All right, good afternoon, everyone.

I'd like to call this work session on Tuesday, May fifth, twenty twenty six to order.

Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Mayor Starter.

Present.

Vice Mayor Greenberg.

Here.

Councilman Haney.

Here.

Councilman Duffy.

Here.

Councilman Melton.

Present.

Councilman Hastings.

Here.

Councilman Judd.

Here.

Thank you, Mayor.

We have quorum.

Thank you.

Can you please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance?

Oh.

I forgot it's taught time is gonna delete us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

So if you can go ahead and start us off.

Well, thank you so much.

You guys did great.

You want to take a picture?

Let's do it.

You guys want to stand up and take it down by it?

Yeah.

You guys did so good.

You should be done with the tallest guy in there.

You're still tall, or am I so short?

Uh, you want me to answer that for you?

Good job.

Can I see big smiles?

Awesome.

Great job.

Put your certificate in front of your face, hold it down, keep it right on me.

Right here by your there you go.

Looking good.

Teachers, you can get in.

All right, ready.

One, two.

Three.

Good job, smilers.

Excellent.

Let's go find our mommies and daddies and grandmas and grandpas.

Thank you guys.

Thank you.

Great job.

I think you great job, everybody.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

That was adorable.

Thanks so much.

Madam Clerk, here's item number one, please.

Presentation and discussion pertaining to a zoning text amendment to the surprise, land development ordinance ordinance is to establish new residential zoning district.

Desert rural base FS25039.

Good afternoon, Trevor.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

We're here tonight to have the first of two work sessions for the Desert Rural Text Amendment.

We wanted to break this up into two different sessions because this is a pretty hefty uh text amendment uh with a lot of information involved, and we wanted to make sure that we had the opportunity to have a conversation with you, get your feedback, um, any consensus and direction that you might have for us.

So um Johnny and myself are gonna do the bulk of the presentation with support from Mindy as well.

Um, I do want to start out by giving a big kudos and um shout out to Johnny.

She's been the project manager on this for uh two plus years.

Um it's been a lot of hard work, a lot of research, code writing, uh working with the community, working with uh developers and other city departments to make sure that we build a good code that works for these desert rural areas.

Um and then um I do want to clarify uh off the bat that this effort right now is just the zoning text amendment, it does not include any rezoning at this time.

That will be a subsequent effort.

And then um, just to clarify for the the community and for you all, this would not include any sort of annexation effort either.

Um, so Johnny and I will go back and forth through these slides.

We have some pauses built in um if there's any questions or comments at the time, but if you'd rather we just push through and get to comments and questions at the end, we can do that too.

Alrighty.

So, with that said, uh, there are numerous sections of code involved in this amendment.

And in order to make this presentation more digestible, we've broken into two parts.

So, in the first part that we're going to be covering tonight, uh, we'll be going over the background information of the zoning text amendment as well as the community feedback and proposed code changes with regard to permissible uses, development standards, and land use buffers and landscape landscape slash open space.

Um, in the second part, which we will cover at the work session on May 19th, we'll go over the community feedback and proposed code changes for the remaining topics of interest to include design standards, animals, and transportation slash streets.

Um, we will also be addressing the many cleanup items that are included in this proposed amendment.

Um, and you know, as we said, in order to foster a more fruitful conversation, we'll be going back and forth.

So with that, we'll uh move on.

So this slide depicts the rural residential overlay area of the general plan.

This is a uh subcharacter area of the general plan that was implemented in this last iteration that was ratified by the voters.

The combination of the red and the blue is the entirety of the overlay area.

The areas that are in blue are the areas that are currently within city boundaries.

Everything that's in red is currently county areas.

So just to give context of what this um would be applicable to, this zoning text amendment uh would only be uh available to the property owners and residents of the the blue areas.

But Trevor, as our city continues to grow that yellow line as our um planning area, correct?

That is correct.

And so if at some point in the future they incorporate them, they would be subject to this zoning text amendment.

That's correct.

So the thank you, Mayor.

The the areas in red um that are in the overlay area of the general plan, if annexation were to occur by those property owners, um, they could come into the desert rural zoning district.

Thanks.

So at that point, are there any questions so far on on the area or the process thus far?

Okay.

Alrighty.

So with that out of the way, we'll go ahead and jump into the background for this project.

So, as was mentioned earlier, the purpose of the zoning text amendment is to revise sections of the surprise land development ordinance or the LDO to establish a new residential zoning district, desert rural or DR.

Um, and the intent behind creating this new zoning district is to preserve the character of the city's long-established rural residential neighborhoods by creating a set of unique development standards for these areas.

So in order to accomplish this, in addition to adding desert rural as a new zoning designation to the LDO, there's other supporting revisions to use standards, development standards, and design standards as outlined in the municipal code, the LDO and the engineering design manual or the EDS that are required and proposed.

While some of the changes proposed will actually change what is permissible, it's important to note that a significant portion of the changes proposed are clerical in nature and are required for consistency or to add clarity regarding current regulation.

And we'll go over that in a little bit more detail and offer up examples when we get to the topic of cleanup items in part two next time.

So, why create a whole new zoning district?

So, first and foremost, we're creating the zoning district to implement the vision of the rural residential overlay as outlined in the Surprise 2040 general plan.

While conducting outreach for the surprise 2040 general plan, significant feedback was received from the rural residential community centered around the preservation of the character of their communities.

So this feedback helped inform and shape the general plan, leading to the addition of the rural residential overlay as a land use character sub-area, outlining the vision for these types of areas, including transitions and density and land use buffers, and identifying uh established rural residential neighborhoods that would be acting that this would be applicable to.

And in order to implement this vision, this section specifically calls for the adoption of a new uh desert rural zoning district.

So we ask ourselves how have we ensured that this text amendment reflects that of the general plan, the overlay and the goals and policies outlined within.

So we start with our outreach efforts.

So this idea kind of um came through some of our outreach efforts with the general plan.

We wanted to make sure that this don't this uh desert rural uh zoning district and this text amendment um included a lot of community uh interaction.

We wanted to make sure that because the intent of this is to um help preserve the existing uh rural communities, their way of life, and build a code that um is you know well suited for them.

