Meeting colors

OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Bullhead City Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting - November 2, 2023: Code Amendment on Accessory Structures

Boards & Commissions — Thursday, November 2, 2023

BodyBullhead City, Arizona

SessionBoards & Commissions

DateThursday, November 2, 2023

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 20:12

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:20

Good evening.

0:22

This is the planning and zoning meeting for November 2nd, 2023.

0:28

Can we have uh a roll call, please?

0:31

All commission members are for instance.

0:33

Thank you.

0:34

Stephen, how would you like to lead us in the pledge?

0:39

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it's one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and wow, you were in a hurry.

0:55

Is that quick?

0:56

That was fast.

0:58

Okay, I don't see any presentations.

1:00

Call the public.

1:01

Robert, you want to say anything?

1:03

Didn't think so.

1:04

All righty.

1:06

First thing on our agenda is uh discussion and possible action to approve the October 5th, 2023 regular meeting minutes.

1:14

I make a motion to accept the meeting minutes from September as presented.

1:22

I second that.

1:25

All in favor, push your little button.

1:30

Oh sorry, we've got Steven, did you push yours?

1:34

I push Chile, did you push yours?

1:36

Oh it didn't register mine now, too.

1:39

Wigging out.

1:41

How do you vote?

1:42

Yes.

1:43

Seven in favor of the motion, motion carry.

1:45

There it goes.

1:47

All righty.

1:51

Um Mr.

1:53

Garn.

1:58

I'm sorry, your name's Tom.

2:00

Tom Donaldson.

2:00

Donaldson.

2:02

Very nice to meet you.

2:04

Okay, number two, public uh uh hearing citizen initiate initiated code amendment.

2:10

Accessory structures.

2:12

Request for approval of an amendment to Title 17, Chapter 17.06, General District Requirements of Bullhead City Municipal Cold Code concerning accessory structures.

2:28

This request was made by citizen, and the main concern is that the way the code is written now, anything that is outside of the main living space on residential property, so main house living square footage determines how much what we call accessory space you can have on the property.

2:50

So you take the main house living square footage, you multiply by 1.5, and that gives you your maximum amount of accessory coverage.

2:58

Now accessory buildings are considered basically anything that's not attached to the house and it is not open.

3:05

So open, so like entries, rear porches, patios, things like that do not count towards the accessory calculation, but everything else does.

3:13

So mainly that's garages, sheds, guest houses, pool houses, detached cardboards, like RV cardboards, things like that.

3:22

So this particular resident has a house that's being built.

3:28

Um it's a good sized house, but they have already a pretty good size garage.

3:33

You have a good sized guest house with a garage attached to that, and now they want to build a pool house.

3:39

So under the current code, the the guest house and the pool house count as accessory on top of the garages.

3:49

So the request would be to exempt accessory living quarters.

3:53

That'd be again guest houses, full houses, mother-in-law's quarters, casitos, whatever you want to call them.

3:58

Exempt those structures from the accessory calc so that uh the size, let's say the size of the garage would not be affected in that case.

4:07

So same square footage.

4:09

I think I actually had a little drawing in there too.

4:11

The same living square footage would still get you the same size garage, whether you had a guest house or not.

4:18

Um you look at the little drawing that I made for the two drawings that I made, the first the first condition, and this is not their house, it's it's just uh hypothetical.

4:29

They've got a good size garage, they've got the guest house and the pool house.

4:33

This property would be maxed out based on on their accessory on the current codes.

4:38

The next one, if this code were to pass, would show that they can now have the regular garage and have an RV garage in this hypothetical case because the guest house and the pool house do not count towards the accessory.

4:56

So again, this really only affects people who want to build accessory living quarters.

5:01

The accessory living quarters would not count towards the living space of the main house, so they can't get a bigger garage because they have a guest house.

5:10

So I have two questions, which are really kind of the same question.

5:14

This particular individual that requested it, how big is his lot?

5:18

I know they can only build sixty percent regardless.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Zoning Regulations█████████████████████████████████████████████64%

Procedural█████████████18%

Community Events█████████████18%

Summary of Proceedings

Bullhead City Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting - November 2, 2023

The Bullhead City Planning and Zoning Commission met on November 2, 2023, at 5:30 PM in the City Council Chambers. The primary agenda item was a citizen-initiated code amendment to Title 17, Chapter 17.06 of the Municipal Code concerning accessory structures. The Commission also approved the minutes from the October 5, 2023 regular meeting. No public comments were made during the call to the public or the public hearing.

