Well, good early evening, everybody.

It's time for study session here.

Uh for August 25th, 2025.

All of our council members are present.

Appreciate every repeat everyone being here.

Item one is to review the agenda for tonight's council meeting.

I know we went over this earlier.

Uh is there any things that you like, council?

From staff.

I think we have one thing for a rezone in D6.

Is that right or D5?

It's D5, right?

Yeah.

And then it's a 7A for the rezoning of Sienna Ridge at 29 unit.

It's not a patient.

Okay.

All right.

Council, this might be a short study session.

Anything else?

Mary, would you like to say anything?

So, Mayor, we did provide the all of the council member uh district coordinators with a summary of the uh garage sizes for the adjacent jurisdictions.

So if anybody had any questions, we're happy to answer any of those.

Yeah, I think that was uh topic of conversation at the earlier one.

Vice Mayor, are you good with everything on that?

It's off consent, right?

Well, right now it's on Cassandra unless you want it off because we removed it last week.

Did we remove it?

It's off.

Okay, it's off.

Okay.

I'm just curious, I guess, if Councilmember Summers, did you when you saw the garage size like that Mary sent over, did you have thoughts on that?

Yeah, we made we had a discussion about this at the last study session, and my my concerns were with the the size of cars aren't getting any smaller, and yet we're shrinking in garage.

And I know that in in one instance or several instances, the garage square footage is larger, but the depth is is still coming down, so you can't get an SUV in there.

And this is a higher density product.

I have no problem with with the development itself.

My concern is as we continue to erode standards like this, uh we're we're gonna just create parking problems for the future.

So I I just can't.

So your same concerns um exist from last Thursday, even after seeing like the comparisons and all that.

My concern is it's the same.

So it's up to the council, obviously, whether or not that we're gonna accept the PAD, but you know, I I don't support it based on that.

Well I would like to offer one clarification.

I and I think I don't know if you all can um verify, but according to the applicant, all you said an SUV wouldn't fit.

He says all cars and full-size trucks fit.

I don't think that's the case.

When you when you look at a 20-foot deep garage, that's a really tight fit going in there and just looking at some research of mine.

Some will, some will, some won't.

My concern is you know, when you look at again, I don't want to keep repeating myself here, but I I think as we shrink that standard with the the growth of uh, you know, particularly when you have something of this high density, you're gonna end up having people parked trying to park in the street, and there's no really place to park in this type of development, so that's gonna bleed out onto the public streets, and while that's legal.

Why are we shrinking a standard?

I think we created that standard for a reason.

Maybe it wouldn't give me as much heartburn if this were say more of a downtown thing when it's we're looking at a car light development, but this is suburban.

It's suburban.

We rely on our vehicles in in East Mesa to get to and from work in the store and shop, and and I just you know I don't like the idea, but let's I mean it's a vote of the the council.

It's I'm fine with the uh decision.

Yeah, absolutely.

And um, I guess I would just say it's since it's in my district, I'll just add my two cents that we are in line with every other um surrounding municipality that what we were given information.

They're about they require 20 by 20.

That's we're talking eight inches here.

You can fit a car in there.

If it these are private streets, so it's not like they they're gonna um you know come out onto the public streets.

Now, you know, I guess that you could argue that they maybe would go to 90th, but I think what'll end up happening is they'll park along the the private streets of this of this community.

So and uh you know they have two different types of garage lengths and widths, and so if you have a large car, I don't think you move into a place where your where your vehicle doesn't fit.

I think that's probably what ends up happening.

So um I'm comfortable with the deviation, or I don't know if you is it a deviation in the code, yeah, by eight inches.

Ms.

Duff.

Um also usually on private streets, most I I don't have many HOAs in my district, but from living in HOAs in the past, usually there's a standard in an HOA that there's no parking on the private street, or that does that matter I guess it matters more on the width.

But it's not uncommon that on a private street they say no, you need to park in the driveway, um, or your garage.

Um so I think if anybody had a car that wouldn't fit in a garage, this would not be the floor plan for them if they didn't want to park in their driveway.

Um I you know, I think that uh adding to the size of a garage.

Something has to give, it adds to the cost of the home, or it reduces the living space.

And um, I think living space is more important, and I'm certainly sensitive to the cost of homes right now.

So I I'm in agreement with council member go forth anything else, counsel.

I think there's two variations in the plan.

I think there was town homes, and then there's a single family resident as well.

Uh two types of developments there, correct?

And Mayor, I'm gonna ask Evan to come up and talk about the different types of homes are two different.

Yeah, when I read through the uh staff report, that's what I saw.

And again, the deviation from the garage.

I know my truck won't fit in there, it's probably about almost 22 feet long.

And Mr.

Adams has one even longer, so it's pretty tall too.

This is probably 25 feet.

I think you mayor, uh council members.

I'll skip the parts.

Here we go.

So garage sizes.

There are it's it's a four-rent product, so the parking requirement is 2.1 spaces per unit.

There are a total of four different floor plans.

There's plan one and plan two have the garage that's 19 feet, two inches in width, 20 feet in depth.

Plans three and four have the larger garage, 25 feet in width and 20 feet in depth.

So there are four floor plans total, but they are it's all four-rent product.

Okay.

There, I would also note that um 58 spaces, excuse me, 61 spaces are required.

They're providing a total of 17 uh guest parking spaces between the guest spaces and the ADA.

There are 29 units um proposed, so we're just under half.

Uh if you look at it as a ratio for guest bases.

Okay.

Council member, go forth.

You're all good to go on this.

Okay.

Any other comments, council?

All right, not hearing any.

Well, then we'll move over to next current events and conferences attendance, council.

Do you have anything you wish to share?

