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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/07/2000 Regular Council Meeting MinutesMINUTES OF REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MARANA TOWN HALL MARCH 7, 2000 PLACE AND DATE Marana Town Hall, March 7, 2000 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Bobby Sutton, Jr. at 7:05p.m. II. III. IV. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by Mayor Sutton INVOCATION/MOMENT OF SILENCE Given by Vice Mayor Reuwsaat and by Reverend Wayne Childs of Marana First Assembly of God ROLL CALL COUNCIL Bobby Sutton, Jr. Mayor Present Mike Reuwsaat Vice Mayor Present Ed Honea Council Member Present Herb Kai Council Member Present Ora Mae Harn Council Member Present Roxanne Ziegler Council Member Present Jim Blake Council Member Present STAFF Michael Hein Dan Hochuli Jocelyn Entz Roy Cuaron Jim DeGrood Jane Howell Joel Shapiro David Smith Blanca Rico Town Manager Town Attorney Town Clerk Finance Director Development Services Administrator Human Resources Director Planning Director Chief of Police _ Office Support Assistant The list of public attendees is attached. V. APPROVAL OF AGENDA VI. VII. VIII. Upon motion by Council Member Harn and seconded by Council Member Honea, the agenda was approved 7/0. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES A. Minutes of Regular Council Meeting- February 15, 2000 Upon motion by Vice Mayor Reuwsaat and seconded by Council Member Ziegler, the minutes for February 15, 2000 were approved 7/0. CALL TO THE PUBLIC/ANNOUNCEMENTS Elizabeth Guevara, a sixth grader from Coyote Trails Elementary, spoke, before the Council regarding a class trip to San Diego, CA, on April 3-5, 2000. The students are planning to visit the University of Oceanography. She said that she has raised $50 of the $175 total cost of this trip and asked for support from the Youth Assistance Fund in raising the remaining $125. Mayor Sutton advised Ms. Guevara to fill out the necessary paperwork for the Council's assistance program and to present this paperwork to the Town Clerk for processing. Martha Ludwig, parent, introduced six members of the Boy Scout Troop 223 to the Council. The group included Brent Ludwig, Mitchell Baker, Scott Fallows, Chris Weiss, Devin Wengert and Jason Bowman. These Scouts are working on their Citizenship in the Community Badge and were present at the Council meeting to observe government at work. Ms. Entz introduced Blanca Rico, a new employee in the Clerk's department. Ms. Rico, the Town Hall receptionist, moved from Tacoma,. WA, to Marana and lives in Continental Ranch with her husband and daughter. STAFF REPORTS, IF ANY There were no questions regarding the staff reports. ...~ ... ~UTESiOF.~.~G~AR COUNCIL MEETING . i~ "MARCH 7, 2000 IX. GENERAL ORDER OF BUSINESS A. CONSENT AGENDA 1. Authorization for Police Department to Accept a Law Enforcement Block Grant from the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission (Dave Smith) 2. Resolution No. 2000-24: Continental Ranch Sunflower, Phase V: Request for approval of a 173-1ot single family detached home subdivision Final Plat on 44.83 acres located within Continental Ranch nOrth of Twin 'Peaks Road, east of Silverbell Road in a portion of Sections 20 and 21, TownShip 12 South, Range 12 East. Property Owner/Applicant is Del Webb's Home Construction, Inc., 9155 N. Coachline Blvd., Marana, AZ 85743 (Joel Shapiro) Upon motion by Vice Mayor ReuwSaat, seconded by CoUncil Member Ziegler, the consent agenda was approved 7/0. B. COUNCIL ACTION Presentation by Jill Sargent, Pima County Community Justice Board Coordinator (Mike Hein) Jill Sargent, Community jUstice Board (CJB) Coordinator, gave a brief presentation to the Council regarding this program. She explained that these Boards are made up of neighborhood volunteers who hold juveniles accountable for first or second time misdemeanor offenses. The CJB Program helps to organize and train citizen volunteers to act as a neighborhood court and also teaches them techniques for listening to the victims, the parents and the youth offenders. The CJB's goal is to teach the young offenders about the impact of their actions within the community. The Board tries to devise ways for the offenders to repair the damage that may have been caused in the community and to uncover the underlying causes for their behavior. The short-term goals of this program include instilling self-respect, creating good citizens and focusing the youth toward educational and job pursuits. The long-term goals include increasing public safety while reducing juvenile crime and ensuring a higher quality of life within the participating community. Vice Mayor Reuwsaat asked