Um we obviously needed to have heavy input and feedback from them.

So this has been a about two years of working with these rural communities, 12 different outreach meetings have been held.

Six of them were with the group off of 219th and Deer Valley.

Four of them are with the overall residential community.

Um, and then you can see here in that table, we have um we've had some significant um attendance at these meetings that has been very well um attended and participated in.

And we are grateful for that because it helps um, it helps our jobs to get that feedback and provide that input.

So after all of that uh interaction and that feedback, the um the topics that kind of resulted from that are what you see here.

So it ranges from permissible uses and development standards within the desert rural zoning district, the land use buffers that are built within the code to help protect from encroaching development, specific design standards for um structures and development within these communities, including accessory structures, driveway and parking, uh fencing materials and landscaping requirements, number and types of animals allowed, and then um roadway classifications and uh street improvement requirements.

So, with that, I'll pause and see if there's any questions or comments so far.

Okay.

All righty.

So uh starting with permissible uses, the overarching feedback we received from the community is that there is a desire for certain commercial uses and desert rule, but in accessory to a single family home as a home occupation, not as a standalone commercial development.

So presently in these areas, there are no standalone commercial uses, and it was communicated to us throughout the outreach process that a part of what makes these communities special is the neighborly relationship residents have with their neighbors.

Allowing standalone commercial uses within these neighborhoods would introduce the possibility of changing both the physical and the social fabric of these neighborhoods, which is largely not desired by the community and counterintuitive to our um efforts to preserve these areas.

So, from the feedback we received, the following uses were initially proposed by the community to be allowed as a home occupation in desert rural with CUP approval renewed every 24 months.

So that would be the list that you see on this slide from small farm or plant nursery to um the temporary RV parking.

So, in order to address these comments, um we are proposing the following changes to the LDO.

So that would be uh to add desert rural as a zoning district to the land use matrix with permissible uses mirroring what is currently allowed in rural residential minus standalone commercial uses, which will be prohibited in desert rural and community facilities, public facilities, and bed and breakfast establishments, which will now require CUP approval and desert rural.

Um we are also proposing to move the home occupation section to its own chapter, establish a classification system and add the following uses as permissible home occupations and desert rural.

So that would be under class three.

Um and that would be subject to use specific standards and approval requirements as outlined in section 106-13.3e, which would be that new home occupation chapter.

So we're looking at animal clinics and vet offices, uh cottage food, ranch, and residential farm.

And then the last uh major thing that we would be looking at amending is uh amending the use specific standards section, so that the general standards for ranch and residential farm uses are consistent with the general standards listed under the home occupation section.

Um when presenting this information to desert rural or sorry to uh P and Z, we received some feedback regarding these changes, but we were not able to reach a consensus at that time.

Uh while this is proposed to be a residential district, one planning commissioner had concerns regarding the removal of all standalone commercial uses in this district.

Councilman Haney got a question or comment.

Yeah, yeah, thank you, Mayor.

I just have uh two questions.

The first one, so when you say cottage food, can you define exactly what what that is?

So that's gonna be more of your um it's gonna be more of those uh foods that are you know made out of a home.

So that's gonna be your artisanal bread, your um tamales, your, you know, any sort of um, you know, food that you are making out of your home and then proceeding to sell.

So the state does have regulation on it.

The reason why we are calling it out specifically in this home occupation section um is purely for the uh cottage food stand elements.

So allowing um, you know, people in desert rural to be able to have a cottage food stand in their um in their front yard to be able to sell their bread um from their home as opposed to having to go to um you know somewhere off site or to the farmers market.

Okay, thanks for that clarification because I know we had some issues, at least in my district, uh where we had folks who um were doing that and they actually became a very uh beloved member of the of the community.

And so to be able to clear this up and with this is I think it's gonna be extremely helpful.

Um then can you just I don't if I'm jumping the gun, I apologize.

Uh as far as the home occupation section, was there a lot of community feedback specifically related to this section?

Thank you, Councilman Haney.

So um where a lot of that feedback came into play um was mostly with regard to adding those new uses in desert rural.

So um again, wanting to have the farm stands, wanting to have cottage food stands and uh in their front yards and things of that nature.

Um outside of our specific outreach efforts, we have gotten um a lot of feedback throughout the years regarding the difficulty of navigating our home occupation section.

So kind of the purpose of um, and I was gonna get to the next slide, but it's totally cool to just jump back to the back.

Um, but really what we're looking to do in kind of revamping this section is not to restrict the home occupation uses that are um allowed currently.

What we're trying to do is restructure that section so it's a lot easier for both um, you know, residents and staff to be able to read through that section, identify exactly okay, this is the kind of use I'm looking to do.

Here are the standards that are required for that, and just making it all around easier to navigate while also creating a space for us to be able to put those new uh desert rural regulations in a way that is very clear.

Here are these uses, um, and this is the only zoning district where it's going to be acceptable to have them.

Okay.

And you did that in collaboration with the residents who that would impact.

Yes, absolutely.

So every time we have put together a draft and we, you know, kind of talked with uh to the uh 219th neighborhood representatives, we engaged with that community fairly extensively before we even started with uh engagement with the overall um rural residential community at large.

And we very much, you know, went step by step, went through the whole land use matrix to really like sit down and figure out, you know, what you guys want in the neighborhood, you know, what is currently existing, so that we could go back as staff and go, okay, I hear you, I see what it is that you're looking to do.

Here's what I need to change in code in order to make that happen.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

So um, just to give some additional clarification or just to you know make sure we cover that point.

So as it stands today, the home occupation section for our code is largely unstructured as it's applied um across all residential zoning designations and home types.

So, in order to incorporate the requested home occupations into the section and make it clear that these uses would only be permitted in desert rural, um, we had to move away from this kind of one size fits all approach and build some structure back into this uh this section, introducing a class system to separate what would be allowed in desert rural versus other areas of the city.

So in doing this, we were able to uh provide clarity to both staff and residents regarding what is allowed and what restrictions exist for home occupations.

For example, this class system creates a clear delineation between which uses are permitted, limited customer contact at the home and those that don't allow any customer contact at the home.

