I call to order this uh February 5th, 2026 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting for the city of Surprise.

Uh Renee, maybe we please have a roll call.

Commissioner Perry.

Here.

Commissioner Holland.

Here.

Commissioner Leonard.

Here.

Chair Chapman.

Chair Chapman is absent with an excuse.

Vice Chair Spada.

Here.

Commissioner Everett.

Here.

Commissioner Bash.

Here.

We have a quorum.

Thank you.

Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands undergoing.

Before we get further into the agenda, I'd like to welcome the newest member to the commission, Lisa Everett, who's now joining us.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Any current events to report on.

Nothing tonight, Vice Chair.

Okay, thank you.

We'll move on to the regular planning and zoning commission agenda for consent items.

Can you repeat that?

I apologize.

I'm sorry.

Uh ready for the consent agenda.

Consideration and action to approve or disapprove the December 18th, 2025, planning and zoning commission meeting minutes.

I move.

Second.

Moved in, seconded.

Is there any discussion?

With no discussion, I'll move for a vote.

Motion passes with five votes in favor.

Thank you.

Uh Brendan regular agenda items.

PAD to residential low density R1, residential medium density, R2, and open space conservation OS One.

The area of the proposed rezone is located south of Deer Valley Road between two hundred and twenty-third Avenue and 231st Avenue.

Thank you.

Uh case number FS 24-0765.

So this project is generally located south of Deer Valley Road between uh two twenty-third Avenue and two hundred and thirty-first Avenue.

Um, and it compasses approximately two hundred and sixty-four point nine gross acres.

The subject site is currently zoned uh mesquite mountain ranch planned area development or PAD.

Uh currently there is rural residential zoning adjacent to portions of the site on the north, east, south, and west, as well as low density residential zoning adjacent to properties um uh north and south.

Um there is also a pocket of community commercial C2 zoning to the north, and lastly uh zoning for uh Sprise Footh Hills to the west and uh the remainder portion of the Mesquite Mountain Ranch PAD.

So this project proposes rezoning to subject property to residential low density R1, residential, medium density R2, and open space conservation OS1.

So this slide here shows the existing land use map of the current Mesquite Mountain Ranch PAD.

Um as you can see, there's a mixture of residential, low density zoning, residential medium density zoning, and open space.

Uh and this slide here shows the proposed land use plan, which uh primarily contains uh residential, medium density zoning on parcels two and four, as well as a main open space conservation corridor on parcel three, and lastly, some residential low density on parcel one, which directly abuts the residential uh rural residential overlay and provides a density transition between the uh rural residential overlay and the uh residential medium density.

So the City of Surprise General Plan 2040 designates uh almost the entirety of the site within the neighborhood character area.

Um there's also um an open space character area which follows the five West Wash, uh which crosses this property.

So this site is located within the proximity of Luke Air Force Base Auxiliary One Airfield, um, meaning that it is subject to the Luke Air Force Base graduated density concept or GDC, uh, which permits a maximum of six dwelling units to the acre for this property.

Um the table to the bottom um in the bottom right corner of the slide shows the breakdown of the gross area, the maximum density allowed under the GDC.

Um, it gives you a quick calculation of the maximum number of units that would be allowed uh per the GDC, uh, which would be 1,589 units spread across uh approximately 264.9 gross acres.

So the next two slides are included as reference, but show the development standards for both the R1 zoning district and R2 zoning district as outlined within the land development ordinance.

Uh this the applicant is not requesting any sort of deviation from these uh development standards.

An open space plan was provided uh with this rezone and shows a variety of paths, including a regional path within the wash, uh, and both regional and community paths, uh, sorry, local and community paths within the project boundaries.

Uh the future development will be required to adhere to any amenity uh requirements of the planning and engineering design standards, um, which dictate the type of amenities and the minimum number of amenities that would be required.

This slide shows the regional transportation network within the area.

Uh the future alignment of 227th Avenue uh will bisect the property, and the site is boarded by both uh Deer Valley Parkway alignment to the north and the uh 231st Avenue alignment to the west.

Additionally, there is an associated uh development agreement for this development that is currently scheduled for the upcoming February 17th City Council meeting.

Um this development agreement outlines the roadway infrastructure that would be required to be installed by the developer.

Um development agreement does stipulate that the Deer Valley Parkway alignment would be shifted south uh further onto this property uh to ensure that the properties to the north um maintain access and that the general uh that there's more of a buffer between the rural residential overlay properties and this in this site.