Consent Calendar

Approval of Minutes – October 5, 2023 Regular Meeting: The minutes were approved by a unanimous vote (7-0).

Public Comments & Testimony

No members of the public spoke during the open call to the public or during the public hearing on the code amendment.

Discussion Items

Citizen-Initiated Code Amendment – Accessory Structures: Planning Manager Johnny Loera presented the proposed amendment to Section 17.06.140(H) of the Bullhead City Municipal Code. Under current regulations, the total square footage of all accessory buildings and structures (e.g., garages, guest houses, pool houses, detached carports) on a single-family residential lot cannot exceed 150% of the principal dwelling's livable floor area. The requested amendment would exclude up to two guest houses or other accessory living spaces (such as mother-in-law quarters or conditioned pool houses) from this accessory square footage calculation. This change would allow property owners to build or maintain garages and other non-living accessory structures up to the full 150% limit without the square footage of guest houses reducing that allowance. Staff also recommended explicitly limiting the number of accessory living spaces to two per lot to prevent potential misuse, such as short-term rentals or excessive detached dwellings. The accessory living spaces would remain subject to existing lot coverage limits (up to 60% in most single-family residential districts) and would not count toward the principal building's livable area. The applicant owns a lot of approximately two acres and sought the change to accommodate a guest house and pool house without sacrificing garage space. Commissioners discussed the rationale, the precedent set by a similar 2022 amendment for pool setbacks, and the protection against overdevelopment. The amendment would apply citywide.

Key Outcomes

Vote on Code Amendment: A motion was made and seconded to approve the code amendment as presented by staff, including the addition that a maximum of two accessory living spaces are allowed per lot and are excluded from the accessory square footage calculation. The motion carried by a vote of 5-2. (In favor: Chairwoman Smith, Commissioner Brandt, Commissioner Brown, Commissioner Sobraske, Commissioner Stein; opposed: Vice Chairwoman Barnett and one additional commissioner, as indicated by the vote tally). The amendment will be forwarded to the Bullhead City Council for final adoption.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 6:15 PM after commissioner reports on upcoming community events (Veterans Day parade, holiday parades, and a charity event).

Meeting Transcript

Good evening. This is the planning and zoning meeting for November 2nd, 2023. Can we have uh a roll call, please? All commission members are for instance. Thank you. Stephen, how would you like to lead us in the pledge? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it's one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and wow, you were in a hurry. Is that quick? That was fast. Okay, I don't see any presentations. Call the public. Robert, you want to say anything? Didn't think so. All righty. First thing on our agenda is uh discussion and possible action to approve the October 5th, 2023 regular meeting minutes. I make a motion to accept the meeting minutes from September as presented. I second that. All in favor, push your little button. Oh sorry, we've got Steven, did you push yours? I push Chile, did you push yours? Oh it didn't register mine now, too. Wigging out. How do you vote? Yes. Seven in favor of the motion, motion carry. There it goes. All righty. Um Mr. Garn. I'm sorry, your name's Tom. Tom Donaldson. Donaldson. Very nice to meet you. Okay, number two, public uh uh hearing citizen initiate initiated code amendment. Accessory structures. Request for approval of an amendment to Title 17, Chapter 17.06, General District Requirements of Bullhead City Municipal Cold Code concerning accessory structures. This request was made by citizen, and the main concern is that the way the code is written now, anything that is outside of the main living space on residential property, so main house living square footage determines how much what we call accessory space you can have on the property. So you take the main house living square footage, you multiply by 1.5, and that gives you your maximum amount of accessory coverage. Now accessory buildings are considered basically anything that's not attached to the house and it is not open. So open, so like entries, rear porches, patios, things like that do not count towards the accessory calculation, but everything else does. So mainly that's garages, sheds, guest houses, pool houses, detached cardboards, like RV cardboards, things like that. So this particular resident has a house that's being built. Um it's a good sized house, but they have already a pretty good size garage. You have a good sized guest house with a garage attached to that, and now they want to build a pool house. So under the current code, the the guest house and the pool house count as accessory on top of the garages. So the request would be to exempt accessory living quarters. That'd be again guest houses, full houses, mother-in-law's quarters, casitos, whatever you want to call them. Exempt those structures from the accessory calc so that uh the size, let's say the size of the garage would not be affected in that case. So same square footage. I think I actually had a little drawing in there too.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI

TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com