And this structure will ultimately reduce the need for interpretations from staff, facilitate code enforcement operations, and help protect the respective character of different residential neighborhoods.

So again, just to reiterate, we're not looking to restrict the type of home occupations that are currently allowed in code.

Addition to the structural changes to the chapter, there are some other minor changes proposed to the actual code requirements.

Um, and it's you know, mostly around increasing clarity and enforceability.

Um, and then there's also some other minor changes to kind of address the parking and traffic complaints that we've been receiving from citizens currently.

So with that, are there any additional questions?

All right.

All right, moving on to development standards.

So some of the initial feedback that we um got from the residents was they liked their development standards um from the basic rural residential as it stands today.

So minimum um one acre lots, one dwelling unit per lot, um, capping the the height to you know, one to two story homes.

Um with that, our response is is essentially just to mirror the existing rural residential development standards and apply them in the desert rural zoning district as well.

So um it would be a perfect match there between the two.

Land use buffers was a big one.

Um, you know, as we've seen with some of the recent rezone applications that have come before us, there is um a desire from these communities to have some buffering um from their existing neighborhoods to encroaching new development surrounding them.

So the initial feedback that we got was to have a hundred to a hundred and fifty foot minimum buffer between the two neighborhoods, um, transition the density with lower density abutting desert rural areas and then moving into higher densities the further away that you get.

So the way that we have responded to that is we're proposing to build in some setback requirements within each of the zoning districts when they're adjacent to desert rural.

So uh for the most part, it's a hundred and fifty-foot setback when adjacent to, um, but in certain residential areas, uh, depending on the lot size that they provide when they're adjacent to that desert rural, the that nexus, um, they can have a reduced setback if they're providing larger lots.

So, what that looks like is um on the left here, you can see my mouse.

Um, if we say that this is existing desert rural and a development comes in adjacent to that has either R1 or RR zoning, they can develop one-acre lots without an additional um buffer.

You know, that's that's an uh an allowed thing under current code in the same zoning district.

So we felt that if they were developing under that um an additional setback wasn't required.

But as the lots get smaller in that on that border, the required setback increases.

All righty.

So um this will conclude part one of our presentation.

We'll be back to present part two on May 19th.

We don't currently have um anticipated public hearing dates for either planning and zoning commission or city council at this time.

Um, between community feedback we received from the last neighborhood meeting and the feedback we're collecting from both can uh planning commission and council.

Uh, we have a little bit of work yet to do before this text amendment is going to be ready to schedule, but we'll make sure um that we're gonna provide the full ledge edit in front of you with plenty of time for everybody to be able to review it in its entirety.

So just to reiterate, uh, next time we'll be going over the community feedback and proposed code changes for the remaining topics of interest.

So again, that's going to be design standards, animals, and transportation and streets.

Uh so with that, um, are there any remaining questions or comments for us?

Councilwoman Haney, go ahead.

Yeah, so I see that timeline.

I think the biggest request that I would like is once we solidify those dates just so we can get it out to those folks who've been with you guys throughout the process, because um obviously I I've been able to have opportunity to talk to them as you guys have, but I'd I'd love for the rest of my colleagues to be able to hear them and get their feedback and input too on those dates.

So um just enough time for them to be able to plan accordingly so they can hopefully make it down here.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

I just want to say uh first of all to the residents, thank you for your input.

Thanks for being a part of this.

It's a huge thing to have that resident input.

Uh secondly to Councilman Haney, this is you know, in your district, some it's out of our incorporated area, but in the planning area, and I think it's really proactive on your part.

And I appreciate you taking the leadership role in that staff.

I mean, it's been a lot of meetings, a lot of feedback, a lot of data crunching and and all of it.

And you've done an incredible job of producing this, you know, desert rural overlay because that interface is so important to preserving their, you know, the rural way of life, but also you know, allowing for the growth that is inevitable.

So I appreciate everybody's work on this.

Thank you.

Madam Clerk, please read item number two.

Transportation master plan update.

Good evening, Mr.

Boyles.

Good evening, Mayor, Council.

Appreciate you.

Uh so tonight we're here to give you our progress update on our transportation master plan.

Uh we have uh done a lot of work since kickoff of this project.

Uh it's been going really well.

So I'm gonna have uh Michael Baker, uh, Brian Snyder from Michael Baker kind of give you guys an update of where we are now.

Um, if I had to put this in like a sports reference, I think we're crossing the 50 yard line and we're we're heading for the end zone.

So um, but uh he'll he'll kind of give you a rundown of where we're at, where we've been, and then kind of what next steps we have to come and then take any questions that you guys have.

Okay.

Thank you.

Go ahead.

Thank you, Mayor and Council.

It's uh pleasure to be here.

Excited to give you guys uh an update on where we're at with the transportation master plan.

And as you guys are aware, this is the city's first ever transportation master plan.

This is a big undertaking.

Um, and kind of the the four things we want to cover today are just giving you an update on the process on what we've covered today and where we're going next.

And those are the first and last of the four agenda items.

But the primary objective of the meeting today is to go over the transportation master plan vision and goals that we've established.

It's been a long process.

And while they are kind of um periphery in nature and lack some tangibility, uh, unlike some of the preliminary draft roadway recommendations that we'll cover and give you a sneak peek at towards the end of the presentation, they're very important to the process as they establish a foundation for the recommendations and kind of set the priorities and precedence for the transportation master plan moving forward.

Oh, thank you, Eric.

And Eric, as usual, spot on.

Here we are, just about at the 50-yard line.

Um, the transportation master plan is a robust uh process that included over a dozen tasks, and we've kind of conceptualized those in five phases.

We have identity, identify, vision, realize, and attain, and we have the engagement phase kind of intertwining or meandering through those four primary phases.

And where we're at where we are today is at the end of the vision.

We've created a vision uh statement to guide the transportation master plan, as well as some goal statements with some porting policies and initiatives that will help inform uh the transportation master plan and the implementation of the plan itself.

Um, as you see on the slide before you, we also have, while we've experienced some delays during this visioning and goal setting uh phase, we've been making uh headway on our recommended transportation network and have made some progress in the realization phase, and we'll touch on that at the end of the presentation.

