Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/27/1995 Council Retreat/ Planning CommissionTOWN COUNCIL/PLANNING COMMISSION RETREAT Town Hall Annex July 27, 1995 3:00 p.m. II. IlL CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Mayor Honea. Time 3:30 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL COUNCIL Ed Honea Sharon Price Tom Clark Herb Kai Cheryl Millner Bobby Sutton, Jr. Ora Ham PLANNING COMMISSION Wheeler Abbett Anton Krapek Dorothy Sharnetsky Viola Golden Kathleen Golden K.T. Berry Al Taylor STAFF Hurvie Davis Sandra Groseclose Dan Hochuli Jerry Flannery Kelly Schwab Mayor Vice Mayor Council Member Council Member Council Member Council Member Council Member Chairman Vice Chairman, excused Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner, excused Commissioner Commissioner Town Manager Town Clerk Town Attorney Planning and Zoning Administrator Town Prosecutor APPROVAL OF AGENDA A motion was made by Tom Clark, seconded by Bobby Sutton~ Jr. and carried unanimously to approve the agenda as written. GENERAL ORDER OF BUSINESS INFORMAL DISCUSSION AND ACTION OF OVERALL DIRECTION OF THE TOWN COUNCIL, PLANNING COMMISSION AND TOWN RELATING TO PENDING AND FUTURE ISSUES AND GROWTH. TOPICS WILL INCLUDE LONG AND SHORT TE~M GOALS, TOWN GENERAL PLAN AND ANNEXATIONS. Mayor Honea: This is the third in a series of retreats that the Council have been involved in, various subjects have been discussed. He would like to talk about growth and annexation today. And he would also like to talk about the Sign Code and the grant construction project on Tangerine Road. Mayor Honea also stated that he will be heading the Annexation Committee. Wheeler Abbett: He would like to know the status on the annexation in the [na/Thornydale area. Kelly Schwab: We are still waiting for the Supreme Court to decide whether they are going to hear the case or not. When Tucson contested it in Superior Court we won on a summary judgment motion, which is decided by just laws. Tucson took it to the Court of Appeals, they rendered a decision which basically said you have to go back and have a trial. We appealed it to the Supreme Court, right now they can take as long as they want to decide whether they are going to hear the case or not. Bobby Sutton, Jr.: The Business Advisory sent out a survey of the businesses in the annexed Ina/Thornydale area. The results were very much in Marana's favor. Hurvie Davis: He has been talking with City of Tucson officials. They have made a few different suggestions to resolving the annexation issue. The general feeling of the majority of the staff of the City of Tucson is to leave this issue alone. Jerry Flannery: The feeling he gets is that a lot of the project foresight people felt like they should quit focusing all their time on fighting the annexation. People call Mr. Flannery and ask him for suggestions on how to fight Tucson so they are not annexed. Wheeler Abbett: He heard through a reliable source that the Ex-Chief 0f Police was put in the position of the head of the Annexation Task Force in Tucson, and that they were going to cause as much trouble for Marana as possible. Tom Clark: He read the letter that the Business Advisory Committee sent out, that should have gotten into the paper or out in the media. Hurvie Davis: The Business Advisory Committee was thinking of taking the results from the survey down to the City of Tucson Council and inform them of the results. The letter was sent to the City of Tucson as well as to newspapers and other media in the area. Wheeler Abbett: He suggesting buying a half page in the newspaper and running an ad with the results, people need to be made aware of the results. Mayor Honea: Bobby Sutton has begun m work on the publicity end of the Town. He is looking into possibly making a video and other forms of media to get the word out about what the Town has to offer. Bobby Sutton~ Jr.: He is getting a group of people together that have a lot of experience in this field. Mayor Honea: He feels that it would be very difficult for Ina/Thornydale to be taken away from the Town. Kelly Schwab: It could be another two or three years before the annexation issue can be resolved. Dorothy Sharnetsky: There are people on the other side of these boundary lines that want to come into the Town. Mayor Honea: The Annexation Committee has met several times and we have identified 6 places around the Town to bring in for annexation. One is the triangle up where the Anderson Clayton Gin is, another is the airport, Rillito, Happy Acres, the corridor running down the freeway and a couple other areas. Hurvie Davis: It is very confusing for the Sheriff or the Police to respond with the boundaries the way they are now. Mayor ltonea: The Ultimate Boundaries set up does not necessarily mean that the Town will annex all these areas. We were trying to straighten the boundary lines and also the take some of the land that the Town surrounds. K.T. Berry: Most people in the Rillito area are excited about possibly be annexed, some of the older people are not pleased. Mayor ltonea: We do not want to force this on anybody. If the majority of the citizens don't want to be annexed they would not be forced to. The Town has services that could be offered to these areas. We are all part of the same community, we work together and our kids attend the same schools. We need to solidify the Community. Vice Mayor Sharon Price arrived 4:00 p.m. Jerry Flannery: He was doing some research on the annexation policy. He ran into the bowtie annexation, the area near Stewart Block. There was a lot of information in the file, but it seemed that it just died at one point. He went down and talked to l/ay Cardi Sr. from Cardi Construction, he said that the annexation just fizzled out. It was taken pretty far into he process before it died. Mayor Honea: Portland Cement is starting