A. In accordance with A.R.S. §§ 11-804 and 11-805, this chapter provides for a comprehensive plan, which comprises at a minimum a land use plan, goals, elements, and regional, rezoning, and special area plan policies. The plan provides guidance for accomplishing coordinated and harmonious physical, human, and economic development consistent with current and anticipated needs of the county.
B. The land use plan contained in the comprehensive plan furthers the purpose of the plan by:
1. Establishing boundaries for urban/suburban, rural, and general land use intensity categories as set forth in the Land Use Intensity Legend;
2. Establishing planned land use to guide planning and coordinate the timing and implementation of capital improvement activities, such as transportation, flood control, water delivery or wastewater reclamation facilities;
3. Determining the relative suitability of individual geographic sectors for various land use types and development intensities including compatibility with a military airport operation;
4. Designating land use objectives and gross density limitations within each land use intensity category and permitted zoning districts for certain land use intensity categories to assist the board of supervisors and the planning and zoning commission in determining whether proposed rezonings or specific plans conform to the comprehensive plan, in accordance with Sections 18.90.030(E) and 18.91.040(C). However, conformance with the plan shall not in itself warrant approval of the rezoning or specific plan. The final determination of the merits of the rezoning request or specific plan application shall be made during the rezoning or specific plan review process.
C. The regional policies contained in the comprehensive plan further the purpose of the plan by:
1. Reflecting community values in goals and policies, including health and social services, the natural environment, and economic development;
2. Providing direction on the delivery of infrastructure and services in cost-effective, efficient ways;
3. Promoting consistency in decision making through various implementation methods such as rezoning and specific plan requests, strategic and facility plans, budgets, capital improvement programs, and possible bond programs.
(Ord. 2016-37 § 1 (part), 2016)
A. Certain terms used in this chapter shall be defined, for purposes of this chapter only, as follows:
1. Comprehensive Plan: The official document for the planning and zoning commission, board of supervisors, and all county officials and agencies for accomplishing coordinated physical and human infrastructure, and economic development consistent with the current and anticipated needs of the county.
2. Comprehensive Plan Amendment Program: The twice yearly process which facilitates the review of requested changes to the adopted land use plan and policies of the comprehensive plan.
3. Comprehensive Plan Update Program: The process, conducted at least every ten years, which facilitates the re-evaluation and revision of the plan where necessary.
4. Element: A component of the comprehensive plan dealing with specific topics that are either required (e.g. water) or optional (e.g. health and economic development) as defined in the A.R.S. Title 11, Chapter 6, Article 1, including but not limited to open space and land use.
5. Goal: The ultimate purpose of an effort stated in a way that is general in nature and immeasurable. Goals are not quantifiable, time-dependent or suggestive of specific actions for achievement. Goals often refer to one or more aspects of the vision and incorporate specific values.
6. Land Use Intensity Legend: A description of the planned land use intensity categories which govern the type of and density at which development is allowed to occur.
7. Major Plan Amendment:
a. A requested change to the adopted land use plan for a site equal to or greater than six hundred forty acres, or
b. Addition of a new plan element, or
c. Complete rewrite of an existing plan element, or
d. A reorientation of an existing plan element, goal, or regional policy.
8. Non-major Plan Amendment: A requested change to the adopted land use plan for a site less than six hundred forty acres, or a non-major revision to a comprehensive plan goal, element, or policy.
9. Plan Policy: A course or principle of action defined to support a goal. A written statement in the plan which provides general guidance on pursuing or protecting a county interest, provides a procedural or development recommendation, or may guide budget, capital improvement, future bonding, or expansion plan decisions. A plan policy may be imposed as a special condition of rezoning. A policy is further defined as one of the following:
a. Regional Plan Policy: A recommendation for all of the unincorporated (unless otherwise specified) Pima County planning area; or
b. Rezoning Policy: A guideline that commonly applies to discrete areas composed of one parcel or a limited number of parcels and frequently reflects either an approved, individual plan amendment or a policy carried forward from a previous (rescinded) area plan (e.g. Catalina Foothills Area Plan).
c. Special Area Policy: A guideline that applies to sites typically composed of multiple parcels that share a unique physical feature or location over a relatively large area.