And I'll also talk about next steps at the end as well.

So we are just kind of covering the uh what we've done, which is in the identify and vision phase.

Um, and kind of this slide tells you kind of in a timeline everything that we've covered.

And it's been almost a year to the day that we've been in front of you to give you a briefing on the transportation master plan.

And may that may feel like a long time, but we've done a lot, and we hope that this timeline graphic displays some of that work that uh Eric and his team uh have done aside with us to help kind of move this transportation master plan forward while solicit your residents and communities feedback throughout the process.

And so it's kind of dating back, you guys may remember when we conducted the one-on-one interviews back in March of 2025, and we held a briefing in May of 2025 and held a series of stakeholder meetings around the same time last year.

That's what helped create the foundation for everything that we're gonna talk about today and our analysis for our existing and forecasted conditions, which is our first major milestone.

That was tech memo number one, which was published in uh this past November.

That is a over almost a 300-page report.

I assume you guys haven't read that uh book end to bookend.

Um, but it includes a lot of information, a lot of data crunching that we use to help identify the needs, which inform the recommendations and the vision and goal statements that we're gonna be talking about today.

Um, and through that, we held a open house community open house meeting in October, as well as launched a survey and an interactive mapping exercise.

And I'll touch on details on what kind of feedback we got from there.

But we're able to generate a lot of input from residents and community members through those activities.

And on top of that, we held some targeted pop-up events that helped gain exposure to the TMP, as well as solicit feedback from targeted audiences uh specifically around public transportation.

Um, and kind of see kind of the second half of the timeline.

Here we are today, May 5th, doing our second of four total briefings throughout the transportation master plan process and kind of through the stakeholder feedback, and that's kind of the two tiers that we looked at as far as feedback is we took our stakeholder and kind of city council input that we heard from you guys earlier last year, around the same time, as well as through our stakeholders, which our stakeholders are made up of our project work group, which is exclusively members of municipal departments adjacent within the city, as well as our regional agency partners.

So we're not only are we looking inside the confines of the city of surprise, we're also engaging with our regional partners on this effort to make sure that we're all on the same path to reaching a uh an efficient and uh and safe transportation system for not only the city of surprise, but our adjacent partners as well.

Do you track how many resident engagements you have?

I'm sorry, Mayor.

You track all the different resident engagements you have, like the total number of people that provided comment so far in this process.

Yeah, and actually the next slide goes in into that.

Um, but the survey itself was advertised for six weeks.

Um, and we we were able to solicit over 600 comments and a hundred mapping pins over that.

And that's, you know, for our uh consideration that's very successful on the type of feedback you get through this process.

Um and some of the themes that we heard from you guys through um kind of the stakeholder and city council input are you just to build a more connected street network, target key corridors such as Bell Road, um, US 60 and 303, um, address cotton lane and school area congestion, make walking and biking safer and continuous, improve senior mobility and flexible transit options, and coordinate beyond the streets, meaning that while we're doing this transportation master plan process, how is that related to some of the other initiatives going on outside of transportation within the city of surprise?

As they're all correlated, as we talked about uh just before this, the desert overlay has an impact to the transportation master plan on what those streets should look like, conversely to um little more of a rural or an urban uh residential streetscape.

So here's the slide that kind of goes over the kind of update on what we heard from the public.

The last slide was kind of a timeline of everything that we've done and some themes that we heard through our stakeholder engagement.

But the second pillar of that is what we've heard from your residents.

And as I had said, that online survey that we posted was live for six weeks from July 2nd to August 13th in 2025.

And we were able to get 663 total responses.

And then the secondary mapping activity, which is an interactive map where users could place a pin, whether that was uh there's a safety issue here, we want another roadway connection here.

Um, there's we want an update to a traffic signal at this intersection.

Those targeted geospatial comments give us a different perspective on what the community is thinking rather than just an open-ended survey.

And that's why we did both the community survey as well as the interactive act uh interactive mapping activity.

And so we had 663 total responses from our survey and over a hundred mapping pins from our interactive um mapping activity.

That coupled with our community open house meeting number one.

Um, those helped us introduce the TMP, as this is an unfamiliar process to many of you and many of the residents, and also solicit their issues, concerns, and objectives with just transportation planning moving forward.

On top of that, we held some targeted pop-up events.

Those were intended to increase exposure to spike attendance at the community open house.

So we held a uh pop-up event at game night, which was just five days before the community open house, um, which we handed out over a thousand pieces of candy, and we had probably 200 kids and uh uh probably a hundred different families come to our booth.

We're able to educate them on the transportation master planning process.

And then on top of that, we we were at the surprise party as well as uh two targeted public transportation uh pop-up events um that the next slide goes into.

But the the number one kind of barrier to transportation that we heard through this, and it's no surprise to many of you here uh at the DIS and uh here with us today.

But 79% of the survey respondents had said that congestion is their number one barrier to getting from point A to point B.

Uh that's no surprise, uh, although 79% is is very high.

Um, whereas getting in and out of neighborhood was the second most popular but uh barrier, and that's at 36%.

So you can see kind of a big jump as the between the number one barrier to getting from where they need to go is congestion to getting in and out.

And those those have two different solution sets as we kind of move forward to our recommendations.

Um, and that's why I bring that up today.

Other kind of um inputs that we received were just um kind of unsafe intersections, primarily on Bell Road corridor.

Um, and the the number one barriers to walking and biking, which we found interesting was not necessarily um a safety component, but it was just a poor lighting, lack of ADA facilities, and insufficient sidewalks, bike lanes, and lack of shade.

So it's more about offering enhanced and infrastructure for walking and biking.

So this slide tells us a little bit on just about those transit pop-up events.

So we held two uh transit pop-up events, one at the Mara uh community center, uh, and one at the Vista de la Montana uh center as well.

Um, they both generated um nearly about a dozen or two dozen people.

Um, and some of the themes that we we heard through that process are on the slide before you, and we solicited a lot of feedback.

Um, and we're able to kind of condense those into four themes.

And the the themes are kind of urgent immediate service within this current budget cycle.

And we understand the challenge with that.

