OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Bullhead City Planning & Zoning Commission Work Session - June 4, 2026: Laughlin Ranch General Plan Amendment Discussion

Boards & CommissionsThursday, June 4, 2026
BodyBullhead City, Arizona
SessionBoards & Commissions
DateThursday, June 4, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 48:50

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Accredited public college with four campuses in Mojave County.

0:04

And Northern Arizona University hosts a distant learning site through Mojave Community College, offering a variety of undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

0:14

The community supports education and fosters an environment of community engagement.

0:19

We think you'll agree.

0:20

Bullhead City is a great place to learn.

0:38

Bullhead City is known for its diversity of housing types and styles from million-dollar homes on the Colorado River to existing site built and manufactured housing and condominium projects.

0:50

We have housing to suit any personality and budget.

0:54

Baby boomers from across America relocate to Bullhead City because of its affordability.

0:59

In fact, Bullhead City is one of the most affordable cities in Arizona.

1:53

Today we're going to be having a presentation about the Laughlin Ranch community, correct?

1:59

Okay.

2:00

Do we do the Pledge of Allegiance still, or we just kind of get into it?

2:05

All right, come on up.

2:08

State your name.

2:11

Good evening, Commissioners.

2:12

I am Shelby DuPlisse.

2:14

I'm representing the Laughlin Ranch Redevelopment Team.

2:18

And here to just give you an overview similar to what we did at Council back on May 5th.

2:24

And to be able to answer any questions for you that you might have before we get into public workshops.

2:30

So probably if we can maybe just start off with the presentation and then get into questions after, unless you have questions you want to start with first.

2:39

Okay.

2:40

I think we can get into the presentation right away.

2:42

Okay, perfect.

2:44

So I I know a lot of you are here May 5th.

2:46

There's been a few changes to the presentation, so I'll point those out, especially since you saw the first one and now the second one, as we've been working closely with staff and just the project as you can imagine is evolving.

2:57

So we'll go through what those changes are.

2:59

I think all great positive changes.

3:02

Oh, is this the clicker right here, maybe?

3:05

Um so basically we're working on 4,400 acres of the original uh Laughlin Ranch development.

3:13

The overall Laughlin Ranch development came to you for um amendment back in 2005, so a little over 20 years ago.

3:22

That overall site, as you can see on the map here, consists of 11,934 acres.

3:28

This is the current plan as it is today.

3:32

What we've had uh reality like everywhere in the country, markets change, especially over 20 years.

3:38

And so with that reality, there's been a lot of shift in need and diversity of what each city needs, including Bullhead City.

3:46

There was a heavy amount of residential, um, and we've actually proposed to reduce about 1,500 acres from residential to light industrial commercial use to help with that development of that economic stimulus.

3:59

Um, with that, you'll see a lot of shift towards employment use, uh, where you actually bring in will be bringing in with end users a lot of employment opportunities, um, high-paying jobs, and we'll talk about that later in the presentation.

4:13

Um, with that increase, it allows for support of the remnant amount of residential that still um exists on the property as well as everything outside of the 4400 acres that still hasn't been built or absorbed as well.

4:29

One of the things that we're really excited about is in section 17, um, creating a mixed-use downtown vision.

4:35

Um, this would be very much like a desert rich marketplace or something that you would see down in the valley where you'd have outdoor shopping, um, park on the street front.

4:44

Um, there could be some units above the commercial space or some commercial mixed with residential nearby where we would work through that with staff on what that would look like for transition.

4:55

Usually you'd have your commercial use, a higher density apartment use, and maybe some townhomes and then some residential single family.

5:02

When you're talking that many acres, you have a lot of room for those transitions.

5:07

This would allow for that second downtown environment, including the shopping, dining, entertainment, and residential uses, as I mentioned.

5:14

It would be a true mixed-use destination.

5:17

It would allow for a better sense of live work play and also again creating places for people to live that will be working right there, or other people that want to move into that area.

5:28

It also would create gathering spaces for residents and visitors.

5:32

So it would become a destination, if you will.

5:35

The proposed downtown area would allow the reduction, as I said, of 1,503 acres.

5:42

We would add 2,666 light industrial use areas that I'll show you on a map here in just a section or in a second.

5:52

We would be doing that not only by reducing the residential area, but also eliminating the portions of golf course that was planned on our portion of the 4400 acres.

6:03

The Laughlin Ranch existing golf course can sustain and handle the demand right now for what's wanted, as well as just being cognizant of challenges with water that we're all facing in Arizona.

