Council HQ

At its regular meeting on Thursday, the Sierra Vista City Council declared a 30-day public comment period for proposed Development Code amendments.

The Community Development Department regularly reviews current code provisions and procedures to identify ways in which the staff and the City can improve efficiencies, clarify requirements, and help residents and business owners move through the system more easily. The proposed amendments pertain to definitions, temporary uses, signs, landscaping, and the matrix of use permissions and zoning district regulations. The amendments, which are now open to public comment for 30 days, will provide flexibility that reduces unnecessary regulations and clarifies existing code language.

One amendment adds Staging Areas with Temporary Field Office to the definitions, allowing construction companies to temporarily store equipment on vacant land during an active construction site. Meanwhile, others add more flexibility to sign standards; landscaping, walls, screening, and buffer; conversions from commercial to multi-family residence; and attached car ports and covered patios in manufactured home parks.

Residents can review the amendments and offer input at Engage.SierraVistaAZ.gov.

In other business:

• Mayor Clea McCaa declared April 28 through May 2 as National Small Business Week.
• The Economic Development Commission recognized Franco’s Barber Shop as the Small Business of the Year.
• Council authorized Sierra Vista Fire & Medical Services to submit for reimbursable grants from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for consideration by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.
• Council approved a conditional use permit for True Vine Ministries to operate at 100 S. 2^nd Street.
• Council reappointed Rebecca Dailous, Gwen Calhoun, Judy Wand, and Carolyn Cruz to the Arts, Humanities, and Cultural Diversity Commission.
• Council reappointed Julia McCaa and Angela Givens to the Neighborhoods Commission.
• Council accepted the resignation of Iris Allison and reappointed Sherron Driver and Verna Williams to the Commission on Disability Issues.

At its regular meeting on Thursday, the Sierra Vista City Council, City staff, and members of the public bid farewell to Council Member William Benning.

Benning, who is stepping away to move closer to his daughter and new granddaughter, has served on City Council since 2018. At last night’s meeting, council members, City staff, and the public lauded Benning for his commitment and service to the City.

Mayor Clea McCaa presented Council Member Benning with a certificate of appreciation and a key to the City, while the rest of City Council shared their appreciation for his public service and fond memories of working with him. City Manager Chuck Potucek thanked Benning on behalf of City staff, noting his service and leadership. Then, during the call to the public, Industrial Development Authority President Demetry Simonton also presented Benning with a certificate of appreciation and former council member Marta Messmer spoke to the honor and privilege of working with him.

With Benning’s resignation, residents are invited to apply to fill the remainder of his term that is due to end on Dec. 31, 2026. A letter of interest and other support materials can be submitted in person at City Hall or sent via email to City Clerk Jill Adams at Jill.Adams@SierraVistaAZ.gov. Applications will be accepted until Thursday, May 1, 2025.

The letters must contain the following information:

• The applicant’s name, address, and telephone number;
• A statement of what the applicant considers to be their qualifications for serving on City Council;
• Reasons why they would like to serve on City Council; and
• A notarized statement attesting that they are a qualified elector of the City and have lived in the City continuously for a one-year period prior to the date of application. A form for this statement is available from the City Clerk upon request.

For more information, please visit SierraVistaAZ.gov.

In other business:

• Mayor Clea McCaa proclaimed April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
• Mayor Clea McCaa proclaimed May 3, 2025, as International Astronomy Day.
• Council approved the FY 2026-2027 Strategic Plan framework.

At its regular meeting on Thursday, the Sierra Vista City Council approved an amended conditional use permit for Catholic Community Services (CCS) to build domestic crisis transitional housing for victims of domestic violence.

The vote amended a conditional use permit from 2006 granting the property approval for an addition on the east side of Good Neighbor Alliance for a residential facility for women and children. However, the addition was never constructed.

Now, CCS plans to add four tiny homes on the property to house victims of domestic violence for up to 12 months while CCS helps them transition into a new life. There will be three two-bed, one-bath homes and one one-bed, one-bath home that face a shared courtyard. CCS was able to secure a large private donation to fund its domestic crisis housing initiative, which will pay for the homes and help subsidize rent. CCS is also pursuing Community Development Block Grant funding for improvements to the courtyard.

Some of the permit conditions include limiting construction to four dwellings and yard improvements, limiting each dwelling to house only one family, and setting a minimum lease term of 30 days.