Um, but it's something that we want to acknowledge moving forward, and as we prioritize our recommendations, uh, both in the near term and long term.

This is something that the community wants now.

Um, and they they they want their issues addressed today, not tomorrow, is like the main thing that we heard.

Um, and how we address those needs are kind of the following ones is that they don't want fixed route transit.

And quite frankly, that's in line with the trend with public transportation kind of moving forward and into the future.

Um, and as a reminder, this transportation master plan goes through 2050.

Uh, so we have to keep that in mind as we come up with public transportation solutions, as fixed route is a dying mode of public transportation.

It's it's is becoming uh less efficient and costly.

So they they and this meets the need, this dynamic and shift in public transportation meets the needs of your residents, uh voicing concerns um along the lines of public transportation is they need that door-to-door service as they can't, they have mobility issues getting from their door to a bus stop.

So they need this door-to-door type service, which is in line with that on-demand flexible style transit, which is the solution set that we're looking towards and implementing in the near and long term for the city of surprise.

Um, other issues that came up are kind of expanding the eligibility requirements for those who can access subsidized public transportation, uh, specifically being the elderly, is that they don't have any sort of subsidized uh form to get access to public transportation.

Kind of moving on from the kind of process and update and into the vision and goal statements.

Do you guys have any questions at this time on what we've kind of covered and what we've heard?

So the vision and goal statements were shaped through a balanced integration of community input, policy guidance, and technical analysis.

Feedback from the project work group and stakeholder focus group provided on-the-ground perspectives from local partners and subject matter experts.

While the surprise 2040 general plan offered overarching direction on long-term growth and priorities, complementing this is the TMP's online citizens survey that we went over just before this, uh that captured the broader community transportation needs and priorities, and the analysis and findings from Tech Memo One supplied the data-driven insights into current system performance.

And the end result through all of these, the spheres influence to our vision and goals for the TMP, is one great vision statement and four goal statements with supporting policies and initiatives.

And so I'm gonna read, and the nature of this exercise, it's a lot of text.

So bear with me.

This is our vision statement.

I'm gonna read it aloud.

Um, and I know you guys were provided this technical memorandum number two, which included our vision statement and goal statements, kind of moving forward, but I'm gonna read this one uh verbatim.

Surprise is a connected city where a complete multimodal transportation network integrates local and regional systems to support development, where people, goods, and vehicles move safely and efficiently across all modes of travel across the region, where traffic flow is actively managed through network planning and smart infrastructure investment, and where emerging transportation technologies are embraced to enhance mobility for all ages and abilities.

So that's our vision statement that is complements the ratified general plan vision statement.

Um, and while we we feel like this crafts a great foundation for our recommendations and the TMP moving forward, we are looking for your consensus and feedback on even the subtle wordsmithing on this vision statement.

It's very important because when we look back and if we kind of have the foresight moving forward, we always want to look back to our vision statement and our goal statements and objectives to make sure that our recommendations are in line with those.

So this is really important uh through this process to get this right and make sure we're all have consensus with our vision as it is our guiding light moving forward to those next 50 yards on the this journey of the transportation master plan.

So why don't I take a pause?

I was under the impression I didn't have a lot of time.

I think everything went quicker in the previous presentation.

Do you guys have any sort of comments on the vision statement or questions uh before we get into the goals?

Vice Mayor Greenberg does.

Thanks, Mayor.

Um what are you putting in the category of emerging transportation technologies?

So the emergent emerging transportation technologies, that's a good question.

Um have some overlap with freight and goods movement, as well as moving people, right?

And so when we think about moving people and goods, uh, and we'll get more into that in a few slides as we get the fourth goal statement, specifically targets kind of emergent technologies, but it's really centered around intelligent uh transportation systems as well as autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles.

Um, and you can you can see that there's a difference between moving goods and the moving people, and that's kind of our delineation on kind of what separates the two, but it's primarily around ITS, intelligent transportation systems and EV and AV, which is electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles.

Okay, didn't mean to jump ahead.

I didn't know you had more common.

No problem.

So our first goal statement, and these are in no particular order.

Um, however, with goal number one, uh, this does address some of the most immediate issues we heard through our stakeholder and public input, right?

And this goal number one is foster roadway expansion and address congestion and mitigation.

The goal statement itself, the City of Surprise will proactively manage growth and congestion by expanding and completing the roadway network, strengthening regional and local connectivity, and applying demand management strategies and working with the development community to ensure that the new developments are constructing the required transportation infrastructure to serve the development prior to occupancy.

That's the key word there.

Transportation investments will focus on reducing congestion, supporting economic vitality, and ensuring that all people and goods move reliably while minimizing impacts on the surrounding neighborhoods.

Now that's a catch-all phrase for a total of five supporting policies, uh, or excuse me, eight supporting policies and five supporting uh initiatives.

And of those, there's kind of we captured them, those five different kind of categories on the bottom of the slide.

They touch regional transportation initiatives, complete roadway network, new east-west relief connection, freight and truck route strategy, and smart operations and uh and funding.

So of those supporting policies, and I didn't think we had enough time to go over all eight of those supporting policies, and I'm happy to go over all of them.

I've selected kind of a hand few of the most important ones, but some of those are working with our state and regional partners to implement major regional transportation initiatives.

Um, and that's first and foremost.

So advancement of loop 303 and US60 full interchange, including a grade separation at 163rd Avenue and US 60, the loop 303 and 155th Avenue traffic interchange project, and establishment of the US 60 corridor improvements as a result of the MAGUS6D corridor improvement study.

On top of that, kind of generally speaking, is just within the city and on the periphery is to expand the roadway capacities, improve regional access by supporting construction of regional freeways, interchanges, and major corridor improvements that connect surprise to the greater region.

And to complement that is another policy is complete missing and incomplete links in the arterial network and improve connectivity within the city to reduce congestion and stress on the arterial network.

Support a safe and a safe freight movement in surprise through strategic partnerships, coordinated access planning, and dedicated dedicated truck routes that minimize impacts on residential areas that strengthen surprises, regional economic competitiveness.

We have five TMP initiatives, and the initiatives are a bit more of our checklist that we can revert back to once the TMP is finalized, as what we want to look as our to-do list.