to be fairly active in the Community, they joined the Chamber and they assigned an executive to serve on the Board. If we could get all these people into the Town of Marana, we could encourage them to hire Marana citizens. He would like at least one person from the Planning Commission to serve on the Annexation Committee. Wheeler Abbett: The only problem with the cement plant, it is very similar to an electric plant. For the amount of work that is done it requires very few people. Hurvie Davis: They are surrounded by the Town, they impact the Town and vice versa, so why should they not be a part of the Town. We would have more influence and say over what that operation does by it being in the Town. Mayor Honea: There is the Rillito and the Happy Acres areas, where there are citizens living. Then there is Portland Cement which is probably half of the value of the entire triangle. They own land from the plant ail the way up the mountain. In order for the Town to be successful in closing up that hole, we are going to have to convince Rillito, Happy Acres and Portland Cement that it is a positive for them as well as the Town. Wheeler Abbett: Chairman Abbett wanted to know what this annexation would bring into the Town. If we are going to bring in all these extra people, this requires police protection, additional police on three shifts and other expenditures. How are these services to be paid for. If the remuneration coming in is not up to the expenditures going out, you are going out at the losing end. Mayor Honea: The Police Department is already driving in that area. The police are responding already to calls in these areas. We are also working on fire protection for the entire Community. Continental Ranch has great fire protection with Northwest. If we can convince these people and businesses that it is to their advantage to be in our Community they may be willing to pay a lot of money to a fire district. Dorothy Sharnetsky: As long as all those areas are annexed into Marana, the way the Police run their routes they all have certain areas. When there's a call in one, one of the others can help if need be. It would be easier for Marana to control the Police there in that area then to rely on Pima County. Dave Smith has done a terrific job as far as balancing out where his men are suppose to be. Mayor Honea: There are three districts, the business area, Continental Ranch and north Marana. Rillito could easily be served by the north end. Happy Acres could be served by the Continental Ranch district. Hurvie Davis: Not everything is a money making situation. In his opinion had the Town looked at what it should annexed for a money making situation we'd still be ten square miles. We'd have annexed the Ina/Thornydale area and that would be it. About four to six months ago he heard on the radio that there was a sky diver and his chute didn't open and he fell near the airport, was it in the Town or in the County. We need to look at a position of whether we are going to annex everything around Marana. What is going to be the future of the Community. Mayor Honea: He feels that community service is very important. Wheeler Abbett: Is the Mayor saying that the Town should go and aggressively talk to these people and get them to ask to be annexed into the Town. Mayor Honea: There are a couple different ways these areas could be annexed. We could provide the maps and petitions and have individuals in the Community do it. We need to fill in the holes in the Town. Dorothy Sharnetsky: We need to let the people know why it would be to their advantage to be in the Town. Mayor Honea: His plan would be through door to door information. A questionnaire could be handed out letting them know what the Town has to offer. He will be looking for one or two people from the Planning Commission to serve on the Annexation Committee. K.T. Berry: She would like to volunteer to serve on the Committee. Mayor Honea: We will be meeting twice a month from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Town Hall. Dorothy Sharnetsky: She would also like to be involved in the Committee. She knows quite a few people in the Rillito area and would go door to door to these people. Mayor Honea: The Town of Marana has evolved in the last two years from a small farming community. We need to evolve with the growth that is taking place on the Northwest side. The only way for us to maintain our strength and to have a say on what's taking place is to get with the program. Dorothy Sharnetsky: She would like to see the boundary lines extended from Ina Road all the way down to La Cholla and possibly past it. If we say this is what the Planning Staff and the Town Council have in come up with for future boundary lines. Mayor Honea: We have a gentleman's agreement with Oro Valley as far as where Marana is going to go and where Oro Valley is going. He had a fear years ago that Continental Ranch was going to take over the Town, he is finding out that the people in that area are some of the Town's greatest assets. What is the advantage of going m La Cholla. Wheeler Abbett: They are building a lot of new apartment buildings on the north side of Ina Road, there is going to be 1200 apartments. If we take in the Smith Center, it would take the Town to Shannon Road. Hurvie Davis: We drew up the Ultimate Boundaries Map, but there was a gentleman's agreement between Oro Valley and Marana made some years ago. This agreement was that the dividing line would be Shannon Road. Subsequent to that Oro Valley came in with their annexation plans and they came over to Thornydale. The Marana School District came to the Town and suggested making Shannon Road the boundary since it is the line for the School District. These is not a hard fixed lines, it is up to the people as to where they want to go. People in the Flowing Wells area have even come to the