several general questions about the program and stated that he was impressed with the results that other jurisdictions had been receiving through this program. He said that he would like Ms. Sargent to work with the Marana Court system, MPD Chief David Smith and the Town's senior staff in order to implement this program in Marana. Mayor Sutton said that he was in agreement with Vice Mayor Reuwsaat and was anxious to get this program started within the Town. He asked what would happen to the offenders if they failed to meet the required criteria for consequences. Ms. Sargent MINUTES OF REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MARANA TOWN HALL MARCH 7, 2000 answered that the youth were immediately sent back into the Juvenile Court system for possible court action. Mayor Sutton asked Ms. Sargent~t° meet with the Town Clerk and discuss the necessary steps for expediting the process to implement this program. Council Member Honea asked if the liability for the juveniles was accepted by the Community Board or by the Juvenile Court. Ms. Sargent stated that the court system had a waiver form containing complex terminology excluding any citizen or board member from liability. She added that an intense screening process took place prior to the assignment of the supervisory personnel. Council Member Harn stated that a majority of the youth offenders experienced behavioral health problems. She asked if these offenders and their parents were given the opportunity to receive family counseling. Ms. Sargent responded that the CJB program made a point to work with the offenders on these family issues and included the health care agencies within the participating jurisdictions to this end. 2. Preview of Founders' Day 2000 (Kelle M~ Maslyn, Marana Chamber of Commerce) 3~ Ms. Maslyn spoke briefly regarding the final plans for the Founders' Day festivities March 10-12, 2000. She listed the numerous activities that were scheduled throughout the Town during this celebration. She urged all to attend. Resolution No. 2000-22: Continental Ranch Copper Moon: Request for approval of a 144-1ot single family detached home subdivision Preliminary Plat on 37.03 acres located within Continental Ranch Parcel 19 east of Silverbell Road between Twin Peaks Road and Coachline Boulevard within a portion of Sections 20 and 21, Township 12 South, Range 12 East. Property Owner/Applicant is Pulte Homes, 7493 N. Oracle Road, Suite 115, Tucson, AZ 85704 (Joel Shapiro) Mr. Shapiro explained that this item went before the Planning and Zoning Commission on January 26, 2000 and had been recommended for Council approval. He added that this parcel was located within a designated'critical habitat and that he recommended adding a second condition before approval. The condition states that, prior to the issuance of any grading permits, there must be written verification of approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife regarding this development. Mr. Shapiro stated that verbal approval had already been received from U.S. Fish and Wildlife. MINUTES OF ~GULAR COUNCIL MEETING MARANA TOWN HALL MARCH 7~ 2000 Vice Mayor Reuwsaat stated that the item's existing condition was worded too vaguely and he suggested revising this item with the following verbiage: · 1. Written verification that U.S. FiSh and Wildlife has no objection to this development prior to the issuance of any grading permits. 2. Review of developed open space recreation facilities by the Planning and Zoning Commission with prior approval by the Marana Parks and Recreation Director and/or senior staff with the Final Plat review. Council Member Harn agreed with the Vice Mayor and said that it was important to put substantial documentation in place prior to any problems that may arise. Vice Mayor Reuwsaat commended Mr. Shapiro for his efforts regarding this project. He said that the lineal and architectural appearance of this development was important. Paula Meade, Pulte Homes representative, stated that the two aforementioned conditions were acceptable and agreed that the aesthetic appearance of the development was an important concern to Pulte Homes as well. Mr. Shapiro recommended that the two conditions be included in the resolution. Council Member Ziegler asked if the setback criterion of the Continental Ranch Specific Plan would be required for every future builder in the Continental Ranch area. Mr. DeGrood said that the Continental Ranch Specific Plan set various architectural guidelines as well as fixed regulations. He commented that Pulte Homes had extended the required setback dimensions on their own initiative. Upon motion by Vice Mayor Reuwsaat:.and ·seconded by Council Member Harn, Resolution No. 2000-22 