy Charter School was developed on 15.5 acres of the original San Travasa project site on Bowlin Road. The Central Arizona College was developed on the north 218 acres of the San Travasa site, and the new City Hall Complex with additional Transitional Zoned land is located northeast of the site. This area of Maricopa now provides citywide regional services and the proposed PAD rezoning is designed to complement the existing and planned uses for the area.
The proposed PAD is a total of 372.9 acres, however, the CAC development (Parcel 1) already occupies 218 acres, leaving a total of 155 acres of land proposed for new development. Of the 155 acres remaining to be planned and developed in San Travasa, approximately 31 acres are proposed for commercial development along Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway (Parcels 5 & 6) and is generally consistent with prior 2005 PAD approval. The remaining 124 acres of San Travasa (Parcels 2-4) are proposed for a substantive change to the prior approved PAD; see Figure 4 of the PAD Book for comparison (Exhibit - A). Parcels 3&4 consist of 82 acres designated for Transitional Zone (TR) and are intended for a mixture of uses possibly including educational related, civic, office, medical, hospitality, as well as offering opportunities for conventional and non-conventional single family and multi-family. This land was previously planned and approved for single-family and multi-family residential uses under the existing PAD. In addition to the proposed change in land uses, the proposed PAD also amends the list of permitted uses and development standards from that of the City of Maricopa Zoning Code. The intent is to allow an updated list of uses permitted and to allow the integration of land uses to achieve a truly mixed use community.
The most significant changes to the approved 2005 PAD is the incorporation of the Old Cotton Gin site (formerly an out-parcel, not a part of the 2005 PAD) into the San Travasa development, and the introduction of the 42 acre mid-block commercial parcel (Parcel 2), owned by the Ak-Chin Indian Community. This land was previously approved for CR-3 single family residence. In an effort to incorporate the old Cotton Gin site to create a large contiguous parcel of land to accommodate the Central Arizona College, a land swap was negotiated by the property owners. The swap gave the Ak-Chin the land identified as Parcel 2 of the proposed PAD, which consists of 42 acres of land fronting White and Parker Road. The proposed PAD designates this property for commercial uses and also allows the development of up to 10 acres of residential multi-family. The intent is to integrate residential, horizontally or vertically, with commercial to create a mixed-use development on Parcel 2. This parcel is appropriately located adjacent to a High Density Residential land use designation to the east of White and Parker. Staff finds these land uses complimentary and supports the location of commercial with a multi-family component as depicted in the proposed San Travasa PAD.
The conceptual roadway network consists of an arterial roadway (San Travasa Drive) with two collector roads connecting White & Parker Road to San Travasa Drive. A pedestrian trail system is provided throughout, connecting pedestrians in Parcels 2-6 to the planned Multi-Use Trails on Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway and White & Parker Roads, see Figure 9 of the PAD Book (Exhibit -A). A wash also traverses the site from the southeast corner to the northwest corner of the property providing additional open space linkages internally and to adjacent properties.
Conformance to the Subdivision Ordinance & Zoning Code:
§14-5-3 of the Subdivision Ordinance provides requirements for Master Plan Development (MPD) and Planned Area Development (PAD). The PAD's are intended for properties with a land area up to 320 acres, MPD's are for properties beyond 320 acres. The proposed PAD consists of a total of 372.9 acres, however, due to the development of the CAC as a single user on 218 acres, the determination was made that the PAD procedures are appropriate for this development.
The developer wishes to maintain flexibility in determining the ultimate disposition of the individual Parcels. For this reason, a master plat is proposed to establish the backbone roadway system, landscape, and master infrastructure to be installed, creating shovel ready platted parcels of land as depicted in the conceptual land use plan. The individual parcel plans will then be reviewed by the City through the subdivision process for developments that require lotting or further subdivision, such as single family or splitting of the parcels, or through the Site Plan Review process typical to multi-family and some commercial developments. At the time of review, the internal roadway networks of each parcel, including shared and cross access if necessary, will be determined along with the specific architectural theming, open space, internal utility needs, amenities, traffic impact studies, and other requirements.
The proposed PAD conforms to the requirements of the Zoning Code Article 33, Planned Area Development, and the Subdivision Ordinance § 14-5, Master Plan Development and Planned Area Development. There are some nuances to the site that may warrant alternatives to the requirements of the Subdivision Ordinance and other adopted policies of the city. For example, a levee exists along the White & Parker frontage within the property, refer to Exhibit - A for details of the levee. The developer is not responsible for the levee on their property, however, arterial frontage and future improvements such as roadway widening, a multi-use trail system, landscaping, and access through the levee will need to be designed and phased in a manner to facilitate timely development of the site. Ultimately, the City will receive all required improvements in accordance with adopted codes and policies when complete or as otherwise modified or waived through the Subdivision (including Mater Plat and Map of Dedication) approval process by the Planning & Zoning Commission and City Council. The proceeding steps in the development approval process are outlined in the Subdivision Ordinance, specifically Article 14-4.
Conformance to the General Plan:
On December 21, 2010, the City Council approved a Major General Plan Amendment for the subject property, see Figure 3 of Exhibit - A. The proposed PAD base zoning districts of Transitional and General Commercial and the locations of those zoning districts are consistent with the approved General Plan Land Use Map Amendment approved in 2010. This request supports the goals and objectives of the General Plan.
Development Agreements:
The City Council entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with CAC in June of 2011 and was amended in 2012. The IGA includes a provision that City will process an Amendment to the existing PAD (ZON05-05 & PAD05-05) to zone the 218 acre CAC property to allow for institutional and educational uses and facilities. Should the Council wish to approve this PAD, this provision of the IGA will be fulfilled on behalf of the City.
This item will be presented by Planning Consultant Dana Burkhardt.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Mayor and City Council hear public comment regarding a request to amend the San Travasa PAD Ordinance 05-14, approved on November 15, 2005 (and a subsequent minor administrative amendment), to eliminate the CR-3 and CR-5 zoning districts, expand the CB-2 Commercial area, and introduce the TR Transitional Zone with modifications to the permitted uses and development standards. This request amends approximately 343 acres of the prior approved Zoning and PAD and includes the former Cotton Gin Site not previously a part of the PAD, and excludes the Legacy Charter School site that is a part of the prior approved PAD.