In other business:

• Mayor Clea McCaa proclaimed the Month of April as Water Awareness Month; April 12, 2025, as Celebrate the San Pedro Day; April as Fair Housing Month; and the week of April 5 through 11, 2025, as Week of the Young Child.
• Council voted to amend the Vista 2030 General Plan and to rezone two properties on N. 1^st Street, changing them from Commercial to High Density Residential. The request came from the Cochise College Foundation, on behalf of the college’s Residential Construction training program which plans to build two single-family homes on the properties.
• Council approved a conditional use permit for a 100-foot communications tower on E. Fry Boulevard.
• Council approved a conditional use permit for First Baptist Church of Tombstone to locate a place of worship within a General Commercial Zoning District.
• Council voted to add Public Safety Personnel Retirement System and Arizona State Retirement System 457 Deferred Compensation Plans as an option for City employees.
• Council reaffirmed the City’s commitment to fair housing in Sierra Vista in alignment with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
• Council reappointed Alfred “Joe” Spurgeon to the Transportation Commission.

At its regular meeting on Thursday, the Sierra Vista City Council considered Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding requests during a public hearing held at the meeting.

The City anticipates receiving about $250,000 in CDBG funding for Program Year 2025, which according to grant guidelines must benefit low and moderate income persons; prevent or eliminate slum and blight; or meet an urgent need.

The Neighborhood Commission reviewed applications for funding, ranking a request from Catholic Community Services for money to fund sidewalks, a concrete pad, outdoor seating, a grill, and lighting for a series of tiny homes for families surviving domestic violence as the highest priority. A request from the City of Sierra Vista to refurbish the splash pad surface at Len Roberts Park was ranked second, and another City request to rehabilitate the Len Roberts fitness loop and one from St. Vincent DePaul to rehabilitate the thrift store parking lot tied for third in priority.

Regarding a request from Cochise Western Model Railroad Organization for improvements to Fort Avenue, the Neighborhood Commission suggested the project would be a better candidate for the next round of Federal Transit Administration accessibility grants given the cost of the project and relatively isolated community benefit.

The Neighborhood Commission also recommended unanimously that 70% of the funding available for public services go to Better Bucks of Sierra Vista to support its Better Work Program as a new applicant and relatively new nonprofit. They recommended the remaining balance be allocated to the United Way of Sierra Vista and Cochise County’s Emergency Crisis Fund. Public services are capped at 15% of the overall CDBG grant amount, which would be $37,500 of the anticipated $250,000.

They also recommended that $188,179 in positive funds from last year’s CDBG funding, due to lower than anticipated costs for the Montebello Fire Safety Improvement project, be spent developing a park on City land located on Fab Avenue.

Organizations presented their request for Council consideration at yesterday’s meeting. The City will host two more public hearings to discuss funding requests and Council will vote on CDBG funding allocations at a future meeting.

In other business:

• Mayor Clea McCaa proclaimed March 9 through 15 as Girl Scout Week in Sierra Vista.
• Council adopted a notice of intent for the increase of sewer fees. The sewer fund is an Enterprise Fund where the fees for the service need to cover operations of the system. A public notice will be posted for 60 days before a public hearing is held.
• Council accepted the resignation of Karen LeMay and appointed Karen Flynn and reappointed Joelle Buffa to the Environmental Stewardship Commission.
• Council reappointed Anthony Isom to the Transportation Commission.
• Council reappointed Ana Smith, Douglas Phillips, Aaron Hennequin, and Rebecca Smith to the Tourism Commission.

At its regular meeting on Thursday, the Sierra Vista City Council approved parks and recreation ordinance amendments to incorporate the golf course, update the noise ordinance for parks, and make other minor administrative corrections to the language.

The passed resolution incorporated the City’s newly acquired golf course into the parks and recreation ordinance, providing a specific definition for the course as a recreational space. It also included rules regarding trespassing, loitering, smoking, fishing, and walking on the property.

Other edits to the ordinance added more flexibility to parks use by allowing amplified sound systems to be used for speeches or music at locations other than the Centennial Pavilion at Veterans Memorial Park, with the approval of the Parks, Recreation, and Library Director. The noise amendment does not impact the golf course, which is subject to Chapter 93: Noise in the City’s code of ordinances.

Minor corrections to the language that are administrative in nature were also included.

In other business:

• Council approved an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) for the Cochise County Tourism & Economic Council, a group that promotes regional tourism efforts and that the City has been part of for over 20 years. The partnership has operated under IGA agreements, the most recent of which was approved in 2019.
• Council accepted a grant from the Arizona Department of Public Safety Local Border Support in the amount of $115,472.89. The grant will fund resources for the Sierra Vista Police Department that augment efforts to support border security in our region, but can also be used in regular police activities.
• Council approved an intergovernmental agreement with Cochise County to loan City employees to SEACOM since the management of Human Resources was transferred to Cochise County, but some employees wished to stay on as City employees.
• Council voted to dissolve the Youth Commission, which wishes to become an independent Youth Council.
• Council approved an Industrial Development Authority bond for Flagstaff Jr. Academy.