Town asking to be annexed. Wheeler Abbett: The people who made that gentleman's agreement between the Towns are no longer in office. Dorothy Sharnetsky: The people in Oro Valley right now, being that they had the extra construction fees for the roads, they are not even considering annexing any property because they want to fight the Honey Bee Canyon. The people that are in office now have no desire to annex any more property in Oro Valley. Mayor Honea: He is not against annexing the people in the Flowing Wells district either. There is a lot to support in that area and it has not been ruled out. But first the Town needs to close in the holes within the current Town boundaries. The airport is not interested in being annexed into the Town at this time. We have no intention of going in and trying to force the issue. Hurvie Davis: People in the Orange Grove Mobile Home Estates invited him down to talk about being annexed. There are a lot of people in that area that want to be annexed. They shop the lna/Thornydale area but live outside of the Town so they don't have the services provided by Marana. Wheeler Abbett: He thinks the Town should fill up the holes and also go out and get other areas annexed at the same time. Dorothy Sharnetsky: She does not want to see the City of Tucson grabbing all the gravy. Mayor Honea: Wheeler may have a point, we could work on filling the holes and annexing other areas. He is not against growth. Wheeler Abbett: If they want to come in they should not be ignored. Mayor Honea: It may also send a message to the City of Tucson. All the residential people that live around the Ina/Thornydale area have petitioned the Town to annex them. Hurvie Davis: He has had people from First and River Road and also Craycroft and River call him regarding annexation. Mayor Honea: He will be sending information out to both members of the Planning Commission who are interested in serving on the Annexation Committee. Hurvie Davis: We are working on two annexations at the present time, the TEP which is $14 million worth of assessed value. Cheryl Millner: Why weren't those incorporated in the past. Mayor Honea: The original annexation for the Town was ten square miles, in the north of Marana. Then the Wong family approached the Town wanting to be annexed. This doubled the size of the Town. There has been about forty annexations since the Town was incorporated. When an annexation is done you have to get 50% of the appraised property value to sign. Plus 50% plus 1% of the actual people that own property there. $14 million is what the TEP Substation is worth. At this point the Town of Marana surrounds this area. Now it is not going to hurt them to be in the Town. Hurvie Davis: We have the same problem with the Police and Sheriff's Department on that section of Ina Road, who responds. Mayor Honea: The discussion was moved on the Granite Construction project on Tangerine Road. Mr. Winters and Ted Hayworth met with the Town Manager, Planning Administrator and the Mayor a couple months ago. They were interested in donating some money and materials toward the flood levy. They want to mine that project around the landfill. When we talked to these people several issues were brought up. One was there is no monetary gain for a gravel mining operation for the Tmvn of Marana. State law does not allow you to tax the mining of gravel and rock. Hurvie Davis: They cannot get authority to operate by changing the General Plan. They would have to come back to the Town with a Specific Plan or with a change of zoning to allow them to move to what they want to do. They could say that it is already zoned for transportation use. It is a two step process and they are going through the first step right now. The whole issue is that the Town is in the process of updating the General Plan. Wheeler Abbett: If Granite is going to be at the next Council meeting, there is no time to do any changing. Mayor Honea: The Town has allocated $100,00.00 to redo the General Plan this year. This could be included with the entire project. Also why not ask for hard zoning instead of a General Plan amendment. We could amend it from ~C'' to ~E', they should come before Council and ask for it to be industrial zoning. They can't do anything in that area until the levy is completed. They offered us $250,000.00 cash for the levy project, plus the gravel and sand needed. They should wait until the Town gets the General Plan done sometime this year. Jerry Flannery: Hurvie is 100% correct on the two stage process Granite Construction is going through. Their property encompasses both the "E" and the "C" zoning on the map. So a portion of their property is already in the proper potential area for that type of development. The other portion of their property is in "C" which doesn't match. If they came in with hard zoning in the "C" area, it would not comply with the General Plan. The other criteria is the proximity to the river, the embankment protection, whether or not the Town sees that as a use that is viable in that area. If the vision of the Town throughout 6 the planning process was for industrial in that area, then there is a gravel pit, it would attract more industrial. Hurvie Davis: He is looking at the old zoning code, but Zone "C', which is what the hard zoning is today, within Zone "C" any residential, commercial or industrial as quasi-public land shall be permitted. Industrial on Zone "C~ as long as its a twenty five acre lot, minimum size, they can do industrial commercial on it, they do need to change the General Plan do they. Jerry Flannery: That is correct under the current zoning, they could apply through that process. Chances are that Staff and people in the area would say that the Town's General Plan shows that this is a type of residential. The General Plan by most definitions is the tool to implement the Town's