So that's the difference between the policy and the initiatives.

I forgot to explain that as these initiatives are what we want to accomplish as implementing this TMP.

Um Duffy had a question.

Yeah.

Thank you, Mary.

So when you were doing the freight and truck route strategy, so particularly Peoria Avenue from I guess Bullard all the way to the 303.

Did we did you talk with like Maricopa County?

Because the South Side of Peori is like out of our hands, but that's a maintenance issue.

So I don't know how that goal works into something that we can't control.

So was the county or Glendale, were they part of this?

They realize what this is.

Correct.

Yeah, it's a great question, Councilmember Duffy.

And the both the City of Glendale and Maricopa County Department of Transportation sit as representatives on our regional agency partner focus group.

And they've been integrated throughout this entire process twice to this point, and then we continue to be coordinated with as we move forward as we address kind of freight and truck strategies moving forward.

Okay, I just wanted to make sure they were aware.

Thank you.

Some of the initiatives we have here are development of a transportation network across all horizons years of the TMP to ensure preservation of right-of-way for future corridors and drive development decisions and explore opportunities for development of additional East-West arterial roadway connection to help mitigate traffic along Bell Road.

We know that was a big component through our stakeholder engagement uh activities.

Goal number two is enhance the existing multimodal transportation system, develop and maintain a complete integrated and accessible multimodal transportation system that supports travel by walking, bicycling, transit, electric mobility, and personal vehicles.

Transportation and land use decisions will be coordinated to expand travel choices, improve access to daily needs, and reduce dependence on automobiles for all residents of all ages and abilities.

This goal statement has 11 supporting policies and three in supporting initiatives.

Some of those include integrating transportation and land use planning to encourage compact walkable mixed use development patterns that reduce travel distances and external trip demand, promote transit supportive and transit-oriented development by aligning zoning, infrastructure, and access improvements a lot along existing and future transit corridors.

Expand and connect the citywide pedestrian and bicycle network, including shared use paths, greenways, low stress bicycle facilities to support both recreation and everyday travel, close sidewalk trail and bicycle network gaps through new development, explore flexible and innovative transit services, including microtransit, on-demand services to meet the needs of the city and connect to the surrounding communities.

One of the important initiatives we have is to establish a framework for development of the trail system with safe on-street non-motorized crossings, including the McMickan Dam and Trilby Wash Corridors.

Any questions on this one?

Councilmember Judd.

No, that was one of my questions, though.

So I appreciate that's being taken under consideration there.

We do want to make sure that there are safe ways to not only get to that system, but to navigate that system, especially as it crosses some major roadways.

So thank you.

Yeah, and that's something I I have highlighted here and didn't cut.

Um, but the uh establishing crossings is an important part, especially of wash and railroad crossings is an important part of this kind of multimodal uh transportation system is not only looking at the infrastructure, but how do we cross other infrastructures well safely and effectively?

Thank you.

Goal three, improve safety across all modes.

Prioritize safety as a fundamental element of transportation system by reducing crashes, serious injuries, and fatalities, and creating streets that are safe and comfortable for all users, ensure safety investments are data-driven, location specific, and focus on protecting all road users while supporting efficient movement across all modes.

Our supporting policies and initiatives, target crash hot spots, hot spots and vulnerable users, safe major crossings, proven safety countermeasures, traffic calming and speed management and safety program delivery.

Some of the high level uh or some of the important supporting policies I want to cover are establishment of a school safety program that evaluates and recommends potential pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements.

Uh, and the important initiatives kind of tied to that are through this process, we are creating a transportation safety action plan that is a component of this TMP kind of uh secondary effort.

And I through that is identify potential funding strategies to mitigate those safety concerns along the transportation network.

And the fourth and final goal is incorporate question real quick.

Yep.

Of course.

Councilman Haney, go ahead.

Thank you, Mayor.

So can you go the traffic calming strategies?

Does that are we gonna invest in speakers and have Zen music?

Or what is that exactly?

So traffic calming can have very different forms, right?

Um, there can be passive uh traffic calming, but some some of the traffic calming applications we use look like speed humps, chicanes, uh traffic circles, and these tend to live on your collector and local streets um to mitigate the speeding uh from cut-through traffic.

And that's typically surrounded uh by school areas that generate a lot of traffic within a short time frame, right?

School drop-off and pickup.

They generate a lot of traffic.

And, you know, as a parent myself, we tend to be in a rush to get our children from school, and we um can speed through neighborhoods.

So that's what those traffic calming measures are intended for is to uh slow down traffic on collector and local streets.

So specifically, it's more so just towards school zones, essentially, where we're investing in infrastructure to helpfully deter folks from speeding.

I wouldn't say it's exclusively for school zones, but that's one area where they're often a plot.

Uh Mayor and Councilmember Haney, think about some of the um resident concerns that you get, much like in Desert Oasis, um, you know, some of the other neighborhoods across the city that we have where you know we're we're getting areas of speeding on especially those collector roadways where we have pedestrian crossings, things of that nature.

Nearly what we want to do is identify what's the right application for that that we can set so that we can try to mitigate some of those speeds so that we can help out PD and not just say, hey, we need to go out there and put a cop out there and write tickets.

Let's let's see if there's other ways that we can do it.

Um, and then maybe identify safety funds or other funds outside of the general fund that we can uh make those improvements.

Okay.

Thank you.

Councilman Hastings had a question as well.

Thank you, Mary.

Councilman Hastings.

Yeah, so a question on the traffic calming.

Um so when we hear the term, and obviously there's different ways to say like the same thing.

Are we are we talking like obviously there's been some discussion on like or that I've seen in other cities with like road diets, um, things like that?

Um these days.

I know, like with speed bumps, for instance, there's they don't always solve as many problems as they cause or you know, roundabouts.

I know I think Scott's still tried a few of those, but I'm concerned about, you know, like I mean, I don't even know if we can do speed bumps.

So like I understand like being proactive trying to get in front of issues and make situations better, but I just I don't want to see us jump to do something that then like makes situation worse.

That makes sense as well.

Um, so like how would we approach things like that?