(Ord. 2016-37 § 1 (part), 2016)
The plan shall include, at a minimum, the following components:
A. Map, including:
1. Planned land use intensity categories;
2. Special or rezoning policy areas;
3. Growth areas or focused development investment areas.
B. Land use intensity legend, including for each intensity category:
1. Purpose or objective statement;
2. Allowable gross density for categories permitting residential development;
3. Permitted zoning districts for selected land use intensity categories.
C. Plan Goals and Policies. The plan may propose development, design or procedural goals and policies more restrictive than this code.
1. A plan policy is identified as either a regional, rezoning, or special area policy as defined in Section 18.89.020(A)(6).
2. Rezoning and special area plan policies may:
b. Eliminate or limit zoning districts or densities that would otherwise be deemed in conformance with the land use plan in accordance with the Land Use Intensity Legend, or
c. Recommend development standards.
3. Regional, special area, and rezoning policies may address land use and non-land use issues.
4. Adopted plan policies may recommend that further public hearings be held concerning land proposed for rezoning for uses that may conflict with plan policies.
D. Plan Elements.
1. The plan shall include, at a minimum, the following elements:
a. Growth area;
b. Land use;
c. Circulation;
d. Open space;
e. Cost of development;
f. Water resources;
g. Environmental (including, but not limited to, the Conservation Lands System (CLS));
h. Other elements as may be required by Arizona Revised Statutes.
2. Other Plan Elements. The plan may also include other elements, including the following:
a. Urban design;
b. Housing;
c. Neighborhoods;
d. Public services and facilities;
e. Public safety;
f. Cultural heritage;
g. Implementation;
h. Health;
i. Economic development.
3. Elements may be combined or re-titled in the comprehensive plan provided the subject matter is fully covered in compliance with Arizona Revised Statutes and the plan includes an explanation of where in the plan the content is located.
(Ord. 2016-37 § 1 (part), 2016)
A. The program provides two amendment periods. Both major plan amendment and non-major plan amendment requests may be submitted during the three-month period commencing on the first regular business day of February and ending on the last regular business day of April. Only non-major plan amendments may also be submitted during the two-month period commencing on the first regular business day of August and ending on the last regular business day of September.
B. Purpose.
1. The plan amendment program provides opportunities to better promote implementation of:
a. Community values including principles of healthy communities and economic development;
b. Arizona state legislation — Growing Smarter (1998) and Growing Smarter Plus (2000) as may be amended, with particular emphasis given to planning for mixed use, compact development, multi-modal transportation opportunities, rational infrastructure expansion and improvements, conservation of natural resources, and the growth area element (where applicable);
c. Adopted plan policies.
2. The plan amendment program provides opportunities to address oversights, inconsistencies, or land use related inequities in the plan, or to acknowledge significant changes in a particular area since the adoption of the plan or plan updates.
B. Procedure.
1. Before setting a public hearing for a rezoning or specific plan application that does not conform with the plan, an amendment to the plan which would allow the rezoning or specific plan request shall be processed in accordance with the requirements of this chapter and development services department policies and approved by the board of supervisors.
2. Amendments to the plan may be requested by owners of the subject property, the development services department, the commission or the board.
3. Amendment requests within each amendment period are reviewed concurrently in order to analyze potential cumulative impacts.
4. Public participation, agency and jurisdictional review and comment, public notification and adoption requirements for plan amendment requests and elements shall be in accordance with ARS § 11-805.
5. Final action by the board shall be taken on all complete amendment requests submitted as soon as practicable, depending on the number and nature of amendment requests received. All major plan amendment requests shall be presented at a single public hearing before the board during the calendar year the proposal is made.
C. Contents of Amendment Requests.
1. Contents of complete requests for land use intensity category amendments. Complete requests shall include, at a minimum:
a. A completed application form;
b. A legal description or tax code number of the property for which the amendment is being requested;
c. A list, by name and title, of all ownership interest in the property (e.g., individual, corporation, trust, or limited partnership);
d. If applicable, a letter of authorization from the owner designating an agent to represent the property owner;
e. A sketch plan of the area of the proposed amendment drawn at an appropriate scale, showing property boundaries, existing improvements, general circulation, acreages and dimensions of existing and proposed land use intensity categories, and features of future development if known. If more than one land use intensity category is requested, the area proposed for each category must be clearly delineated on the sketch plan, showing the acreage and dimensions of each category, or under some circumstances specifically described in text;
f. Applicable fee for comprehensive plan amendment, in accordance with adopted fee schedule;
g. Any other requirement set forth in written departmental policies.