was approved with the aforementioned two conditions. The vote was 7/0. . Resolution No. 2000-23: Preliminary Plat for Hartman Vistas: Request for approval of 367-1ot single family detached home sUbdivision Preliminary Plat on 157.33 acres of currently vacant land zoned R-6 (Single Family Residential, minimum lot size 6,000 sq. ft.). Identified as parcel number 221-06-00104, located in a portion of the northeast quarter of Section 23, Township 12 South, Range 12 East. The property lies at the southwest corner of the intersection of Linda Vista Boulevard and Hartman Lane. The Applicant is New World Homes, Inc., 3550 N. 1st Avenue, S-150, Tucson, AZ 85719 (Joel Shapiro) Mr. DeGrood briefly outlined this request. He stated that the developer had chosen to employ the cluster development option that allowed the development of lots as small as ·" ' '. MARANA TOWN HALL · . MARCH· 7, 2000 4,000-sq. ft. and allowed for morei c~pen space areas. He said that the roadway access would be by Hartman Lane only. He stated that building permits would not be issued until the paving between this project and Cortaro Farms Road is completed, and the widening of Cortaro Farms between 1-10 and Cerius Stravenue has been initiated. These pavement projects are scheduled ~for 2000. Mr. DeGrood added that the traffic congestion currently being experienced at these intersections would be relieved by the widening of the road and additional length to the turn bays. John Wood from Presidio Engineering, !nc. spoke before the Council regarding this item. He briefly stated that the general 'requirements for this subdivision had been agreed upon by New World HOmes. He said that approval verification for this development from U.S. Fish and Wildlife would probably be issued in the form of a biological opinion. He requested that this item's fourth condition be deleted from the list of conditions because it would Put an Undue burden on the applicant during this preliminary stage. This condition is regarding the requirement that paving between this project and Cortaro Farms Road and that the.widening of Cortaro Farms Road between 1-10 and Cerius Stravenue have both been initiated before any building permits are issued. Mayor Sutton stated that this was a situation where possibly the private sector could get some of these projects completed faster than the public sector and that the Section 7- consultation paperwork from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife would suffice for approval documentation for the develoPment. Vice Mayor Reuwsaat agreed with the :Mayor and said that the verification of federal approval for this development would take longer to obtain than the time involved for the Town to complete the proposed paving projects. He added that he was concerned about the additional costs to this project that would be added due to the mitigation issue set by the U.S. Fish and-Wildlife. The mitigation issue involves the requirement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife for the applicant to set aside four acres of open space for wildlife habitat either within the project's, boundary or somewhere else for every one acre of development. Vice Mayor Reuwsaat stated that his concern was that the additional costs for the property because of this issue would severely and significantly impact the cost of affordable housing in this area. He said that this was a specific example of the economic impact that :critical habitat requirements have on communities. Council Member Honea asked that rigid verbiage regarding recreation facility requirements be added to condition three. He suggested that the approval by the Parks and Recreation Director for the provided facilities be added to this condition as well. Council Member Ziegler agreed with the Vice Mayor about the economic impact of the critical 'habitat issue and on the rising costs in the region's housing market. She confirmed her faith in Marana regarding its commitment to the completion of the 6 MINUTES OF REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MARANA TOWN HALL MARCH 7, 2000 paving and widening projects but said that she' did not hold the same faith with Pima County. She said that the Town's bargaining power would be lost when applying for fair share funding from the County if these projects were completed prior to the request for funds. Terry Klinger, Vice President of .New World Homes, spoke before the Council regarding the four conditions' of approval and asked that condition four be removed temporarily until the time of the final plat approval process. He said that this requirement would halt his project entirely as well as disenchanting the development investors. Mr. Hein thanked Mr. Klinger