An outreach meeting was held on October 16th, 2024 at Willow Canyon High School with five attendees.

Um questions and concerns pertaining to the development and traffic of Deer Valley Road, access to the site, water density, and timing of the development were all raised at this meeting.

With that, staff recommends the planning and zoning commission recommend approval to this uh surprise city council subject to stipulations A through C.

That concludes my presentation.

I'm available for questions as well as the applicant.

Thank you.

This item requires a public hearing.

Yes, chair.

We have three this evening.

Um the first individual is Ashley Westerbeck.

Hello.

Good evening.

Thank you for having me today.

I've never done this, so I appreciate the time.

Um I'm Ashley Westerbeck, and my family has lived in this area since the mid-90s.

Um we lived in this rural residential area affected by the proposed, and I'm here to oppose the rezoning of the 260 for our rural residential land for the PAD R1, R2, and OS1.

This change has permanently removes rural protections and replaces it with high density development and fundamentally alters our community.

Rural zoning exists for a reason.

It preserves open space, privacy, low density.

We invested our savings, our homes, our futures.

My parents put their future in this for my future.

I put it in it for my son's future.

Rezoning this land takes those guarantees away.

Once it happens, it cannot be undone.

The proposal dramatically increases density, which means more traffic on the roads.

They were never designed for that traffic, longer emergency response times, more noise, more strain on the infrastructures that are there, not to mention the water resources.

The desert cities like surprise, their higher density is given the greater demand for the water.

Right now, we should be looking at the safety of the water, not what we can do with more people out there.

The PAD zoning in particular removes predictability.

It gives flexibility to developers, not certainty to residents.

It allows future change with less public oversight, leaving neighborhoods unsure of what ultimately will be built next to their home.

We just found out right next to our home, possibly it's going to be commercial property.

Really sad.

Well, open space is mentioned on OS 1, it does not replace the true rural land, small uh fragmented open areas surrounded by dense housing is not a preservation.

Once the land is graded and utilities are installed, the rural character is gone forever.

Approving this rezoning also sets dangerous precedent.

If 264 acres of this can be rezoned today, whose land is being taken to be rezoned tomorrow.

We're not against growth.

We're asking for a responsible growth that respects existing zoning infrastructure limits, water realities, and the people who already live there.

I really urge you to deny this and look at it further.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker, Renee.

Kimberly Broster.

Hi.

Good evening.

Good evening.

I'm Kimberly Rostic.

I live on 221st and Nudson Avenue, right smack in the dab of the rural community that this affects.

And while we know that we can't completely stop this, uh we do ask for uh responsible development that is occurring around our rural community.

Um we are a community uh filled with livestock.

Um this development is going to bring over 1,800 homes to uh uh community of 70 homes, which is surrounded by one-lane gravel roads and horses and cows and complete peaceful desert environments.

Um this isn't the only development that's going in, and we know that we don't have the power to stop it, unfortunately.

Um, what we have asked for, uh which I did not see in the presentation, is that specifically Deer Valley Road uh be shifted south uh in order to not run into the front door of the homes that are on that uh current road.

Um I'd like to see the presentation provided to you guys to so that you understand the situation that has been discussed both with uh the city, the assistant city manager or district one council member.

Um, and I don't believe that you can make a decision to approve the zoning without understanding how the infrastructure is going to be changed and to be holding them to that uh before you make any kind of approvals.

And that should include include a visual representation so that you're not trying to imagine in your mind what that looks like uh without seeing it.

Um this is 290 some plus odd acres.

They shouldn't be taking a single foot out of a two and a half acre or five-acre property to make this make this property happen.

Thank you.

Thank you.

David Lee Good evening.

My name's David Lee.

I live on Deer Valley and 221st Avenue.

This is going to be my back door.

I'm concerned about the road and how that impacts.

You're talking about the city's talking about Deer Valley uh parkway.

And and for Deer Valley Parkway to be there, you have to have an access road on for us that has the city of Phoenix uh garbage servers that go there.

It can't come off of a parkway.

So I'm concerned how you're going to dip into my land for ride-away purposes, or if it's going to go further out south towards on their land, because it just can't happen.

And are you going to put access off of this property onto Deer Valley onto a dirt road that is barely maintained now by the city?

These are the questions I have.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Renee any additional speakers.

No, Vice Chair.

Then I'll close.

Sorry, I'm I'm the actual applicant on the matter.

So I was gonna just go, I didn't get a chance to address the after the presentation.

I thought Tanner was gonna introduce me.

Oh, you can't.

