OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Planning & Zoning Commission Regular Meeting - January 14, 2026

Town Council & Commissions — Wednesday, January 14, 2026
BodyQueen Creek, Arizona
SessionTown Council & Commissions
DateWednesday, January 14, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 19:09

Transcript — Verbatim
1:39

I I I I've got I've got some parental guidance that I'm eating like over here.

1:47

We we can go.

1:48

I'm zoning will now come to order.

1:59

Victoria, can you please call the roll?

2:03

Vice Chair Ballard.

2:04

Here.

2:05

Commissioner Baldwin.

2:06

Here.

2:06

Commissioner Bordez.

2:08

Here.

2:08

Commissioner Hill.

2:10

Here.

2:10

Commissioner Matheson?

2:11

Here.

2:12

Commissioner Young.

2:13

Here.

2:13

We have a quorum.

2:14

Thank you, Victoria.

2:15

Will everyone please stand and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance.

2:38

Thank you so much, everyone.

2:39

It's again really good to see you guys.

2:42

I can't believe we're in a new year.

2:44

It's pretty well it goes by fast.

2:46

Um but with that said, members of the public may address the planning commission on items not on the printed agenda.

2:52

Members of the commission may not discuss, consider or act on any matter raised during public comment.

2:58

Request to speak must be submitted through the clerk.

3:01

Please observe the time limit of three minutes.

3:04

Are there any members of the public that wish to speak on items not printed on the agenda at this time?

3:12

Hearing that there are none, we will move to the consent agenda.

3:15

Matters listed under the consent agenda are considered to be routine and will be enacted by one motion and one vote.

3:38

Second thank you for that, Commissioner.

4:03

How's it going, Zach?

4:04

Good to see you, man.

4:09

Commissioners, I am Zachary Wardine.

4:23

As you may be already aware, this is a continued item from December tenth.

4:28

At that meeting we had a a few comments that were made and I took note on to go back and make a few adjustments to this text amendment.

4:38

Those major items that we discussed involved inoperable vehicles, antique and decorative farm equipment, and the code inspection process.

5:00

I believe we're all aware that we are gonna have Victor come talk to the commission, the planning zone commission board next month on the process on what is already been approved in the town code, and that this text amendment here is not to make any changes to what's already been approved in the town code.

5:10

All this zoning ordinance update is doing is to provide consistency between the town code and the zoning ordinance and have them talk to each other.

5:19

That being said, I am going to go into what already exists.

5:23

I did bring this up last meeting, but I will go into it again here.

5:27

For what we have here is an outdoor storage definition.

5:31

It includes uh vehicles, trailers, RVs, airplanes, boats, any appliances are to be behind the a wall and out of the front yard setback.

5:41

We also have article five that talks about large vehicles, RVs, boats, and trailers.

5:45

Same thing to be out of the front yard setback and uh behind a screen wall.

5:54

In addition, these are items that I want to bring up.

5:57

This meeting, I didn't touch on them just because uh it there's a little bit more to it, but I think it's important to talk about here.

6:06

Article 26d1 is involved with a zoning interpretation that we have made that any and this exists in the code, any building or structure or land use on a property is to match what that property is zoned.

6:21

So a residentially zoned property is to be residential in nature, a industrial property is to be in industrial in nature.

6:29

A residential property should not be industrial or or vice versa.

6:33

We like to keep them consistency, and that's really the point of the zoning code.

6:37

So we want to uh ensure that that stays consistent.

6:41

In addition, we do have and I didn't bring up this last time just because I wanted to stay and talk directly about the zoning ordinance, but here I feel it is important to talk about the town code and what already exists.

6:54

This was provided as an attachment in your packet, so you can refer to that, and I'll summarize some of it.

7:00

1032 of the public nuisance public nuisances designated, uh it already exists, and it talks to outdoor storage, unsafe structures, debris, blight on a residential property or a property in general.

7:12

Some of those items I want to highlight are E F H and T and uh with E, and this talks a little bit to your code enforcement concern last time.

7:23

This is already in the town code and in this public nuisances uh definition.

7:29

It does talk about items that are visible from the ride-away and from the property of another, meaning an adjacent property.

7:36

So this is already an item that is in our town code, and our text amendment here in the zoning ordinance is just to match uh what it already exists.

7:46

In addition, we have FHT, which do talk to uh trash and litter, uh a collective of items on a property.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Code Enforcement█████████████████████████████████████████████45%
Procedural█████████████████████████████29%
Zoning███████████████15%
Community Engagement███████7%
Economic Development████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Planning & Zoning Commission Regular Meeting - January 14, 2026

The Planning & Zoning Commission met on January 14, 2026 at 6:00 PM at Community Chambers, 20727 E. Civic Parkway. The meeting covered a consent agenda with two continuations, a public hearing on an outdoor storage text amendment, and a staff summary of recent development activity.