2. Contents of complete submittal for policy and other text amendment requests. Complete requests shall include, at a minimum:
a. A concise written description of the proposed amendment;
b. Evidence that public benefit would result from such amendment;
c. Any other requirement set forth in written departmental policies.
3. Incomplete requests shall not be processed. Determinations as to whether or not a request is complete may be appealed to the commission, provided such an appeal is requested in writing within ten business days from the date of determination.
D. Review and Comment.
1. Commission study session:
a. A study session is required if three or more non-major amendment requests are received or one or more major plan amendment requests are received within the same submittal period.
b. If a study session is required, the commission:
1) Shall review all of the amendment requests received within the same submittal period during the study session;
2) Shall set the amendments for public hearing;
3) May expand the public hearing notice for an amendment;
c. Public notice for the study session shall be given by publication once in a newspaper of general circulation in the county seat.
2. Commission public hearing:
a. At least one public hearing shall be held by the commission to consider and take testimony on each amendment request.
b. For each amendment request, the commission shall make findings and provide a recommendation to the board.
c. After the public hearing, the development services department shall transmit the public hearing summaries containing the findings and recommendations of the commission to the board.
d. The commission may continue the public hearing for a definite time not to exceed four months.
3. Board public hearing:
a. At least one public hearing shall be held to consider and take testimony on each amendment request.
b. The board may continue the hearing for a definite time not to exceed four months.
4. Board action and subsequent referral to the commission: The board shall consider amendment requests and may change the proposed amendment requests after first referring the changed portion back to the commission for its recommendation. The recommendation of the commission regarding the changed portion may be accepted or rejected by the board during a subsequent public hearing advertised in accordance with Section 18.89.040(D)(5) below.
5. Commission and board public hearing notice:
a. Land use intensity category amendment. The development services department shall provide public notice a minimum of fifteen days before the public hearings held by the commission and the board by:
1) Publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county seat;
2) Mailing first class notice to property owners within the area proposed to be amended (amendment area) and, at a minimum, within three hundred feet of the proposed amendment area.
b. Regional, rezoning, and special area policy, and other plan text amendment requests. A minimum of fifteen days before the public hearing, the development services department shall provide public notice by one-eighth of a page display advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation in the county seat. The commission or board may expand notification by requiring mailing first class notice to property owners if there is a defined area affected by the amendment.
(Ord. 2016-37 § 1 (part), 2016)
A. Board-Initiated Amendment Requests for Immediate Review.
1. The board may initiate the plan amendment process immediately, provided, at a public hearing noticed in accordance with Section 18.89.040(D)(5), the board makes one of the following findings based on substantial evidence in the record:
a. The applicant has demonstrated that waiting for the normal amendment periods would deny substantial and significant benefits to the greater community in terms of:
1) New jobs;
2) Expanded tax base;
3) Enhanced opportunity for disadvantaged populations;
4) Significant promotion of affordable housing, mixed use planning, and compact development; or
5) Major regional economic development opportunities.
b. The applicant has demonstrated that waiting for a normal amendment period would place the community at greater health or safety risks in the form of:
1) Inadequate waste treatment facilities;
2) Inadequate or unsafe transportation improvements;
3) Hazardous environmental conditions; or
4) Insufficient community or governmental services facilities.
c. An application that would revise the FEMA one-hundred-year floodplain designation as it affects the subject property has been submitted to, and accepted by, the Pima County Regional Flood Control District.
B. Minor Revisions to Comprehensive Plan.
1. Type 1.
a. (Type 1a). The comprehensive plan may be amended administratively by the development services department without hearing, but with notice to the commission, when minor revisions are required due to annexation, ownership transfers of government land (e.g., federal to state), or minor revisions to resource sensitive or resource conservation categories consistent with accurate FEMA one-hundred-year floodplain information.
b. (Type 1b). The comprehensive plan may be amended administratively subject to ratification by the commission that a scrivener's error occurred involving a mapping or text portion of the plan that did not reflect the board of supervisors' action on a property or policy or is a non-substantive staff error. For the purposes of this section, a scrivener's error is defined as a minor mistake in writing, mapping, map labeling, or copying something on the record, and not a mistake in reasoning or determination. Staff will provide the commission with the factual background and basis of the scrivener's error. If the commission is unable to ratify an amendment as a scrivener's error as defined above, the amendment will be processed as a Type 2 minor revision, subject to meeting the criteria of Section 18.89.041(F)(2), or through the amendment program.
