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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/03/2001 Regular Council Meeting Minutes~HNUTES OF REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MARANA TOWN HALL JULY 3, 2001 PLACE AND DATE Marana Town Hall, July 3, 2001 I. CALL TO ORDER By Mayor Sutton at 7:05 p.m. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by Mayor Sutton III. INVOCATION/MOMENT OF SILENCE A moment of silence was observed. IV. ROLL CALL COUNCIL Bobby Sutton, Jr. Mayor Present Herb Kai Vice Mayor Present Jim Blake Council Member Present Patti Comerford Council Member Present Tim Escobedo Council Member Present Ed Honea Council Member Present Carol McGorray Council Member Present STAFF Michael Hein Town Manager Dan Hochuli Town Attorney Jocelyn Entz Town Clerk Attached is a list of public attendees. V. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Upon motion by Council Member Blake, seconded by Council Member Escobedo, the agenda was unanimously approved. VI. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES Upon motion by Vice Mayor Kai, seconded by Council Member McGorray, the minutes for June 19, 2001 regular Council meeting were unanimously approved. i MINUTES OF REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MARANA TOWN HALL JULY 3, 2001 • VII. CALL TO THE PUBLIC/ANNOUNCEMENTS Mayor Sutton urged everyone to join in celebrating the Fourth of July at the Marana Northwest Regional Airport. He joked that there would be mild temperatures and plenty of shade! There were no other announcements and no members of the audience requested to speak at this time. VIII. STAFF REPORTS There were no questions regarding staff reports. IX. GENERAL ORDER OF BUSINESS A. CONSENT AGENDA 1. Resolution No. 2001-78: Appointment to the Town of Marana Water Utility Advisory Committee (Brad DeSpain) 2. Resolution No. 2001-79: Agreement between the United States department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation and the Town of Marana and Oro Valley and the Metropolitan Domestic Water Improvement District and Flowing Wells Irrigation District to provide funds and/or in-kind services to supplement available appropriated Federal funds for Southern Arizona Regional Water Management Study Reverse Osmosis with Slowsand Pretreatment Pilot Study (Brad DeSpain) By motion of Council Member Honea and seconded by Council Member Blake, the consent agenda was unanimously approved. B. COUNCIL ACTION 1. Resolution No. 2001-80: Silverbell Road Corridor Market Study and Commercial Overlay District (Joel Shapiro) Mr. Hein gave a brief explanation of the Towri s reasoning behind the formation of a commercial overlay district and pointed out that this type of action would provide clarity to the future of Silverbell Road within Continental Ranch. He said that developers came into this area several • years ago and produced market studies indicating a need to de-emphasize commercial development on a specific corner. They also advised that the 2 MINUTES OF REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MA.RA:NA`TOWN HALL JULY 3, 2001 r~ LJ area remain residential. He continued by explaining that this study caused confusion within Continental Ranch in regard to appropriate zoning designations and that two recent zoning requests had been met with conflict by the local residents who wondered if the proposed commercial projects were appropriate. He stated that the formation of an overlay district on Silverbell would allow the Town and all other interested parties to truly examine what the market would bear for commercial activities. The information gathered from the study would be used to employ sound planning practices ensuring quality development and increasing the quality of life for that area. He said that the associated resolution. charged staff with .the responsibility of working with the community on commercial as well as residential concerns and to develop an overlay district. The Town would suspend development activities during the study period. Copies of the resolution were distributed to the audience. Mr. Hein said that the area to be initially examined was Silverbell Road between Drainage Way No. 10 and Twin Peaks Boulevard. He remarked • that the Planning Department would begin the process by working with a consultant to perform a market analysis. A catalog would be created of the existing properties that were zoned or may be zoned and those properties that were suitable for commercial development. The existing zoning designations and specific plans would be studied and a review of the properties in question would be done as well. He added that actions of other communities relating to overlay districts would be factored into the process for consideration. After compiling all of the information, a presentation would be made to the overlay district committee for action. He believed that this process would take approximately six months before the matter would be brought back to the Town Council for a vote. Mayor Sutton pointed out that this was an excellent opportunity to utilize the Town of Marana's web site to inform the public regarding the overlay district formation and to update all concerned throughout the process. Anne LaVigne, resident, spoke before the Council in favor of this resolution. She said that she had been a Marana resident since the 1970s and that she had definitely witnessed accelerating growth over that period of time. She pointed out that now was a perfect time to take a step back and look at the unintended consequences of development decisions being • made presently and what the long and short term effects had on the community. She emphasized that she was in favor of a moratorium being 3 MINUTES OF REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MARANA TOWN HALL JULY 