Bullhead City Council Work Session on Cat Ordinances, TNR, and Commercial Building Standards

The Bullhead City Council met in a special work session on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at 3:00 PM in the City Council Chambers, 1255 Marina Boulevard, Bullhead City, Arizona. All council members were present. The session was discussion-only; no legal action was taken. The agenda contained two items: (1) cat ordinances, community cat programs, and trap-neuter-release (TNR), and (2) Commercial Building Standards.

Public Comments & Testimony

• A resident who first learned of TNR at a Best Friends Animal Society conference expressed support for TNR/TNVR and urged the Council to support the organizations carrying out the work, noting that the community does not yet understand what TNVR is.
• A caregiver spokesperson stated that no one who feeds a community cat can be called its owner, that caregivers perform a service to the community, and that unclear ordinance language makes people afraid to trap or feed community cats. The spokesperson urged the Council to protect caregivers in any new ordinance without treating them as owners of community cats.
• Multiple speakers emphasized that community cats will not disappear if ignored, that TNR works only when cats are returned to their colonies and food sources are managed, and that a community-wide education program is needed so residents know how TNR works and what caregivers do.
• A council member asked about a partner group's three-month training program and its 'heat map' feral cat count, which uses statistics, algorithms, and possibly AI to estimate how many community cats exist in Bullhead City.

Discussion Items

Cat Ordinances, Community Cat Programs, and TNR

• Staff reported that when animal services moved under the Human Services Department in 2022 (four years after separating from the Bullhead City Police Department), no TNR was performed and 184 feral cats were euthanized that calendar year. In 2025, 194 TNR surgeries were completed and 15 feral cats were euthanized; the 2026 year-to-date figure through September is stated in the transcript but the number is cut off.
• Capacity constraints: the veterinary partner in Kingman accepts only about five cats per visit (two per person), does not perform surgery every day, and has a roughly two-day holding window. The city has run three TNR events this year and discussed whether large-scale quarterly events could be modeled on other jurisdictions.
• The meeting materials included a petition asking the Council to amend the community cat ordinance to add a registration program, define 'community cat caregiver' and 'TNR,' and include safeguards. Proposed ordinance language would require registration within up to three months after the effective date. Staff research noted that Clark County, Nevada, no longer registers community cat caregivers, so there would be no existing legal registry to rely on if Bullhead City establishes its own program.
• Council members discussed whether the city should create its own caregiver registry so that BARC could contact the registered caregiver in each area, whether registration should be renewed annually, what documentation should be required before the city responds to a complaint, and when the city should investigate, trap, or act. Staff advice said the city should have clear guidance on when it will respond, investigate, or trap, and that enforcement should be prioritized by call volume.
• Existing code, including Ordinance 4355 (2015), already contains provisions on humane trapping, humane deterrents, and the use of witness statements. Council and public participants agreed on the need for an education program so residents understand that TNR works only when cats are returned to their community after surgery.

Commercial Building Standards

• Staff reported they were tasked with researching code requirements in other cities and found no jurisdictions with different rules for specific commercial uses.
• The current Bullhead City standard applies to commercial and industrial buildings within a certain distance of an arterial (the highway, the parkway, Marina Boulevard, and Hancock Road): they must have at least one-third of the building elevation treated with enhanced architectural materials.
• Council members discussed whether the requirement should apply equally to industrial buildings on side streets not visible from a highway, and how to update standards to meet enhanced architectural guidelines. A council member cited an attractive all-metal building that uses varied textures, colors, parapet walls, and glass as an example of what can be achieved.
• A council member referenced the one-third elevation standard in Section 17.06135 for the residential district, recalling that it was developed when that member served on the Planning Commission. Staff noted other cities' standards are location- and climate-specific, with Flagstaff's different climate cited as an example. The supporting materials also referenced a proposed minimum 15 percent window requirement for street-facing ground-floor facades and the goal of improving design quality through objective, administrable standards and buildings scaled to their context.

Key Outcomes

• No formal action was taken; the session was informational only.
• Council consensus: continue developing an education program about TNR, explore a Bullhead City caregiver registry and more frequent or quarterly TNR events, and use public and council input to shape potential ordinance amendments and building-standard updates at a future meeting.

Note on Transcript Content

• The raw transcript also includes a segment on the city's General Plan update featuring Public Information Officer McKenzie Covert and Planning Manager Johnny Loira, covering goals, objectives, and policies for water, transportation, land use, and parks and soliciting public feedback. That segment is not listed on the September 15 agenda and includes a promotional welcome to Bullhead City, indicating the transcript may include content from another event or meeting. It is noted here rather than treated as part of this meeting's record.