Sure.

Uh Mr.

Adams, I want to start with you.

Would you have anything you like to share?

Well, I had the uh privilege of attending Waterworld in Lehigh.

A community event that uh involved a water slide.

Actually, a couple of them, one small one for the the kids and a bigger one that um uh I had to I had to check it out just to make sure it was safe and appropriate, and it worked just fine.

Um there were hot dogs and Mesa PD showed up and uh engine 211 showed up uh several times for different reasons.

And uh there were some other uh uh sporting activities, uh a foot race or two, and uh let's let's just say um uh every once in a while you learn a lesson that's like George Strait says in that song, I still feel 25 most of the time, but I'm not so uh my my foot race didn't quite go as as planned, but I will tell you mesifier and medical.

Um I I think what happened I allowed myself to become dehydrated.

And in the process of that, uh had a hamstring yell at me really loud, and there's great video out there of the the whole incident, but our mesa fire and medical people.

Um there could be no finer emergency medical organization around.

Um they took care of me.

Umfficer Nick Curitan out of Central.

Um I needed something to lean up against while I'm sitting there on the ground, and Nick stood there for 45 minutes like an oak tree being my backrest.

So uh I am I am so very grateful for all of the uh attention and care and concern.

But we're gonna do water world next year and maybe on a cooler day.

But uh so everybody remember that.

Don't remember the incident.

Remember Waterworld and uh come on out next year and support it.

We'll have it on the calendar.

Julie?

Well, we all attended um the Arizona League of Cities and Towns last week and attended lots of great sessions and panels.

I know Mayor, you were super busy all those days of the league.

Spoke a bunch of times.

Um I wanted to um just mention that Councilmore Adams and Duff and I are all doing the inaugural civic craft program through Arizona League, and it's a leadership program for elected officials across the state, and it will last a year with a virtual and or in-person meeting every month.

So that is exciting to be a part of that.

And um, I just enjoy rubbing shoulders with other council members and mayors from across the state and hearing what's going on in their cities and with their councils, and it's always a really great week.

Um, and then just one more fun thing.

I have to give a shout out to our fire department.

They had me come and do a cinnamon roll bake-off with one of their firefighters.

And um, I probably wouldn't have brought it up if I lost, so I won.

But I it was just a fun thing.

We do too much serious stuff around here, and it was a fun thing that they um asked me to do.

And um, we there was a great turnout.

Lots of people came, and Mary Kmelly was one of the judges.

And um, I've been told by a lot of people that it wasn't rigged, so I'm gonna go with that.

And it was it was really fun.

And I just want to um give a huge shout out to our public safety departments, and just they're just such good people and trying to do good in our community, and I'm just really grateful for the work that they do.

Thank you.

Miss Goldforth.

Sure.

Um, I was honored to um moderate one of the panel discussions at league on transportation and transportation funding with three really great panelists who I think offered a lot of um good expertise and insight into transportation funding in the state of Arizona.

I learned some things, and I think the audience learned a lot too.

Um, I also got to go to Smith Junior High and speak um about uh in support of the proclamation, the youth empowerment and engagement proclamation, and and at their curriculum night, and that was great.

And then um Mayor and Julie and I had a good time celebrating Red Mount, the Red Mountain branch of Mesa's library, um, their 30th anniversary.

So it's hard to believe they've been around 30 years, but we had a really great crowd, a lot of people enjoying refreshments, and so that was nice.

Yeah, um you were there for quite a while.

Yeah, I went uh Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and attended quite a few events, and it was a very good event.

Um when I came back over the weekend, I did uh attend some of the uh the Mesa International Film Festival that was hosted at the Delta.

They had over 130 films and filmmakers around the world.

I went to the awards um brunch yesterday, and um I do appreciate their attention to Mesa and hosting and having filmmakers here and and uh furthering that craft and and Mesa becoming a place for uh filmmaking and film sharing and and learning about film and certainly we have the ASU mix and the um Sydney Poitiers New American Fil School at ASU, so that it fits right in.

I love having it here.

Thanks.

Great.

Vice Mayor, anything.

No, just my appreciation to Superstition Division for Copy with a cop in Sunland Village East.

It was actually very well attended.

Great, especially now that you have your own police station.

That's great.

No more sharing.

No.

Well, as Miss Spillsbury said, I was pretty busy.

And uh then joined Mayor Gallego and Mayor Sarter from Surprise, as well as all the other mayors in the Arizona Municipal Water Use Association about how important CAP water is for our community.

So we did a uh announcement on that.

I attended also thank you to the Salt River Rescue to our firefighters who are doing a risk uh training actually on the Salt River, and there they uh saved a person there that was floating unconscious in the river.

So that was done at uh 708 West Baseline, and uh that was the recipients of that resuscitation.

He came down from Prescott and he wanted to meet the firefighters who saved his life.

So that was very great for them and his wife and family members.

So with that, um also I was on a resolution committee for the Arizona League of Cities, and we talked about public safety and especially for hiring retention and recruitment, and so I kind of pushed some buttons on that.

Some of the other mayors didn't like it, but uh we have to understand more about our recruitment and retention for public safety personnel.

Uh Vice Mayor joined me on that as well.

With that, Mr.

Butler, can you share future meetings?

Yes, sir, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

We will be back here on Thursday morning uh at 7 30 for study session, followed um upon adjournment by that by the audit and finance and enterprise committee meeting.

Had to make sure I got the full name of the committee, audit finance and enterprise committee meeting uh immediately after study session.

Okay, thank you.

I'll retain a motion to adjourn.

Thank you, Miss Spillsbury.

Vice Mayor, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All right, we're adjourned.

See upstairs, maybe with some rain.

Who knows?