for his willingness to compromise and said that his concern was that the final plat process was a harder time in which to impose restrictions and requirements on development. At this time, Mayor Sutton left the daiS and gave the gavel to Vice Mayor Reuwsaat. The time was 8:25 p.m. Council Member Ziegler said that she was most concerned with serving the best interests of the Town and that she had to insist that the fourth condition remain as a requirement for approval. Vice Mayor Reuwsaat asked to continue this item to the next Council meeting in order for the Town Attorney to identify the appropriate language that would suit both parties. · Mayor Sutton returned to the dais at 8:29 p.m. Mr. Klinger asked that condition four be replaced by a restriction of no issuance of occupancy permits prior to eighteen months from this date. He said that this would be a reasonable amount of time to accomplish the roadway improvements and to obtain the federal documentation regarding critical habitat but would not jeopardize his financial backing status. Mr. Hochuli said that the conditions needed to be present at the beginning of the preliminary plat process in order to protect ali. parties. He said that it would not be sufficient to verbally agree on this condition and then make it a written condition at the final plat process time. Council Member Kai asked Mr. Klinger if New World Homes, Inc. would hold the Town harmless if condition four was implemented at the final plat stage. · . '".'"" ' ' ' MARCH.'7,.2000 . '" Mr. Klinger said that he did not have the authority to make that decision. He asked that the Council come up with a solution ~that would give him a definitive date that he could start construction. · Mayor Sutton said that he understood Mr. Klinger's position and that he would prefer that the Council continue this item ~until the appropriate language could be found to protect ali parties involved in this issue. ~ Council Member Ziegler referred to a letter that Mr. Klinger had written to the Council regarding this item. This letter is part of the permanent public record and was distributed with the backup materials associated with this item. She read two excerpts from the letter that referred to the fourth condition. The excerpts are as follows: J "In reviewing the fOur recommended conditions by staff and the planning and zoning commission, New World Homes finds recommendation #4 to be extremely onerous." "We have expended a great ·deal of energy ·and financial resources on the planning of this project over the past year without receiving any hint of this restriction from staff." Council Member Ziegler continued by stating that the Town Attorney was trying to protect everyone involved from a costly misunderstanding in the future. She said that she did not object to New World Homes proceeding with the project up to the time of occupancy but that she was adamant that no residents should be added to this area without the roadway improvements being completed. Mr. Hein said that he was confident that staff could revise the language of the condition so that it was agreeable to the Council and to the developer. Mayor Sutton suggested that this item be continued until the March 21, 2000 Council meeting and that, at that time, conditions three and four could be revised. Council Member Honea said that. the proposed roadway improvements would not alleviate the traffic problems because Cerius Stravenue did not connect with Hartman Road. He stated that the improvements on Cortaro Road needed to be from 1-10 to Hartman Road in order to benefit this area: ~ Upon motion by Council Member Blake, seconded by Vice Mayor Reuwsaat, Resolution No. 2000-23 was continued until the March 21, 2000 Council meeting. The vote was 5/2. The opposing votes were Council Members Honea and Ziegler. Resolution 2000-26: Authorizing the expenditure of Contingency Funds toward advancement for FY 2000-2001 and. assistance for the Marana Health Center. MINUTES OF REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MARANA TOWN HALL MARCH 7, 2000 · . . Council Member Ham submitted a Statement of Agenda Conflict form to the Town Clerk and left the daiS at 8:48 p.m. ~ Mr. Hein applauded the outstanding efforts of Mr. Cuaron, Mr. DeGrood and Mr. Cook regarding this item. He stated that he believed the recommended expenditures from the Town's contingency fund were a prudent use of its fiscal resources. He briefly outlined the objectives of this item. e Upon motion by Council Member Ziegler, seconded by Resolution No. 2000-26 was passed unanimously 7/0. Council Member Harn returned to the dais at 8:53 p.m. Pima Association of Governments (Mike~Hein) Council Member Kai, Mr. Hein reported that Mr. DeGrood would be covering the March 9, 2000 PAG meeting and that an agenda item regarding 208 Planning was of particular interest to the Council and Marana's regional plan. He said that he would be requesting that two public meetings regarding thisissue be scheduled. The first meeting would be a utilities advisory committee/public hearing regarding the wastewater infrastructure in the northwest Marana area as well as other parts of the Town. The follow-up meeting would be a report to Council in a study session format. A general discussion followed regarding the status of the 208 planning issue. 