Lake Havasu City Council Regular Meeting - January 13, 2026
Lake Havasu City Council Regular Meeting - January 13, 2026
The Lake Havasu City Council met on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, at 5:30 PM. The meeting included a consent agenda, multiple public hearings, and a call to the public. Key decisions included approval of a major general plan amendment and rezone for a 90.5-acre mixed-use development on the island, approval of a new laboratory building project, and introduction of an ordinance updating the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board code. The meeting adjourned after approximately 4.5 hours.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the December 9, 2025, Regular Meeting Minutes (7-0).
- Approved Resolution No. 26-3888 for a First Amendment to Environmental Access Agreement with ADEQ for additional monitoring wells.
- Approved Resolution No. 26-3890 ratifying the City Manager's execution of Commercial Lease No. 03-096271-00 with Arizona State Land Department for Municipal Water Production Well No. 9.
- Approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the Lake Havasu Professional Firefighters.
- Approved a Product and Services Agreement for Parks and Recreation Software with Active Network, LLC.
- Approved a call for Executive Session on January 27, 2026.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Multiple residents spoke on the major general plan amendment and rezone for 1040 McCulloch Boulevard North. Positions included support for the project's economic benefits, concerns about shoreline access, housing density, traffic, and the need for a second bridge. Some speakers questioned the developer's track record and requested guarantees. The Nautical Estates Condo Association signed an agreement with the developer after extensive negotiations. Others spoke in favor citing the property's current blighted condition and the opportunity for a premier resort.
Discussion Items
- Series 12 Restaurant Liquor Licenses (7.1 & 7.2): Approved for Rotary Pizza & Pasta (283 Lake Havasu Ave) and Booby Falls Restaurant & Rodeo (2100 McCulloch Blvd N). Both met all requirements with no objections. Public comment included questions about the latter's name and menu pricing.
- Ordinance 26-1377 - Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Amendments (7.3): Introduced to update officer terms, attendance, meeting frequency, and powers. Councilmember Lin voiced concern about striking language that the board would assist in establishing priorities. The ordinance was introduced with an amendment to retain language on board involvement in master plan development and to add council approval. Passed 7-0.
- Resolution 26-3889 - Major General Plan Amendment (7.4): For the 90.5-acre parcel at 1040 McCulloch Blvd N, changing land use from Open Space and Park to Commercial Mixed Use, Resort Residential, and Resort Related Island. Staff and applicant presented extensive details on public shoreline access (100-ft average easement, 14.1 acres), open space (33 acres, 84% over requirement), reduced residential density, and community concessions. Council debated timing relative to the ongoing General Plan update and the second bridge. Passed 5-2 (Councilmembers Lin and Dolan dissenting).
- Ordinance 26-1376 - Planned Development Rezone (7.5): Rezoned the same property from Golf Course to Island Body Beach/Planned Development for a mixed-use resort, marina, commercial, and residential development. The applicant committed to a 90-ft average shoreline easement, 18 acres of public open space, 874 parking spaces, and a $1 million contribution to infrastructure. Council discussed tying the project to the second bridge start; the motion did not include that condition. Passed 5-2 (same dissent).
- Bid for New Laboratory Building (7.6): Awarded to TR Orr, Inc. for $1,517,282. The 2,300 sq ft facility will replace the current 1,200 sq ft lab, improving water/wastewater testing capacity and efficiency. The project will be named the Fernando Thielak Water Lab in memory of a long-serving employee. Passed 7-0.
Key Outcomes
- Votes: Consent agenda (7-0), liquor licenses (7-0 and 7-0), Parks Board ordinance introduction (7-0), General Plan Amendment (5-2), Rezone (5-2), Lab Building (7-0).
- Decisions: The General Plan Amendment and Rezone for the island development are approved, allowing the developer to proceed with detailed plans and platting, subject to conditions including public easements and infrastructure contributions.
- Next Steps: The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board ordinance will have a second reading. The lab building construction is expected to begin shortly with completion by July 2026. The second bridge project is at 60% design with construction anticipated to start in 2027.
Meeting Transcript
All right. Good evening. Welcome. I call to order the Lake Kavasu City Council meeting on Tuesday, January 13, 2026 at 5 30 p.m. Happy New Year. This is our first meeting of 2026, and thank you all for being here. We're gonna have our invocation by Chaplain B. Evans, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by the Lake Havasu Chiefs. Cheer. Well, happy new year. Isn't this a wonderful time to bless our city and our employees? Let's do that. Heavenly Father, we just love you, and we're so grateful that you know us, that you control the things that we can't. We thank you, Father, that you're here tonight because it sounds like this is gonna be an important thing where we need lots of yeses and lots of no's, whatever is truly on hearts. And I thank you, Lord, that you're so faithful to us. Lord, I do lift up our employees, the city, our fire, our chief, all of the people that work within those uh departments, Lord, and the thousands of other employees that we have all over the all over this city. And Father, I know you're blessing them and you're blessing their families. I thank you for the city council. I thank you, Father, that they do read all the stuff before they get here and they know exactly what's going on, and they ask intelligent questions. So, Father, I know it's because they ask for your wisdom in all of this. So I ask a blessing on them tonight that their yes would surely be yes and their no would be no in the mighty name of Jesus, amen. And secret republic for nation justice. Thank you. And then if you just want to make your way to the podium and uh face the dais uh on the microphone and share a little bit about your organization. Hi, my name is Kylie. I am 13, and I've been doing the Lake Havasu City Chiefs here for about seven years. This will be my eighth year doing it. And something that I really like about it is that you get to meet new people across the city, and the fact that you can learn to try to get out of your shell more, and you can learn how to get more confidence from it. Hi, my name is Audrey. I'm seven years old. I've been doing cheer for one year, and my favorite thing is stunts. Fantastic. So these are one of my amazing cheerleaders. My name is Vanessa Kondra. I am the chair director and board member, one of the board members for the Lake Havasu Chiefs cheer and football team. So what I want to bring over is these girls, they don't only just stunt and cheer to the crowds, encouraging the football players. We talk about sportsmanship. And no matter how many times we lose, we show the team that we are amazing and a reminder that we can move forward. So this is my first year with the Lake Havasu Chiefs cheer, and what I love about it is family-like community. I'm brand new to the city, two years. I still consider myself brand new. And what I love about it is just community and showing what we can do. So when you see us there, cheering for the crowd. We're cheering for our families. We're cheering for the football players, the family, and the community. And we want to make sure that we are ambassadors for the city and have potential leaders here, such as Audrey and Kylie. So we thank you. And hopefully for this fall, uh, we have we're gonna be starting our uh games in around like September, October, but we'll be doing recruits in July. So if you know anybody, a young lady or a young gentleman who is interested in cheering for our city and for our team, let us know. We are there for there because we strive for leadership and community.
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