No, now we need to close the public hearing at this point.

Oh, you want okay.

And I'll close the public hearing and open the up to our commissioners for questions or comments.

Commissioner Perry.

Thank you, Chair.

I have uh visited this area.

Uh this area is of concern to me because of the density of houses that are going in without, in my opinion, and I haven't seen the development agreement, so that was not shown to this commission before this meeting.

But I'm concerned about uh what the development agreement calls for in terms of infrastructure.

Moreover, Tanner, I'm wondering if you could go back to that slide that you showed with the uh original PAD and uh and what the proposed, and I understand a PAD is is a proposal that I don't believe that this got much further.

But as I look at the way the zoning was, this is flipped.

Most of this was supposed to be R1.

And it seems that the vast majority, and I don't know what percentage of this is suddenly going to be R2.

And I understand that we have to have some mixed density, but looking at what this proposal is, that mixed density is really close to rural residential properties that have been there and existing rural residential zoning.

So uh I just want to be sure that I've got this right, if I don't correct me, please, Tanner, because you've you're working on this, and I've only been looking at this for the last week or so.

But uh is what I said reasonably accurate.

Uh Commissioner Perry.

Um so the uh the original uh Mesquite Mountain Ranch PAD, the the plan that's in front of you here.

Um looking at it, the the majority of the acreage that was designated was for low density residential.

Um as you can see, kind of in the middle of that site, there is the uh medium density residential that that's that's designated there, yeah.

Correct.

Thank you.

Uh that's it.

That's it for me, uh Chair.

Yes.

Commissioner Mayash.

I'd like to ask what was the conceptual density of the concept under the PAD.

Um was the concept number rolling units.

So the one um so the the original PAD, um, so this to kind of give a little bit of history of kind of how this has evolved over time.

Um so originally there was the original Mesquite Mountain Ranch PAD.

Um since then, there has been kind of chunks that have been taken out and rezoned, either uh as you can see to the northwest portion that was um taken out, moved to surprise foothills um PAD, and then there's the southern portion that was developed separately under uh a PUD.

Um so it it's kind of left.

What's left is it's was is what's shown in front of you.

Um unfortunately there isn't enough information within that to kind of uh give you a clear answer of the exact number of dwelling units that was uh originally permitted to.

I'm looking for a conceptual number.

Obviously, 1500 is where they want to be, but there had to be a conceptual number with this, and if the applicant could speak to that.

Yeah.

A little more.

Sure, thank you.

Um Jeff Bly, 701 North 44th Street.

And just to just to back up a little bit on the history of this project, this was zoned back in 2006.

So I just want to make it clear.

It's not rural residential.

It was zoned in 2006 and 2007.

They're part of the Mesquite Mountain Ranch PADs.

Uh, the one to the south came in first, the one to the north came in second.

And it was a it's a conglomeration of about 17 different property owners at the time.

So it was kind of put together.

Taylor Morrison had it under contract.

It got rezoned.

As you can see, it's all single family residential, but there's a big chunk of eight dwelling units to the acre, so that's kind of a medium density product that could go in there at eight units to the acre.

Um, this map here doesn't, it's kind of a reflection of of the what happened after a piece, but it it the the there is no designated open space really in the P in the current PAD.

It's just PAD.

And there was different lot sizes and different densities, uh, and there was no unit count.

So we aren't proposing 1500 units.

I don't know where that came from.

That would be the maximum number if you developed under the GDC at six units to the acre over the whole thing.

We're proposing around 950 units, which was what was being proposed when it first came in, which was around 950 units.

That's what I wanted to get to.

So what's happened over the years is this project pieces I've developed.

As you can see, there's an excluded piece now.

Uh about three years ago, the person who owned that piece rezoned it into the surprise foothills PAD.

And so you ended up with this kind of a mishmash of a of a project that has multiple property owners and zoning over the top of it.

So we can develop it pretty much the way we want to develop it now under the existing, it just creates problems trying to figure out different property lines, school sites got moved.

There's been a lot of things that have happened.

So when we went to the city, they said what we'd like you to do is bring it up to the current zoning.

Because the PAD just it's hard to, it's hard to manage it.

When you start excluding pieces out, APS took like where there's that medium density piece there, that's not medium density anymore.

That's the APS substation.

So there's a lot of things have happened.

And so we did it.

We agreed to do that.

We took it out, we're rezoning it to kind of comparable to what was there to get the same level of unit count that we were allowed to get in the past.

But in the process of doing that, we've had to do a development agreement.