2. Type 2.
a. The board of supervisors, planning and zoning commission, or development services department may initiate at any time a plan amendment to remedy a planning error, a planning oversight, or an incorrect planned land use intensity category. The planning official shall prepare a report for public hearing based on criteria that follow. The report shall demonstrate that the subject property was designated in error during the plan development, update program, or plan amendment program and that the change in planned land use intensity category is not based on altered property or market conditions subsequent to plan adoption. General criteria to support this administrative procedure may include any of the following:
1) The subject property is designated at a lower land use intensity category than its existing land use or existing hard zoning and such designation is not founded on public recommendations or planning practice documented at the time of designation, or does not represent implementation of the environmental planning element of the plan;
2) The plan designation creates an isolated lower intensity residential island, surrounded or nearly surrounded by property of higher residential intensity;
3) The plan designation does not adequately reflect existing or planned land uses along or at the intersections of major arterials, thereby creating land use conflicts between low intensity and adjacent commercial uses. In such a case the planning official shall report on whether the low intensity designation was justified to avoid or mitigate the effects of commercial strips.
4) The plan text does not reflect a process or policy previously approved by the Board.
b. This administrative procedure shall not apply to properties greater than eighty acres in size. Amendment requests for such properties that may otherwise justify a change of designation based on a planning error in accordance with this section must be processed during the plan amendment program in order to provide sufficient public notice and opportunities for public review.
c. A minimum of fifteen days before the scheduled commission and board hearings, the development services department shall provide notice by first class mail to property owners within the proposed amendment area and within three hundred feet of the proposed amendment area.
d. The commission shall forward its recommendation to the board along with the planning official's report for final action on the property by the board.
C. Concurrent Plan Amendment/Rezoning or Specific Plan.
1. Purpose. The purpose of this subsection is to allow the concurrent application and processing of a plan amendment and a rezoning for requests that have minimal impacts on surrounding properties. And this subsection is intended to allow the concurrent application and processing of a plan amendment and a specific plan for non-residential or mixed uses. This concurrent plan amendment and rezoning process is not subject to the concurrent review requirements of subsection 18.89.040 or the restriction of subsection 18.89.040 on the time that applications may be submitted.
2. Application. An application for a concurrent plan amendment/rezoning or specific plan may be submitted by the property owner at any time. Applications shall include information required for both the plan amendment under Chapter 18.89, and either rezoning under Chapter 18.91 or specific plan under Chapter 18.90. The planning director shall determine if the application meets the criteria for a concurrent plan amendment/rezoning or specific plan as provided in Section 18.89.041. If the planning director determines that the application does not meet the criteria, a plan amendment may be applied for through the processes described in Chapter 18.89. However, the applicant may direct a written appeal to the planning and zoning commission appealing the decision of the planning director within ten working days of the planning director's decision. The appeal shall be scheduled for the next regularly scheduled planning and zoning commission meeting that is to occur at least ten working days after the date the written appeal is received, but the appeal shall not require the notice described in Section 18.89.040(D)(5). The planning and zoning commission shall make its decision based on the criteria in Section 18.89.041(C)(4).
3. For purposes of this subsection, property adjacent to the subject property is considered "abutting" the adjacent property only if the property boundaries of the adjacent property and the subject property physically connect or are separated by no more than one hundred feet from the subject property by a road or alley.
4. Criteria.
a. Any request for a concurrent plan amendment/rezoning or specific plan must meet the following criteria:
1) The proposed use must not conflict with any applicable policies, including regional, special area or rezoning policies, of the comprehensive plan.
2) There has not been a concurrent plan amendment/rezoning previously approved for the subject property, or any portion thereof.
1) One additional residence may be requested if at least five percent of the perimeter of the subject property, as measured in linear feet, abuts properties with a zoning district or comprehensive plan designation that allows a density equal to or greater than that requested for the concurrent plan amendment/rezoning.