7. Legislative Update (Mike Hein) Michael Racy stated that, as of this week, the Legislature was in final committee hearings for the 2000 legislative session. He said that this was one of the most difficult times in the session because of the enormous amount of bills that had not been heard. He gave a brief summary of approximately fifty bills that are before the Legislature this week and that are of interest to the Town. Some of these bills included sales tax uniformity, municipal tax code commission, stored water recovery wells, annexation requirements, municipal down zoning and flight property tax. C. Mayor and Council's Report Council Member Harn reported that she had ·attended the Marana Foundation for Educational Excellence luncheon held earlier in the day at Heritage Highlands and that it was delightful. She congratulated Mr. Hein on the success of his presentation regarding the future growth of Marana. "· ····· MINUTES OF REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING · · MARANA TOWN HALL ..." .. ..... MARCH 7, 2000 · ., . gm Vice Mayor Reuwsaat congratulated the staff on the standing-room-only attendance at the Northwest Regional Plan meeting and their significant input in scheduling this meeting. He also commended the staff and the public for their participation in the transportation impact fee issue. He stated· that this issue was one of the toughest issues that the Council would face and he was pleased with the progress and positive direction the discussions were taking. .. Mayor Sutton reported his attendance at the Heritage Highlands luncheon and commended Mr. Hein for his speech. D. Manager's Report There was no report. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Vice Mayor Reuwsaat requested that the issue of the economic impact to Marana of the critical habitat mitigation be placed on a future agenda. He asked for staff to develop a report specifically addressing the mitigation' involving New World Homes, Forest Cities and Dove Mountain. He stated that he wanted this discussion to include the projection of the lost revenues and the mitigation expenditures that would have otherwise been utilized for services and infrastructure. He further requested that the staff study one of the aforementioned projects and look at housing affordability and the impact of the mitigation factor on housing costs. He said that,there were several possibilities of litigation against U.S. Fish and Wildlife presently ongoing. He stated that legal action might be prudent and suggested that an executive session regarding that possibility. He affirmed his desire to protect the interests of the Town and to consider litigation on behalf of this interest, the loss of affordable housing, as well as lost revenues. Council Member Harn asked that a short presentation on Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds be placed on a future agenda. She announced that April 10-14, 2000 had been declared CDBG week. Council Member Kai commended the Council and the staff for the excellent job done in securing future school sites. He said that he would like to have staff look into an impact fee program for school infrastructures. He suggested that staff hold a meeting with the appropriate school officials in order to discuss methods for achieving this goal. Council Member Harn reported that numerous meetings had been held regarding the preservation of the historic adobe buildings on Sandario Road. She requested that the staff meet with the property owners to discuss this issue and to report their findings at the next Council meeting. 10 MINUTES OF REGULAR cOuNCIL MEETING MARANA TOWN HALL MARCH 7, 2000 XI. Council Member Honea requested that the clustering option issue be addressed at the next Council meeting. ADJOURNMENT · Upon motion by Council Member Hatn, seconded by CoUncil Member Honea, adjournment was approved 7/0. The time was 9:16 p.m. CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing are the true and correct minutes of the Marana Town Council meeting held on March 7, 2000. I further certify that a quorum was present. ~rn~/fix~tz, Tower C~ 11'