Council approves Town Center plan but delays action on enforcement

Amid effusive praise for the new municipal complex, the Town Council Monday unanimously approved the Town Center & Mid River Plan as a minor plan amendment but delayed action on a related overlay zone that would provide an enforcement mechanism.

The meeting was the Town Council’s first in its new chambers, and many speakers commented favorably on the building and the council’s spacious chambers, noting that the complex is the first major building in the Town Center area covered by the plan.

The plan will act as a guide for future Town Councils and plan commissions in setting a variety of policies, including design standards aimed at creating a more uniform look, better local transportation planning and integrating the area into regional transportation resources.

Also, it is aimed at taking advantage of the riverfront as a cultural and economic development resource.

The plan area covers 3,600 acres primarily south of Sahuarita Road, east of Interstate 19, north of El Toro Road and eastward beyond Nogales Highway.

The Town Center plan was developed during an 18-month period starting in January 2006 with the participation of the major landowners in the area—Rancho Sahuarita, Farmers Investment Co., Phelps Dodge (now Freeport McMoRan), Carondelet Health Network and others, with help from the not-for-profit Sonoran Institute.

General Plan amendment

The plan is officially called the Sahuarita Town Center and Santa Cruz River Corridor Subarea plan and is a minor amendment to the town’s General Plan.

It was recommended by the town Planning and Zoning Commission along with an overlay zone that would enforce the plan’s provisions on future rezonings, new specific plans and amendments to existing specific plans.

However, the overlay zoning measure was split off from the plan amendment because of technical reasons and will be brought back to the council for a separate deliberation, Town Planning and Zoning Director John Neunuebel told the council.

Rancho Sahuarita Senior Vice President Cort Chalfant said his company supports the plan, and said a recent article in the Sahuarita Sun was incorrect in reporting that his company opposes the plan, but then said Rancho Sahuarita opposes having the overlay zone apply to Rancho Sahuarita.

That issue will be decided at a future council meeting, when the Town Council considers creating the overlay zone.

Chalfant also noted that he had filed with the town a list of nine objections to the plan.

Some objections

Some of Chalfant’s objections were voiced by officials or residents of Rancho Sahuarita.

Resident Curtis Jones said he was concerned that the plan did not call for a pedestrian overpass or underpass on Sahuarita Road and said it would be cheaper to build one now rather than later.

Town staff have said the cost is not justified by foot traffic in the foreseeable future and the matter may be revisited as pedestrian traffic increases.

Jones called for a pedestrian crossing near the school campus while other supporters want one west of Rancho Sahuarita Boulevard to connect a current and planned commercial area.

Town Council members have said pedestrians will not walk from one location to another to use an overpass.

Resident Brice Elliott, a one-time Town Council candidate, said the plan is “a great one” and that he had read it five times but, echoing a Rancho Sahuarita document submitted to the town, should require that future developers provide the town with detailed impact studies on infrastructure needs.

Elliott noted it is possible under current policies that some 22,000 housing units could be developed on FICO land, which amounts to about twice the number to which Rancho Sahuarita is entitled.

While 22,000 housing units are possible under the town’s General Plan, the land is currently zoned for far fewer units, so FICO would need a major rezoning to be entitled to that amount, Neunuebel said later.

Town does ask

Elliott told the council the town should ask how future development would affect schools, wastewater and traffic conditions.

Town Council member Charles Oldham later put that question to staff, and Town Manager Jim Stahle said the town already asks applicants for rezonings and general plan amendments for such information and will continue to ask for such information.

Stahle praised the complex for providing employees with surroundings of which they can be proud, comparing the buildings to the “trailer park” of modular buildings in which most town staff worked until Jan. 7.

Pay raise for Town Attorney

The council went into executive session and returned into open session and gave Town Attorney Dan Hochuli a positive job evaluation and a 3.5 percent salary increase to $140,594 a year, making him the highest paid town employee, ahead of the town manager, who makes $137,302.

pfranchine@sahuariatasun.com | 547-9738