Consent Calendar

  • Minutes: The December 10, 2025 meeting minutes were approved by a single motion and vote (no opposition reported).
  • Item P25-0153 (Animal Regulations Text Amendment): Continued to the February 11, 2026 Planning & Zoning Commission meeting.
  • Item P25-0155 (Mural Definition Text Amendment): Continued to the February 11, 2026 Planning & Zoning Commission meeting.

Public Comments & Testimony

No members of the public spoke during the public comment period or during the public hearing.

Discussion Items

Public Hearing – P25-0152 Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment – Outdoor Storage Staff Planner Zachary Wardine presented the proposed text amendment, which prohibits outdoor storage of heavy commercial and industrial vehicles and equipment in residential zones. Key revisions from the prior meeting included:

  • Clarified definition of "inoperable vehicles" as those that are visibly inoperable (missing tires, broken windows, etc.) to allow enforceability without requiring an engine start.
  • Added a provision allowing decorative antique tractors, farm implements, and semi-agricultural equipment on rural and auto lots, provided they do not create a public hazard.
  • Explicitly tied the zoning ordinance language to existing town code (public nuisance designations) to ensure consistency.
  • The amendment does not create new rules but aligns zoning ordinance with already-enforced town code provisions.

Commissioners expressed strong support for the responsiveness of staff to prior concerns, particularly the preservation of Queen Creek's rural character. Vice Chair Ballard asked how the proposed regulations compare to neighboring municipalities; Wardine noted that Queen Creek's allowances for agricultural lots and decorative antique tractors are unique and more supportive of rural uses.

Key Outcomes

  • P25-0152 – Outdoor Storage Text Amendment: Approved unanimously by the Commission (motion by Commissioner Baldwin, seconded by Commissioner Hill; all in favor).
  • Consent Calendar Items B and C: Continued to the February 11, 2026 meeting as requested.
  • Staff Summary: Eric (staff) reported that the Akatiwa Haas annexation (northwest corner of Akatiwa and Haas) was approved by the Town Council for a future funeral home use. He also noted that 209 single-family building permits were issued in December 2025, a 167% increase over the same month the prior year, attributed to year-end builder activity.

Adjournment

The regular session adjourned following the staff summary.

Meeting Transcript

I I I I've got I've got some parental guidance that I'm eating like over here. We we can go. I'm zoning will now come to order. Victoria, can you please call the roll? Vice Chair Ballard. Here. Commissioner Baldwin. Here. Commissioner Bordez. Here. Commissioner Hill. Here. Commissioner Matheson? Here. Commissioner Young. Here. We have a quorum. Thank you, Victoria. Will everyone please stand and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you so much, everyone. It's again really good to see you guys. I can't believe we're in a new year. It's pretty well it goes by fast. Um but with that said, members of the public may address the planning commission on items not on the printed agenda. Members of the commission may not discuss, consider or act on any matter raised during public comment. Request to speak must be submitted through the clerk. Please observe the time limit of three minutes. Are there any members of the public that wish to speak on items not printed on the agenda at this time? Hearing that there are none, we will move to the consent agenda. Matters listed under the consent agenda are considered to be routine and will be enacted by one motion and one vote. Second thank you for that, Commissioner. How's it going, Zach? Good to see you, man. Commissioners, I am Zachary Wardine. As you may be already aware, this is a continued item from December tenth. At that meeting we had a a few comments that were made and I took note on to go back and make a few adjustments to this text amendment. Those major items that we discussed involved inoperable vehicles, antique and decorative farm equipment, and the code inspection process. I believe we're all aware that we are gonna have Victor come talk to the commission, the planning zone commission board next month on the process on what is already been approved in the town code, and that this text amendment here is not to make any changes to what's already been approved in the town code. All this zoning ordinance update is doing is to provide consistency between the town code and the zoning ordinance and have them talk to each other. That being said, I am going to go into what already exists. I did bring this up last meeting, but I will go into it again here. For what we have here is an outdoor storage definition. It includes uh vehicles, trailers, RVs, airplanes, boats, any appliances are to be behind the a wall and out of the front yard setback. We also have article five that talks about large vehicles, RVs, boats, and trailers. Same thing to be out of the front yard setback and uh behind a screen wall. In addition, these are items that I want to bring up. This meeting, I didn't touch on them just because uh it there's a little bit more to it, but I think it's important to talk about here. Article 26d1 is involved with a zoning interpretation that we have made that any and this exists in the code, any building or structure or land use on a property is to match what that property is zoned. So a residentially zoned property is to be residential in nature, a industrial property is to be in industrial in nature. A residential property should not be industrial or or vice versa.

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