Uh Mayor, uh Councilman Hastings, ideally, we're not looking at ways to reduce capacity.

We're looking at what is the right application for the roads that we have out there, right?

So that if there is a possibility to find a way to uh help calm areas, I think that's what the TMP's goal is.

It's really to say, hey, here's a suggested, you know, you can do A, B, or C on a roadway, and then try to find uh, you know, what is what can we do within our funding?

Is there a different funding uh source that we can identify to do that?

But our goal is not to limit capacity, because as we can see from the data, congestion is number one, right?

Uh that came out of here.

So we want to try to find that happy medium where we can hopefully try and keep both.

And really that's the that's the goal here.

Yeah, no, for sure.

And I just I think in the back of my mind, and I wasn't even on the council, then I remember it happening, but um, you know, Bullard Road, obviously, I think they tried to add a golf cart lane, you know, to maybe you can make the argument that I mean it was for safety, but expand methods of of train of uh different types of transportation.

Obviously, it didn't go as planned, and it is kind of how it is now, and it's I think it's better than was before, but a lot of money went into that, and a lot of money had to be invested to you know put it back.

So it's just always in the back of my mind.

I just want to make sure it was something I'm not a huge fan of, you know, I definitely think we need to make it safer, more reliable, but as far as like reducing things down, you know, the roundabouts, maybe like in certain situations, but we want to make sure it's the right application for the certain situations, sure.

And I know you guys are gonna use data to make those decisions, you know.

I just hear a term and I'm like, oh, what's going on?

So I appreciate it.

Anything about public transportation, you know.

I just, you know, obviously, like whatever makes sense for surprise specifically, because every city's different.

So I thank you.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And it's something that's not captured on the slide is really where we're gonna be looking at and applying these traffic calming measures.

And I we had talked about school zones, but it's really anywhere with high pedestrian activity near transit stops, um, and near schools and parks, of course.

So generators that um generators that attract uh pedestrians and cyclists and other uh modes of transportation.

So one follow up then.

So you're not looking at like major arterials, like that type of stuff.

This is more for like the neighborhood roads, things like that.

Exactly.

So yeah, traffic calming measures are typically applied on your collector or local streets, not your arterial arterial thoroughfares that carry the majority of traffic across the community.

That makes more sense.

Okay, thank you.

So the fourth and final goal statement is incorporating emerging technologies.

So hopefully we're able to answer some of the questions before is the goal statement is to strategically plan for and implement robust emerging transportation technologies that enhance mobility, safety, and efficiency for surprise residents and business owners.

The city will leverage innovation, data, and regional partnerships to modernize infrastructure, prepare for evolving travel behaviors, and ensure that technology investments deliver measurable benefits to residents of businesses and visitors.

We have five supporting policies and two initiatives.

Um the the ones that I have selected here, and I want to be quick, are deploying that intelligent transportation systems and operational technologies to improve traffic flow, travel information and emergency response across the transportation network, support expansion of electric vehicle charging, infrastructure and facilities for micro mobility, ride hauling and shared mobility services throughout the city, plan and accommodate for emerging technology such as connected and autonomous autonomous vehicles through adaptive infrastructure, land use planning, and regular frame regulatory frameworks.

The most important initiative is through this process, similar to the transportation safety action plan, that's a kind of a secondary effort of this TMP, is this TMP is going to be updating the city's intelligent transportation or ITS strategic plan as kind of a periphery effort through this will help inform and guide this.

So I want to kind of breeze through some of our preliminary draft recommendations.

And as we kind of talked about earlier on, we went through this visioning and goal statements, which really are the guiding light to develop these uh recommendations.

Um, and we've made progress on our roadway recommendations.

And so what we have before you on the slide is all of the draft 2030 roadway recommendations.

And when I say roadway recommendations, these are new constructed roadway connections or adding capacity to an existing roadway.

So the new roadway links are the red dashed lines and the adding capacity or adding lanes to an existing road are the blue lines.

And so some of the key ones I have highlighted that hopefully will get you guys excited, are some uh recommendations to add capacity on Peoria Road, all the way from the municipal limits uh across the entire city.

We have an expansion of Sun Valley Parkway, and we also have uh expansion of Patton Road out in District One, um, and a new roadway connection on 179th Avenue connecting to State Route 74.

Are these prioritized in any particular order based on growth or projected growth within the city?

Exactly.

Yes.

So uh yeah, mayor, great question.

And these are prioritized based on the needs analysis that came from technical memorandum number one.

So these are primarily based on um undesirable levels of service for for traffic.

Um that's the connect, and then we went through further analysis to add on to that.

Um, but these are prioritized based on projected needs by 2030, where traffic congestion will occur.

Um, and that's primarily how the capacity recommendations were developed and the adjacent new network recommendations were added to.

And uh, mayor and counsel, just to add one thing.

So um, as Brian said, you know, this is work based on data, uh, you know, what we see that we're gonna need, you know, in this realm.

One of the goals of our TMP is to have a plan that we can actually deliver, right?

And we know that new roads don't come without funding, right?

So um, what we're gonna do in next steps uh of the TMP is kind of prioritize, you know, those improvements and you know, a short range, midterm, and then long range, and then try to identify other funding sources outside of the general fund, how we deliver this plan, right?

We want to make sure that it's a plan that you know we can deliver because a lot of times, you know, it's great to put lines on a map and say, hey, you know, let's let's make sure we build this, but we got to actually be able to deliver that plan.

So uh we just want to make sure that you know what you're seeing on the map is is the draft preliminary based on the data.

Uh, but we know that there's still a little bit of work to do uh when we come back to you next time to kind of say, look, but here's how we're gonna deliver this.

Um, and then and then get your guys' feedback on that, okay.

Great, thank you, Eric.

And it's a good point.

Um, that these are based primarily on need, uh, based on the given horizon year.

And kind of moving on to the next uh stage, which is 2040, one of our horizon, our interim horizon year, you start to see a lot more new roadway networks.

So this is a lot of expansion into the Northwest Surprise Planning Area.

So you see uh connections like Jack Rabbit Trail, you see 251st Avenue, broaden, you see Dixaleta Drive west of US 60, as well as some uh uh new networks along the Pinnacle Peak Roadway Alignment, um, as well as some capacity recommendations on US 60 itself.