3, 2001 • placed on commercial development until completion of the study. The idea of an overlay district made perfect sense to Ms. LaVigne and she said that taking a look at the big picture would ease everyone's mind that the right direction was being taken. She strongly urged the Council to involve as many residents as possible in this process and suggested using the Continental Ranch newsletter as well as the Marana web site to keep the community informed. Daniel Sullivan, resident, voiced his approval of the proposed study and said that it was a positive move by the Town. He commented that the prospect of having unharmonious commercial businesses located in close proximity to his residence was very unpleasant to his family. He urged the Council to consider commercial development that was more in tune with the existing residential development of the area. He said that residents on both sides of Silverbell welcomed the opportunity to participate in planning the future of their community. Nancy Moll, resident, also supported the resolution and predicted that, in the future, the Silverbell Road Corridor would be the heart of southern • Marana. She remarked that the Town needed to look very carefully at the development designs in order to avoid the hodge-podge design effect found on Ina Road. She said that the use of market studies needed to be done with caution and that Town staff needed to emphasize not only what type of development was viable presently but what would be viable and needed when Continental Reserve reached its full residential capacity. She suggested that the study be expanded southward along Silverbell Road to include other commercially zoned parcels in that area as well. The Mayor commented that including a larger portion of the Silverbell Corridor was a good idea and asked that this suggestion be noted by staff. Al Taylor, resident, commended the Council for taking another look at this important issue. He said that he would like to see steps taken to protect the scenic vistas along Silverbell Road and to make the roadway a scenic corridor as well as a commercial corridor. Brent Ricks, resident, stated that he supported the zoning overlay district and hoped to be a part of the study process. He said that he was opposed to the car wash, fast-food restaurant and storage units that had been • proposed for the corner of Wade and Silverbell Roads and added that he would like to see something more in line with a residential theme such as a library or family-style restaurant. 4 MINUTES OF REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MARANA TOWN HALL JULY 3, 2001 .7 Samantha Wilson, resident, said that she was in favor of the zoning overlay district as well and that she agreed with Mr. Ricks' idea of having a more compatible commercial venture on the corner of Wade and Silverbell Roads. Mayor Sutton emphasized that this was the beginning stage of the process and that there would be ample information available to the public related to this study. He said that Marana, as a relatively new community, was able to step back and look at things differently to resolve conflicts fairly. Upon motion by Council Member Comerford, seconded by Council Member Honea, Resolution No. 2001-80 was unanimously approved. C. MAYOR AND COUNCIL'S REPORT Council Member Comerford reported that she had attended an awards ceremony given by the Disabled Veterans of America for the State of Arizona. She said that she was proud to represent Marana and accept the award for the Large Employer of the Year. She commented that the Human Resources department contacted the disabled veterans organization when job openings occurred within the Town. Council Member Comerford commended the department for this effort. Council Member McGorray reported that she and Council Member Escobedo had been guests of ADOT in order to view the girders being installed on the Cortaro Road bridge between Interstate 10 and Silverbell Road. She declared that it was an impressive sight to witness. Mayor Sutton reported that, while attending the U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting in Detroit last week, he had been proud to accept an award, Achievement in City Livability, for the Town of Marana. He remarked that it was an outstanding feat for Marana to place so highly in such a large category as all U.S. cities under 100,000 in population. He stated that all of the various competing cities had innovative and exciting community programs but that he was especially proud of the Towri s winning program, Construction Works!, where at-risk youth helped build the Towri s Section 8 housing units. The Mayor said that he felt privileged to be a part of such a wonderful community. Vice Mayor Kai introduced his son, Mike Kai, to the audience. Mr. Kai, a recent graduate of Corona del Mar High School in California, plans to attend Yale University in the fall. 5 MINUTES OF REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MARANA TOWN HALL JULY. 3, 2001 .] D. MANAGERS' REPORT Mr. Hein reported that July 3rd was the employment anniversary of Brad DeSpain with the Town of Marana. He congratulated Mr. DeSpain on the occasion and commented that the Town was fortunate to have such a dedicated and exemplary department head. X. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS There were no items presented for future agendas at this time. XI. ADJOURNMENT Upon motion by Council Member Blake and seconded by Council Member Honea, unanimously approval to adjourn was given. The time was 7:32 p.m. CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing are the true and correct minutes of the Marana Town Council meeting held on July 3, 2001. I further certify that a quorum was present. celyn C ntz, Town Cle • ®~ r ~~° G4R T~' ~~ ~ ;, ~~ ,~~®~i®nee~' bi?. ~r~. J _. *a'b' B c ~F..~ rC 6