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Record of Proceedings

Gilbert City Council Study Session on Z2512 International Headquarters Campus Text Amendment - March 4, 2026

Town Council MeetingsWednesday, March 4, 2026
BodyGilbert, Arizona
SessionTown Council Meetings
DateWednesday, March 4, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record

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Transcript — Verbatim
4:11

Judy, are you uh ready over there?

4:14

Yes, we are Mayor.

4:15

Okay.

4:31

Vice Mayor Chuck Bongiovanny.

4:33

I'm here.

4:35

Councilmember Bobby Buckley here.

4:38

Councilmember Kenny Buckland.

4:39

Here.

4:40

Councilmember Young Kaprowski.

4:42

Here.

4:42

Councilmember Monty Lyons.

4:44

Here.

4:45

And Councilmember Jen Torgeson.

4:47

We have a quarter present.

4:49

We have one agenda item presentation and discussion on a proposed text amendment Z twenty five twelve related to international headquarters campus.

5:01

Thank you, Mayor Anderson and members of the council.

5:06

I am Nicole Russell, Senior Planner with Development Services, and today I will be talking to you about Z2512, the LDC text amendment for international headquarters.

5:21

Uh oh.

5:33

Thank you.

5:34

As many of the council members may be aware, last year the state legislator legislature approved HB 1543.

5:43

This bill requires that municipalities with a population of between 200,000 and 500,000 allow ancillary uses, including hotel and multifamily as part of an international headquarters campus.

5:57

Auxiliary uses can include the hotel, multifamily, and complementary retail and restaurant uses.

6:07

So what is an international headquarters?

6:09

Per SB 1543, an international headquarters is the central administrative office where primary headquarters operations take place.

6:18

The headquarters does not report to any parent company outside of the state of Arizona.

6:24

And the international headquarters campus means a contiguous area of not less than 40 acres in size or more.

6:33

So what are the qualifiers for the international headquarters campus?

6:37

As previously stated, an area of 40 acres or more.

6:41

The property must be located within the business park, light industrial, or general industrial zoning districts.

6:48

The company must be owned by a single entity or related entities.

6:53

The international headquarters must employ more than a thousand full-time employees with an average annual salary more than 125% of the medium wage median wage for the county the campus is located in.

8:16

And if the approved uses are not within a hundred feet of single family, they can go up to six stories.

8:27

So this type of application, the international headquarters as well as the ancillary and complimentary uses, would need to go through a design review process.

8:38

And before approval, they have to provide staff with a recorded instrument satisfactory to the town.

8:47

This document can restrict the occupancy of at least 30% of the multifamily housing units to international headquarters employees, police officers, firefighters, teachers, veterans, or health care workers who live with or who are within five miles of the International Headquarters campus.

9:06

It does prohibit the agreement for occupancy less than 90 consecutive days unless the tenant is an employee or contractor.

9:14

This does not apply to multifamily units platted for individual ownership.

9:21

So in light of SB 1543, staff has added terms for 2.0 for international headquarters, international headquarters campus, and international headquarters building.

9:35

Staff has also added a line in the use regulations table that you'll see on the right side of the screen that there is additional standards.

9:48

So we have created section 5.1.19 for international headquarters detailing the information provided on the previous slides.

10:01

And here's more of those regulations.

10:04

And I apologize for reading the slides.

10:06

There is a lot of information on here, and I wanted to make sure that I'm saying everything exactly how we how we are drafting it.

10:15

And that concludes my presentation.

10:31

Thank you, Nicole.

10:33

Any questions, comments?

10:36

Just another glorious thing of telling us what to do from the state, right?

10:43

Mayor Anderson, Councilmember Torgeson.

10:47

This is mandated by the state for us to allow these types of uses and development standards.

10:53

Councilmember Buckley.

10:56

Sorry.

11:00

I have a question.

11:01

Are we anticipating a project like this?

11:04

Why has this come up now?

11:07

Mayor Anderson, Councilmember Buckley, from what I understand, this is not something that's in our pipeline.

11:18

Anybody looking to do this type of use in the town of Gilbert, but since it is mandated by the state, we've drafted the ordinance to bring forward.

11:28

Okay.

11:28

So if if is this an ordinance that the state is saying every city has to approve of, or are we just wanting it as an ordinance in case this happens to come up?

11:41

Which I I don't foresee because I'm not sure we would have the land for a project like that.

11:45

But as I understand that there isn't one in the pipeline, but it is mandated by the state that we allow these types of uses in these zoning districts subject to the design review process.

11:59

Okay.

12:00

So is it possible to allow we we can say we allow these without having to put the ordinance in place?

12:09

Or you're saying that we have to put the ordinance in place per the state.

12:15

As I understand it, we need to put the ordinance in place.

12:19

Okay.

12:20

All right.

12:21

It seems it seems like a lot of work when that's most likely never gonna happen.

12:27

But I mean it could, but when it happens, then we could do it as well.

12:30

But all right, but thank you.

12:32

You answered that very well, of course.