6:15

With that, then as a trade-off, we would actually be enhancing a lot of the existing trails and creating new trail system enhancements as well along the washes and open corridor trails.

6:27

This would be the new 4,400 acres that we're proposing and what that would look like.

6:32

As you can see, the light purple is the industrial, the light industrial.

6:36

And at the end, I'll show you how this all fits into what would be left outside of the 4,400 acres, that remnant 7,500 acres of Laughlin Ranch.

6:45

The red would be commercial.

6:47

One change that we've made since the last time I was here in May.

6:50

We eliminated one of the blue squares, that was for a future high school site.

6:54

There's already a future high school site on the Laughlin Ranch community just to the north, and that that seemed like a better location, closer to the residents planned there.

7:04

And we also shifted the commercial.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Economic Development█████████████████████████████████████████████66%
Zoning Regulations█████████13%
Engineering And Infrastructure████6%
Public Engagement███4%
Community Engagement███4%
Fiscal Sustainability██3%
Environmental Protection2%
Technology and Innovation2%
Summary of Proceedings

Bullhead City Planning & Zoning Commission Work Session - June 4, 2026

This special meeting/work session of the Bullhead City Planning and Zoning Commission was held on Thursday, June 4, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. The sole discussion item was a proposed General Plan Amendment for approximately 4,400 acres east of the Bullhead Parkway, encompassing the Laughlin Ranch community and extending south to Fox Creek. Shelby DuPlisse, representing the Laughlin Ranch Redevelopment Team, presented an overview of the proposal, which had previously been presented to the City Council on May 5, 2026. The work session was informational only; no legal action was taken.

Discussion Items

  • Presentation by Shelby DuPlisse: DuPlisse outlined a plan to amend the existing Laughlin Ranch General Plan (originally approved in 2005 for 11,934 acres) by reallocating approximately 1,503 acres from residential to light industrial/commercial use on the 4,400-acre portion. Key changes from the earlier May 5 presentation included:
    • Elimination of a proposed future high school site (a separate site already exists to the north).
    • Relocation of a 65-acre commercial parcel from the center of the industrial area to a location closer to proposed residential uses, providing a better buffer and proximity to residents.
    • Removal of planned golf course acreage (the existing Laughlin Ranch golf course is deemed sufficient).
    • Enhancement of trail systems and open space along washes and corridors.
  • Proposed Land Use Statistics:
    • Reduction of 1,503 acres of residential, replaced with 2,666 acres of light industrial.
    • Creation of a mixed-use downtown vision in Section 17, resembling a “Desert Ridge” marketplace with outdoor shopping, dining, entertainment, and residential units.
    • Overall land use for the full 11,934 acres after amendment: 4,300 acres residential, 563 acres commercial, 2,935 acres industrial, 272 acres public/semi-public, and 3,660 acres open space.
    • Open space ratio: 59 acres per 1,000 residents (city requirement is 6.25–10 acres per 1,000).
    • Traffic reduction of approximately 100,000 trips per day compared to the original residential-heavy plan.
    • Water reduction of approximately 493 million gallons per year.
    • Projected annual sales tax revenue: ~$6 million from Phase I, ~$10 million from Phase II, totaling $16–20 million annually.
    • Estimated creation of 10,000 high-tech jobs.
  • Interested Users: DuPlisse listed sectors showing interest (no LOIs yet): high-tech manufacturing, semiconductor packaging/testing, AI hardware/edge computing, aerospace/defense electronics, advanced robotics/automation, solar/renewable energy equipment, medical device/biotech manufacturing, and EV battery components.
  • Commissioner Questions and Comments:
    • Timeline: DuPlisse estimated a 10-year buildout, with Phase I potentially starting soon after approval.
    • Infrastructure: Roads will be built by developers to city specifications and turned over to the city; primary access via Silver Creek Road, not Laughlin Ranch Boulevard residential areas.
    • HOA Involvement: The developer plans to hold workshops with the Laughlin Ranch HOA as part of the normal notification process after the city’s general plan amendment.
    • Data Center Concerns: Multiple commissioners expressed skepticism about data centers. One commissioner stated they would push for a public survey before any data center approval, citing low employment, noise/vibration, and public fear. Another commissioner noted modern data centers use less water (closed-loop cooling) and have improved noise/vibration insulation, but acknowledged the need for education. The developer offered to arrange tours of modern data centers in the West Valley.
    • Industrial Vacancy: A commissioner questioned why a recently built industrial building remains vacant. City staff (Johnny) responded that it is a “tweener” size (not small nor large), but a tenant is reportedly lined up.
    • Shooting Range: A proposed shooting range on a buffered corner of Silver Creek was discussed; commissioners noted liability and environmental concerns.
    • Zoning vs. General Plan: Chair noted that specific uses (e.g., data centers) would be addressed during future zoning (PAD) applications, not at the general plan level. Commissioner emphasized that the public must engage early to shape allowable uses.
    • General Support: Several commissioners expressed support for the plan’s economic development potential, noting the need for middle-class jobs and workforce housing.