And when we get to 2050, you start to see based on just the needs, we're not looking at um adding new roadways.

It's starting to address capacity on some of those new roadways that we recommended in 2030 and 2040.

As by the time 2050 comes around, those newly constructed roadways are now experience uh traffic delay.

I'll round out next steps and then I'll open up for any final questions.

I know we're at uh at the top of the hour.

So just like Eric said, these recommended transportation networks are at the bottom of the vision phase, which is where we're at.

They're based on the network needs identification through technical memorandum number one and our public and stakeholder outreach round one number one.

We move into the realization phase where we conduct public outreach number two.

We start to prioritize these recommendations based on data uh and feedback from our stakeholders and uh members of the community.

We draft the transportation master plan, and that's where we come back to you guys again and say, here's our recommendations on the transportation network, not just our roadway network.

What we showed you was just our roadway network.

We're looking at multimodal, so on and off street, uh, non-motorized infrastructure, uh, freight and rail, uh, as well as safety improvements.

We'll conduct and finalize that with a public outreach round three to get consensus with the community, and then we get to the attained phase where we come back to you guys for formal adoption.

Um and and finalize the TMP and set this up for an implementation.

So I just want to say thank you again for your time, and we look forward to your formal feedback.

We are um accepting you guys' formal written comments on technical memorandum for the next week or two.

If you guys want to provide uh any formal comments, but do note we did take all the feedback we heard today, and we'll incorporate that into technical memorandum and uh take that under consideration as we move forward into finalizing our recommendations.

But I'll take any sort of final questions uh as we conclude the presentation.

Uh Councilman Haney.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh, thank you guys for this presentation.

I've I've been pretty excited for this, and Eric, I completely agree with you, and I like that you mentioned it is the fact that we don't want something that just looks good on play on paper.

We we want a playbook that then we can use to execute on this.

Um, and I think that's really, really important because when I look at this transportation master plan, um, what I really see is an opportunity for us to restore um our residents' faith in the reliability of our roadway network.

Cause right now I think that's something that we can really improve on.

And what that means is, you know, if if someone calls 911, do they believe that the roads that that fire truck or ambulance is traveling on is going to get them there in a timely manner?

When they have a doctor's appointment, they need to get their kids to school.

Do they believe the roads that exist are gonna be able to get them there in a timely manner?

Obviously, in my district, we have some work to do, and we're we're we're pushing forward ahead, but I've I've seen that impact and and why there is a need for us to be proactive.

And I know we can't change this decisions that have happened in the past, but this really gives us a pathway moving forward of being proactive, working with our regional partners, especially in district one, because obviously there's city roadways, but we have regional connections that need to be addressed.

Um, but also working with the development community.

Obviously, we're a growing city, but making sure that we are working with them, but also holding them accountable for those roadways so that we can be a little more proactive and utilize those opportunities.

So I appreciate the work that's been done on this.

I'm excited to see more input and continue these discussions.

But thank you.

Very well done.

Thank you, Mayor Council.

Appreciate you.

We'll do a voice vote.

All in favor?

All opposed.

Or adjourned.

We're going right into the CFD meeting, gentlemen, and we're going to be able to do that.

All right, good evening.

I'm gonna call this Marley Park CFD board meeting to order Tuesday, May fifth, twenty twenty-six.

Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Chair Sarter.

Present.

Vice Chair Greenberg.

Here.

Board Member Haney.

Here.

Board Member Duffy.

Here.

Board Member Melton.

Present.

Board Member Hastings.

Somewhere.

Board Member Jack.

Will you please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance?

I pledge allegiance to the United States of America.

And to the Republic for which it stands.

Second.

So we're moved and seconded.

Please pass your vote.

Not back yet.

That's a pass vote, Mayor.

Thank you.

Please read item number two.

Item two, consideration and action pertaining to adoption of the tentative expenditure limitation budget for Marley Park Community Facilities District.

This what is a communities facility district that we commonly refer to as a CFD.

It's a special purpose district.

It finances, acquires, and constructs public infrastructure within a defined area.

The property tax rate is not increasing from the previous rate of two point seven two nine four.

The proposed levy is has a slight increase, and that's due to the um increase in assessed valuation of the homes within Marley Park.

The tax rate history, you can just see here how we have maintained the two point seven three um rate for the last uh four years.

And this is a property tax comparison of a low um assessed valued home to a high assessed value home and what a resident would be paying.

So for example, uh $650,000 home, the uh that resident uh in 2027 would be paying around uh $1,125.

The total revenue coming in for this uh through the property tax and fund balance is two million three hundred and forty-nine thousand one hundred dollars.

And the amount of expenditures are broken broken down for park operations, um, some bank fees, principal and interest of the debt service loan.

On June 2nd, I will be back to uh present to you the final budget for adoption, and on June 16th to actually adopt the property tax levy.

Any questions or comments?

Councilman Judd has a question or comment.

So the the Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Sandy.

And so the the property tax we're talking about, it only applies to the the residents and the properties within Marley Park.

Yes.

And and the action we're taking today, what exactly is the action we're taking today?

What does it do?

It it is setting the expenditure limit in the property uh for the two million three hundred and forty-nine thousand dollars.

Okay.

So basically we're saying after today we can't really change the rate because this is all we're gonna take in for this.

That is correct.

And then as we take in that money from the property tax, where does the the money um goes to pay off the bonds that were pulled out as the community was built?

Is that correct?

Yes.

Okay.

And we're keeping the rate the same, and it's it's we've been lowering it as we can, and it's got a bunch of years to go, I imagine.

Yes, it does.

Okay.

Uh Mayor, I'd like to make a motion if I may.

You all entertain a motion.

Uh I move to approve resolution MPCFD number 2026-01.

Second.

So move and second, please cast your vote.

Thank you.

Do we get any requests to speak on or for the call to the public?

No, Mayor, I do not.

Was there other future business and agenda items?

Hearing not all entertained a motion to adjourn.

Move to adjourn.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded.

We'll do a voice vote.

All in favor.

Aye.

All opposed or adjourned.