12:36

Anything else?

12:39

Thank you, Nicole.

12:44

With that, um journal the study session and reconvene at 6 o'clock or 6 30, actually.

12:57

Yeah, yeah.

12:58

All night.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Zoning And Land Use█████████████████████████████████████████████86%
Affordable Housing███████14%
Summary of Proceedings

Gilbert City Council Study Session on Z2512 International Headquarters Campus Text Amendment - March 4, 2026

The Gilbert City Council held a study session on March 4, 2026, to discuss and receive a presentation on proposed text amendment Z2512, which would establish regulations for international headquarters campuses as mandated by state law (HB 1543). The session included a detailed presentation by staff and questions from council members, with no public comment or formal vote taken.

Presentation and Discussion Items

  • Senior Planner Nicole Russell presented the proposed LDC text amendment, explaining that HB 1543 requires municipalities with populations between 200,000 and 500,000 to allow ancillary uses (hotel, multifamily, retail, restaurant) as part of an international headquarters campus. She outlined the qualifying criteria: a contiguous area of 40+ acres, location in business park/light industrial/general industrial zoning, single ownership or related entities, more than 1,000 full-time employees earning at least 125% of the county median wage, and height limits (up to six stories if not within 100 feet of single-family). The amendment also requires a design review process and a recorded instrument restricting at least 30% of multifamily units to international headquarters employees, police officers, firefighters, teachers, veterans, or healthcare workers within five miles, and prohibits occupancy agreements under 90 consecutive days unless the tenant is an employee or contractor.
  • Councilmember Torgeson noted that the amendment is mandated by the state, requiring the city to allow these uses and development standards.
  • Councilmember Buckley questioned whether a project was anticipated and why the amendment was needed now. Russell clarified that no projects are in the pipeline, but the state requires the ordinance to be in place. Buckley expressed concern about the workload for a scenario that seems unlikely to occur but accepted the explanation.
  • Mayor Anderson commented sarcastically, "Just another glorious thing of telling us what to do from the state."

Key Outcomes

  • No formal action was taken during the study session. The council received the presentation and discussed the proposed text amendment, which will proceed to a future regular meeting for potential adoption.

Meeting Transcript

Judy, are you uh ready over there? Yes, we are Mayor. Okay. Vice Mayor Chuck Bongiovanny. I'm here. Councilmember Bobby Buckley here. Councilmember Kenny Buckland. Here. Councilmember Young Kaprowski. Here. Councilmember Monty Lyons. Here. And Councilmember Jen Torgeson. We have a quarter present. We have one agenda item presentation and discussion on a proposed text amendment Z twenty five twelve related to international headquarters campus. Thank you, Mayor Anderson and members of the council. I am Nicole Russell, Senior Planner with Development Services, and today I will be talking to you about Z2512, the LDC text amendment for international headquarters. Uh oh. Thank you. As many of the council members may be aware, last year the state legislator legislature approved HB 1543. This bill requires that municipalities with a population of between 200,000 and 500,000 allow ancillary uses, including hotel and multifamily as part of an international headquarters campus. Auxiliary uses can include the hotel, multifamily, and complementary retail and restaurant uses. So what is an international headquarters? Per SB 1543, an international headquarters is the central administrative office where primary headquarters operations take place. The headquarters does not report to any parent company outside of the state of Arizona. And the international headquarters campus means a contiguous area of not less than 40 acres in size or more. So what are the qualifiers for the international headquarters campus? As previously stated, an area of 40 acres or more. The property must be located within the business park, light industrial, or general industrial zoning districts. The company must be owned by a single entity or related entities. The international headquarters must employ more than a thousand full-time employees with an average annual salary more than 125% of the medium wage median wage for the county the campus is located in. And if the approved uses are not within a hundred feet of single family, they can go up to six stories. So this type of application, the international headquarters as well as the ancillary and complimentary uses, would need to go through a design review process. And before approval, they have to provide staff with a recorded instrument satisfactory to the town. This document can restrict the occupancy of at least 30% of the multifamily housing units to international headquarters employees, police officers, firefighters, teachers, veterans, or health care workers who live with or who are within five miles of the International Headquarters campus. It does prohibit the agreement for occupancy less than 90 consecutive days unless the tenant is an employee or contractor. This does not apply to multifamily units platted for individual ownership. So in light of SB 1543, staff has added terms for 2.0 for international headquarters, international headquarters campus, and international headquarters building. Staff has also added a line in the use regulations table that you'll see on the right side of the screen that there is additional standards. So we have created section 5.1.19 for international headquarters detailing the information provided on the previous slides. And here's more of those regulations. And I apologize for reading the slides. There is a lot of information on here, and I wanted to make sure that I'm saying everything exactly how we how we are drafting it. And that concludes my presentation. Thank you, Nicole. Any questions, comments? Just another glorious thing of telling us what to do from the state, right? Mayor Anderson, Councilmember Torgeson. This is mandated by the state for us to allow these types of uses and development standards. Councilmember Buckley.

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