hard zoning. Staff may say that it is a significant land use change, it's for industrial, and industrial may be allowed under the zoning however the General Plan that the Town's adopted says that this is a type of residential. Therefore Staff would recommend denial. Staff did recommend approval on the amendment, only from the perspective that that sliver a land is probably more of an industrial commercial type property because of all the other elements that have been talked about. Council Member Tom Clark had to leave the meeting. Mayor Honea: He wanted to talk a little bit about the Sign Code. Wheeler Abbett: About 1990 the Sign Code was originally worked on and recently it has been updated. We have a Sign Code, the problem is that it has not been implemented. A notice has gone out that businesses have a month to abide by the Sign Code. A month after that they will be cited if they persist. Hurvie Davis: Going around with Council Members on the annexation, getting signatures and so forth, the "A' frames signs were there then, they were illegal in the County but it was not enforced. He told them that the Town would not enforce it for a period of time until they could review the Sign Code and see what they needed. He personally thinks that there should be a Sign Code that facilitates identification of businesses. We ought to have one that allows for the safe and efficient of traffic. We kind of made an agreement not to enforce it until the new Sign Code was completed. It has been 14 months and the Sign Code has not been finished. They are coming before the Planning Commission with it before long. We hope to take it to the Council and have a new Sign Code. The Town had better be prepared for war if we clamp down on everybody on the Sign Code with the least little violation. It is a continuing battle. As soon as we get the signs down there is going to be more popping up in different areas. We are going to have to have sign inspectors running around just keeping the signs down. He told Council at the last retreat regarding a lecture he listened to from the owner of the TCBY on Ina Road. He would hate to have to come back down to the lna/Thornydale area to have businesses sign another petition, the doors would be slammed in faces. It was tough coming down and selling the Town to these people. Tucson adopted a Sign Code which also did not allow these signs. After about a years time, they retracted that and now these signs are all over. This is a very big issue. Wheeler Abbett: He can understand the plight of the businesses who have no advertising out there. Everyone said we needed a sign code and it must knock out the "A" frame signs. No one said to take in the consideration of the business people who were stuck back in the corner and couldn't be recognized from the street. I understand his plight perfectly well. Hurvie Davis: He has been working with the Business Advisory Committee since the area was annexed. It is a very controversial and heated issue. But the Business Advisory Committee voted to go ahead and start enforcing the Sign Code. Mayor Honea: One of the main reasons he brought this up is the Sign Code has been very controversial. We have sent out information on the ~A~ frame signs and we are going to clean that up. Hurvie is right, it is going to make some people mad. He does not think it is going to be that many. Wheeler Abbett: Mr. Abbett stated that you can't please everyone. Mayor Honea: We may have to try to make other avenues available, where they can still have some signage who is located where. We have had complaints about the "A' frames and how tacky Ina Road looks with all those signs. We have also had business owners telling us that those signs double their business. We can't keep a bunch of "A' frame signs out in the right-of-way. One of these days someone is going to get killed in an accident because of a sign on a corner or trip and break their back and they are going to sue the Town. Wheeler Abbett: Once you have the Sign Code and it is enforced, if an accident occurs the Town is going to be the "deep pocket". Mayor Honea: We might have to loosen up a different portion of the Sign Code to allow them some type of signage. Hurvie Davis: These businesses will be coming to the Planning Commission when they hold their Public Hearings on this issue. Sharon Price: She thinks that most businesses would be more satisfied with a decent sign which would help to clean up the area. Wheeler Abbett: To put up a nice marquee signs starts at about $60,000.00. Mayor Honea: The issue regarding the Sign Code is going to be a very hot item. If the sign issue becomes so intense and there are so many complaints, we may have just set up a committee that handles it. Mayor Honea thanked the members of the Planning Commission for donating their time to serve on the Commission. He also would like to comment on Kathleen Golden and Patty Comerford. Mayor Honea thought that Kathleen Golden was going to be out for an extended period of time and put pressure on Mr. Flannery for her resignation. He was way out of line, it was his fault not Jerry's. Wheeler Abbett: He talked to both the Mayor and Kathleen and he was also under the impression that she said that she might terminate her position. Dorothy Sharnetsky: The only reason Kathleen was mentioning that she may have to resign was because in our bylaws it says that if you miss three meetings that you are automatically taken off the Commission. That is the only reason that she had mentioned it. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Honea adjourned the meeting. 8 AUDIO TAPES OF THE MEETING ARE AVAILABLE AT THE MARANA TOWN CLERK'S OFFICE. CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are the true and correct minutes of the Council Retreat held on duly 27, 1995. I further certify that a quorum was present. OWN CLERK-- 9