2) More than one additional residence may be requested if fifty percent or more of the perimeter of the subject property, as measured in linear feet, abuts properties with a zoning district or comprehensive plan designation that allows a density equal to or greater than that requested for the concurrent plan amendment/rezoning.
c. In addition to the requirements of subsection 18.89.041(C)(4)(a) a concurrent plan amendment/rezoning or specific plan may be requested for non-residential or mixed uses:
1) If Section 18.91.030(E) does not require that a preliminary development plan be submitted with a proposed rezoning and at least five percent of the perimeter of the subject property, as measured in linear feet, abuts properties with a zoning district or comprehensive plan designation equal to or less restrictive than that requested for the concurrent plan amendment/rezoning;
2) If Section 18.91.030(E) requires that a preliminary development plan be submitted with a proposed rezoning and the property is not greater than ten acres in area and seventy-five percent or more of the perimeter of the subject property, as measured in linear feet, abuts properties with a zoning district or comprehensive plan designation equal to or less restrictive than that requested for the concurrent plan amendment/rezoning; or
3) If the applicant is requesting a Specific Plan.
5. Notwithstanding the planning director's decision to proceed, per Section 18.89.041(C)(2), at the public hearing the planning and zoning commission may separate the plan amendment and rezoning or specific plan processes. The commission may continue either or both public hearings on the plan amendment and rezoning applications for a definite time not to exceed a combined total of nine months, in conformance with Section 18.91.070(A)(3) of the zoning code. The commission may continue either or both public hearings on the plan amendment and the specific plan applications for a definite time not to exceed a combined total of three months, in conformance with Section 18.90.060(F)(4). If a continuance requires that new public notice be provided, the cost of providing the new notice shall be borne by the applicant. If the plan amendment and rezoning or specific plan hearings are separated by the commission, they shall be heard concurrently by the board of supervisors.
6. If a concurrent plan amendment/rezoning or specific plan is approved for the subject property, a rezoning policy shall be added to the comprehensive plan stating that a concurrent plan amendment/rezoning or specific plan was approved for the property and also stating the zoning district and uses approved for the property, if limited by the board of supervisors.
7. Future rezoning or specific plan requests. If a property owner wishes to apply for a zoning district or specific plan district less restrictive than that approved for the concurrent plan amendment/rezoning or specific plan, an amendment to the comprehensive plan, in accordance with Chapter 18.89, must be approved before the rezoning or specific plan may be scheduled for public hearing.
8. Public Meeting. An applicant for a concurrent plan amendment/rezoning or specific plan shall hold a public meeting regarding the proposed request at least fifteen days prior to the public hearing before the planning and zoning commission. The applicant shall invite those property owners and neighborhood and homeowners' associations of record within the public notice area, as set forth in Section 18.91.060(B)(1)(c) for plan amendment/rezoning meetings and Section 18.90.060(E)(1)(c) for plan amendment/specific plan meetings. The list of property owners shall be provided by the development services department but the applicant is responsible for ensuring proper notice and conducting the public meeting. For concurrent plan amendment/specific plan public meetings the applicant shall comply with Section 18.90.060(C)(2). The applicant shall provide the development services department with a copy of the notice sent to surrounding property owners at least thirty days prior to the public hearing before the planning and zoning commission and provide a copy of the sign-in sheet and a summary of the meeting prior to the public hearing.
9. Public Notice. Public notice shall be as set forth in Section 18.91.060(B) for rezoning hearings and Section 18.90.060(E) for specific plan hearings, except that all required notice shall include a statement that the proposed action is in accordance with the requirements for a concurrent plan amendment and rezoning or specific plan.
D. Except as provided for in this subsection, all changes and amendments to the comprehensive plan shall be processed in accordance with Sections 18.89.040 and 18.89.050 and all rezonings shall be processed in accordance with Chapter 18.91.
(Ord. 2017-3 § 4, 2017; Ord. 2016-37 § 1 (part), 2016)
A. Purpose. The comprehensive plan update program is intended to facilitate the review of the comprehensive plan, in its entirety, on a periodic basis and to provide the means to amend and update the plan where necessary. Development trends will be identified and assumptions underlying the plan will be researched during this process. Extensive public participation will be solicited to insure that revisions reflect community values.
