Changes to zoning code ‘more than an update’

The city of Maricopa is in the process of rewriting its zoning code from an outdated adoption of the Pinal County code to a document tailored to meet Maricopa’s needs to guide growth for the future.

The final draft of the rewrite will be available June 2. The zoning code rewrite task force will meet on June 11, after which it may submit the draft to the Planning and Zoning Commission for review. The code would then go to city council for approval.

Public hearings will be held at both the Planning and Zoning Commission and city council meetings.

When Maricopa was incorporated in 2003, the city adopted the Pinal County zoning code as its own, said Dana Burkhardt, the city’s planning consultant.

Over the years, the city made some minor amendments to the code, such as to the sign ordinance and the process for site-plan review, he said. 

“But, the city never took a holistic look at the development standards within the zoning districts,” he said, adding the county code was largely designed around agricultural uses.

Burkhardt said society has changed over time and the newer code will incorporate more contemporary land uses and development patterns.

The city hired San Francisco-based Dyett & Bhatia, an urban and regional planning firm, to perform the rewrite. The process officially kicked off in January 2013 with a public workshop of the various stakeholders to “diagnose the city’s needs” and provide input on a vision, according to Burkhardt.

A zoning code is a policy implementation tool for the General Plan, he said.

The city defines the General Plan as a “statement of what the public expects their city to become … and includes land use circulation, economic development, parks, recreation and open space and public services and facilities."

The city established a task force early in the process to help steer the policies and direction for the future in relation to the code, Burkhardt said. The committee has been meeting and providing input on the code rewrite to the firm as it developed the code.

The committee consists of Councilmember Peggy Chapados and the following community members:
• Ryan Atwood
• Ron Batt
• Linda Cheney
• Vincent Manfredi
• Bob Marsh
• JoAnne Miller
• Julie Stanfill
• Phyllis Von Fleckinger
• Ernest Whitehead (Chair)
• Ted Yocum

The Heritage District Citizens Advisory Committee also contributed to the zoning code rewrite.

A zoning code is the “single most important document that regulates or establishes the land uses and development within the community,” Burkhardt said.

“What we’re trying to do is forecast future development,” Council Member Peggy Chapados said. “It all goes back to the bottom line of planning growth wisely.”

Chapados said the code will protect the city’s neighborhoods and the Ak-Chin Indian Community with buffers from different types of land uses.