I know you haven't seen the development agreement, and development agreements don't go to the PZ Commission for approval or any kind of recommendation.

But I can tell you that what the development agreement's done and what the city's done is is really secured a lot of infrastructure from us.

If we don't have this zoning case and we don't have the development agreement, there's no obligation for this project to make any improvements to 227th above and beyond what's there.

Per the development agreement, we've now agreed to go back, add another travel lane all the way from Sun Valley Parkway up to the project, then build the entire uh 227th through the middle of the project up to Deer Valley Road.

So that's additional travel lanes that are going to help all of the regional transportation in the area.

Secondly, because of the concerns with the existing residential, which kind of clipped the very corner over there where there's some homes.

And as you know, we don't control the city's transportation master plan, but they've planned Deer Valley Road to be a parkway since back in 07 or 08.

At one point in time was going to be a 200-foot ride-away parkway with indirect lefts and carry lots of traffic.

They've they've reduced that.

They still call it a parkway.

It's 136 feet wide now.

And it was never intended to shift onto our property.

There would be a half on the north, half on the south.

But what we've done is taken all of the right-of-way, shifted it entirely off the section line.

We're going to take the whole 136 feet on our property.

So then what'll happen on the north side is their existing access road that they're using now, will eventually turn into a frontage road, which is what you you heard was needed to do that because you can't have direct access from a home onto a parkway.

And we will then build the south half of that road with all the right of way on our side.

We will also build Deer Valley Road from our property over to 219th, which will then provide additional corridors with actual paved roads in the area that'll provide more transportation and more access points in the property.

Um this property has some sewer capacity.

They were participants in the existing wastewater treatment plant.

They are planning to participate in the next expansion of that.

This property is also owned by the individual who built the water campus.

And so they have some water capacity in that campus.

And we've worked and are working with the city on that plan to expand that to address all water needs for all development out in this area.

So they are putting in all the infrastructure needed for theirs above and beyond what they'd have to do under the existing zoning to now make everything better for all the development that is occurring in the area.

Right.

But is there any plan or is there enough with the 900 houses?

Is the school system existing able to handle that?

Yeah.

And what discussions have you had?

Yes.

So we we've because there's commonality and ownership between this project and the surprise foothills project.

When we were doing the to exclude this piece, we met with the the um superintendent of the Wickenburg district, and what we did is we relocated.

There was initially a school site planned in this project.

She moved it, so we now have another site over in Surprise Foothills.

So now Surprise Foothills has three locations.

If I you can't see on this map, but there's a there's a school site planned just about a mile half a mile to the west of 231st.

Right where on this map you see where it says like open space.

If you go half mile west, that's where the first school site will be.

And then what we did is we have transportation.

Oh, I'm back.

Yeah.

So I can't point, but it's there a way for me to point.

It would be right in like in here.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

So then what we did is we also added a school site up here where she wanted one.

And then we have a we have a third school site up in this neighborhood here.

So her her preference was to put the second site up in North Surprise Foothills, which we've accommodated.

Okay.

Okay, thank you.

Would you be amenable if we adapted the approval if we approve it to restricting to 900 homes?

I think we have 950 planned.

950.

Would you be amenable if we included that in the motion?

I think that's okay, don't you think, Mark?

Not to exceed number 975.

Plan is 975.

Okay, nine seven.

I I said 950, it's 975, I guess is the current plan.

Okay, would you to a not to exceed number?

Sure.

Any left I have chair.

Okay.

Towns questions.

Uh can you shed a little bit of light on the Deer Valley Road and where that's going to meet up?

Um, one of the concerns that was brought up is it's going to be going through somebody's property or in the backyard.

Can you help us understand that?

So, you know, one of the things that precipitated the change to the surprise foothills PAD was the city realigned Deer Valley Road Parkway.

It was originally supposed to go on the Deer Valley Road alignment.

They decided to shift it so we had to take it up through the middle of the project, and then it picks up at Pinnacle Peak.

And so when we re we had to basically go back and re-zon that property to accommodate this corridor running through the middle of it.

And so now, as you can see on this map, Deer Valley Road comes down and it hits right about 227th.

So at 227th, there's a project on the north side called Surprise 120 that you haven't seen yet.

And they have a development agreement as well, and they're going to build the north half of Deer Valley Road adjacent to their property, and we'll build the south half.

At the edge of surprise 120, the road will start dipping down.

And I'm gonna pull up the exhibit from the DA.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah, there you go.

So you can see that on this exhibit, the green is Deer Valley Road, and it's been shifted south.