Key Outcomes

  • No votes or formal decisions were taken, as this was a work session.
  • Next Steps: The developer will submit a formal General Plan Amendment application in the next week or two, followed by public workshops, HOA meetings, and required notification. Subsequent steps include a Planned Area Development (PAD) zoning application, which will specify allowable uses and address detailed concerns (e.g., data centers, noise, water). The commission will hold a future public hearing on the amendment. The City Council will also consider the matter on June 16, 2026.
  • Directive: Commissioners emphasized the importance of public engagement and transparency regarding data centers and other industrial uses, urging the developer to exclude unwanted uses (e.g., smoke shops, marijuana facilities) from the PAD’s permitted use table.

Meeting Transcript

Accredited public college with four campuses in Mojave County. And Northern Arizona University hosts a distant learning site through Mojave Community College, offering a variety of undergraduate and graduate degree programs. The community supports education and fosters an environment of community engagement. We think you'll agree. Bullhead City is a great place to learn. Bullhead City is known for its diversity of housing types and styles from million-dollar homes on the Colorado River to existing site built and manufactured housing and condominium projects. We have housing to suit any personality and budget. Baby boomers from across America relocate to Bullhead City because of its affordability. In fact, Bullhead City is one of the most affordable cities in Arizona. Today we're going to be having a presentation about the Laughlin Ranch community, correct? Okay. Do we do the Pledge of Allegiance still, or we just kind of get into it? All right, come on up. State your name. Good evening, Commissioners. I am Shelby DuPlisse. I'm representing the Laughlin Ranch Redevelopment Team. And here to just give you an overview similar to what we did at Council back on May 5th. And to be able to answer any questions for you that you might have before we get into public workshops. So probably if we can maybe just start off with the presentation and then get into questions after, unless you have questions you want to start with first. Okay. I think we can get into the presentation right away. Okay, perfect. So I I know a lot of you are here May 5th. There's been a few changes to the presentation, so I'll point those out, especially since you saw the first one and now the second one, as we've been working closely with staff and just the project as you can imagine is evolving. So we'll go through what those changes are. I think all great positive changes. Oh, is this the clicker right here, maybe? Um so basically we're working on 4,400 acres of the original uh Laughlin Ranch development. The overall Laughlin Ranch development came to you for um amendment back in 2005, so a little over 20 years ago. That overall site, as you can see on the map here, consists of 11,934 acres. This is the current plan as it is today. What we've had uh reality like everywhere in the country, markets change, especially over 20 years. And so with that reality, there's been a lot of shift in need and diversity of what each city needs, including Bullhead City. There was a heavy amount of residential, um, and we've actually proposed to reduce about 1,500 acres from residential to light industrial commercial use to help with that development of that economic stimulus. Um, with that, you'll see a lot of shift towards employment use, uh, where you actually bring in will be bringing in with end users a lot of employment opportunities, um, high-paying jobs, and we'll talk about that later in the presentation. Um, with that increase, it allows for support of the remnant amount of residential that still um exists on the property as well as everything outside of the 4400 acres that still hasn't been built or absorbed as well. One of the things that we're really excited about is in section 17, um, creating a mixed-use downtown vision. Um, this would be very much like a desert rich marketplace or something that you would see down in the valley where you'd have outdoor shopping, um, park on the street front. Um, there could be some units above the commercial space or some commercial mixed with residential nearby where we would work through that with staff on what that would look like for transition. Usually you'd have your commercial use, a higher density apartment use, and maybe some townhomes and then some residential single family. When you're talking that many acres, you have a lot of room for those transitions. This would allow for that second downtown environment, including the shopping, dining, entertainment, and residential uses, as I mentioned. It would be a true mixed-use destination. It would allow for a better sense of live work play and also again creating places for people to live that will be working right there, or other people that want to move into that area. It also would create gathering spaces for residents and visitors. So it would become a destination, if you will. The proposed downtown area would allow the reduction, as I said, of 1,503 acres. We would add 2,666 light industrial use areas that I'll show you on a map here in just a section or in a second. We would be doing that not only by reducing the residential area, but also eliminating the portions of golf course that was planned on our portion of the 4400 acres.

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