B. Schedule.
1. The comprehensive plan update program shall be conducted at least every ten years. On or before the tenth anniversary of the plan's most recent adoption, the existing plan shall either be readopted or a new plan adopted.
2. A program to update the plan, including a proposed schedule for completion, shall be prepared by the department and approved by the planning and zoning commission.
C. Program Content. At a minimum, the update shall include an evaluation of and, where necessary, revisions to the following:
1. Plan elements of Section 18.89.030(D)(1);
2. Other relevant plan elements of Section 18.89.030(D)(2);
3. Population, housing, and economic conditions and projections;
4. Land use map and legend;
5. Regional, rezoning, and special area plan policies;
6. Zoning code provisions and other ordinances and resolutions working at cross purposes to the updated plan.
D. Plan Amendment Requests Submitted by Property Owners. During the comprehensive plan update year, property owners may submit plan amendment requests (including map amendment requests) in accordance with Section 18.89.040 and development services department policies.
E. Review and Public Notice Requirements. For the re-adoption of the current plan or adoption of a plan update pursuant to this section, the following shall occur:
1. Public participation, agency and jurisdictional review and comment, public notification and adoption requirements shall be in accordance with ARS § 11-805 and the board adopted public participation plan.
2. Public comment shall be actively sought during the planning process.
3. Department public meetings: The development services department shall, at a minimum:
a. Hold one public meeting to discuss the plan update, and receive public comment at least four weeks before the study session by the commission;
b. Make available to the public a final draft of the plan update, including all proposed land use intensity categories, plan policies, rezoning and special policy areas, and growth areas at least fifteen days before public hearing by the commission.
4. Planning and zoning commission review:
a. Commission study session:
1) The commission shall review the plan update during a study session;
2) The commission may set the plan update for public hearing, or send the plan update back to the development services department for further development or evaluation;
3) Public notice for the study session shall be given by publication once in a newspaper of general circulation in the county seat.
b. Commission public hearing:
1) At least one public hearing shall be held to consider and take testimony on the plan update;
2) A minimum of fifteen days prior to the hearing, the development services department shall provide notice by publication of a display ad in a newspaper of general circulation which states the plan update is available for public review;
3) If, during the public hearing, changes to the plan update are requested that have not been evaluated by the department, the commission shall identify those having merit for further consideration and take action during a subsequent public hearing;
4) The commission shall provide a recommendation to the board which shall require the affirmative votes of a majority of the members present;
5) After the public hearing, the department shall transmit the public hearing summary and recommendations of the commission to the board;
6) The commission may continue the public hearing for a definite time not to exceed nine months.
4. Board of supervisors review:
a. Board public hearing:
1) At least one public hearing shall be held to consider and take testimony on the comprehensive plan update;
2) A minimum of fifteen days prior to the hearing, the development services department shall provide notice by publication in a newspaper of general circulation of a display ad which states the plan update is available for review;
3) The board may continue the hearing for a definite time not to exceed nine months;
4) If, during the public hearing, changes to the plan update are requested that have not been evaluated by the department, the board shall identify those having merit for further consideration and take action during a subsequent public hearing.
b. Board action and subsequent referral to the commission: The board may change any portion of the plan or amendment thereto, after first referring the changed portion back to the commission for its recommendation. The recommendation of the commission regarding the changed portion may be accepted or rejected by the board during a subsequent public hearing advertised in accordance with Section 18.89.050(E)(4)(a) above.
c. The board may adopt the plan update as a whole, or by successive actions adopt separate parts of the plan.
(Ord. 2016-37 § 1 (part), 2016)
FOOTNOTE(S):
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Editor's note— Ord. No. 2016-37, § 1, adopted July 5, 2016, amended Chapter 18.89, in its entirety to read as herein set out. Former Chapter 18.89, §§ 18.89.010—18.89, pertained to similar material, and derived from Ord. No. 1985-82; Ord. No. 1985-141; Ord. No. 1987-64; Ord. No. 1992-96; Ord. No. 1994-11; Ord. No. 1994-147; Ord. No. 1994-148; Ord. No. 1995-94, 1995; Ord. No. 1998-26, 1998; Ord. No. 1998-50, 1998; Ord. No. 2002-65, 2002; Ord. No. 2007-41, 2007 and Ord. No. 2010-27, 2010. (Back)