And so we'll be building it on our property, and all of the right-of-way, even for the north half will be on our property.

And then as it leaves our property, is the purple that we're gonna also build, and then it goes back towards the actual alignment when it approaches.

If you go back to the other map, there's undeveloped property, um, 40 or 80 acres at the northwest corner of 219th, and so it'll go back to that alignment and then it'll get built in its ultimate configuration when those properties develop.

But we will put in two travel lanes of pavement back to 219th.

Thank you.

Any other comments or questions?

Then I'll entertain a motion.

I move to recommend approval of the Mesquite Mountain Ranch 5 rezone case number FS24-0765, subject to the stipulations A through C with dwelling units not to exceed 975 units.

Moved and seconded, please vote.

Motion passes with five votes in favor.

I think that concludes our regular agenda items.

Open up.

Open a call to the public.

Do we have anyone who wishes to address the commission?

Yes, Vice Chair, I have Alex Chris.

Thank you.

Thank you for allowing me to speak to you tonight.

One of my concerns apropos of what is going on up there on north of our city is the water agreements between the states, Colorado River, and the deadline that's coming up.

That is when our state was inducted into uh this great nation.

And there is no agreement on that water.

It expires in October.

And I believe we have gone uh through a whole year trying to get agreements on that.

Um and it just for some reason has stalled, and it's it's not working, it's not there there has not been any kind of movement forward.

And I hear that we're planning 600, I think 250,000 units in this general area, Buckeye, uh Goodyear, you know, and other other small cities, Waddell.

Those are a lot of units, and not being sure of where our water is going to be coming from.

We we I'm I urge you to really plan on what's going to be happening in the next 10 years if we have all these units coming in, and I'm talking just units, which means three or four people per per house on average.

Where are they gonna get that water?

Where is this water gonna be coming from?

Why hasn't our state leaders really pushed for this and say that we need to be preparing for this?

There's already plans to cut back on the water, and if we start come cutting back and we're not planning for those cutbacks, especially with those units that are going in, uh it's great to have open spaces because God is going to provide the water for those.

But if we start bringing people here from other states that like to have green houses, green um shrubbery.

Um I come from California where grass is plentiful.

And from what I've seen, people that are coming over here, they want grass that is plentiful.

So we need to start planning for this in the next 10 years of what our waters gonna be looking like.

Uh uh City of Surprises is is doing a fairly good job with with the water that we have.

And um, I just don't want our water rates to go up.

We have electricity that's gonna be going up already, you know, through um uh the commission that that they're raising our our rates on that and is the water gonna be next.

So please, I just urge you to really look forward 10-15 years from now and understand where this water that we need so desperately is gonna be coming from and that we plan accordingly.

Thank you, Commissioners.

I appreciate you allowing me to speak.

Thank you.

Is that allowed?

Chair, are you okay with yes?

So thank you for allowing me to to speak again.

Um I just wanted to, as a follow-up.

Um, I was uh disappointed that the question that Commissioner Bass Bash apologies, uh, asked about trying to compare how many units to how many units now, that that didn't get asked that uh or answered apologies.

That uh instead there was a lot of other information thrown into the mix, and the comparison never happened.

Um the original pad for uh surprise foothills showed a very small area that was medium density, and the remainder of it was low density.

Um the problem with what's happening now is you have a very small area that's low density, and everything else is medium density, which now includes town homes.

And I appreciate that you restricted the number of units, but the the challenge with that is they can now build a whole bunch of little itty bitty bitty bitty homes all shoved together, and that increases the amount of traffic, the amount of noise, the amount of light pollution that we're gonna now experience.

And I just urge the the commissioners to please make sure that you are getting the answers that you're asking for, and that you have the time to review the materials before you get the presentations and you hold people to the questions you're being asked.

Don't let them just run over your concerns, please.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

No one else, Renee.

No, Vice Chair.

Okay, then I'll close the call to the public.

Uh, any future business agenda items?

No.

Then I will entertain a motion to adjourn.

So moved.

Second.

Moved and seconded.

We are adjourned.

You have to take a vote.

Oh, sorry.

You've got to take a vote, though.

It would help.

All those in favor of my voice?

Aye.

Opposed?

We are adjourned.

We said we'd never break the three-second rule.

We'd never make a separate dinner.

And never do that.

We'd never let them sleep in our room.

And never become a minivan mom.

Hey Chris.

Um, okay.

Well, I'm not at my desk right now.

As parents, we say never a lot, but never happens.