At its regular meeting on Thursday, the Sierra Vista City Council voted against funding over $800,000 in improvements needed to reopen the swimming pool at the Sierra Vista Golf Center.

In Dec. 2024, Aquatic Design Group conducted an independent evaluation of the pool and provided a comprehensive assessment of its condition. The findings identified specific improvements necessary for the facility to comply with public safety, operational standards, and code requirements. The group estimated it would cost $799,200 to address the critical maintenance, repairs, and equipment upgrades needed to ensure a safe and code compliant municipal pool. Additional improvements at the adjacent bathhouse were noted in the study but not included in the estimate.

In addition to infrastructure improvements, City staff concluded that operational costs could not be recouped and that the City would need to subsidize operation and maintenance at a likely cost of $100,000 to $200,000 a year.

Funding for the resurfacing of the tennis/pickleball courts, estimated at $450,000 to $500,000, was also included in the resolution.

After receiving multiple reports from staff and feedback from citizens, City Council voted against funding the approximately $1.3 to $1.5 million in improvements needed for the pool and courts.

In other business:

• Mayor Clea McCaa presented Chief Financial Officer David Felix with the Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting award on behalf of the Government Finance Officers Association.

• Council approved transfer of a Series 6 Liquor License for Paul’s Pub and a new Series 10 Liquor License for Dollar General.

• Council voted to accept an Arizona Department of Homeland Security Operation Stonegarden grant in the amount of $100,860. The grant supports enhanced cooperation and coordination among Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol, and federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies. Locally, it funds Sierra Vista Police Department’s proactive enforcement of state drug trafficking and traffic statutes in Sierra Vista and the surrounding area.

• Council approved a budget deviation transferring $609,711.31 from the General Fund to the Sewer Fund to cover the forgiveness of the Castle & Cooke reimbursement note that Council approved in exchange for transfer of the Pueblo Del Sol Country Club property to the City.

• Council designated David Felix, CPA as the chief financial officer authorized to submit the annual Expenditure Limitation Report for FY24 and FY25.

• Council reaffirmed the appointment of Mayor Pro Tem Carolyn Umphrey and appointed Mayor Clea McCaa and Council Member Angelica Landry as the City’s designated representatives on the Sierra Vista Metropolitan Planning Organization Board of Directors.

• Council reappointed Mayor Clea McCaa and Mayor Pro Tem Carolyn Umphrey and appointed Council Member Mark Rodriguez to the Upper San Pedro Partnership Advisory Commission. Council Member Angelica Landry and City Manager Chuck Potucek were reappointed as alternate members on the USPP Advisory Commission.

At its regular meeting on Thursday, the Sierra Vista City Council approved a contract with Catholic Community Services (CCS) to provide transitional funding to the nonprofit while it assumes operations at Good Neighbor Alliance (GNA).

The Council-approved resolution is for a two-year funding agreement capped at $301,898. The funding will be distributed over three fiscal years.

“I’m very impressed with Catholic Community Services’ plan to expand resources at Good Neighbor Alliance when they take over operation of the facility,” Sierra Vista Mayor Clea McCaa says. “Homelessness is a citywide concern, which is why Council voted to approve gap funding and seed money for Catholic Community Services during this transitional period.”

CCS conservatively projects that its revenue streams will allow the nonprofit to fully fund GNA within the contract period. If revenue exceeds the projections in the agreement, the amount of transitional funding from the City will be scaled back proportionately.

Without this agreement, it was projected that GNA would likely have had to close on Feb. 1, 2025.

In other business:

• Re-elected Council Member Angelica Landry and newly elected Council Members Faye Jackson and David Jones were ceremonially sworn into office.
• Council voted to re-appoint Council Member Carolyn Umphrey to the position of Mayor Pro Tem.
• Council voted to accept the resignation of David Jones from the Environmental Stewardship Commission, and to appoint K.D. Preble and Kurt Schomaker to the Parks and Recreation Commission.
• Council voted to amend a resolution regarding the Industrial Development Authority’s issuance of one of its Education Facility Revenue Bonds. As with other IDA bonds, the City of Sierra Vista and the IDA incur no financial liability.

At its regular meeting on Thursday, the Sierra Vista City Council approved code amendments regarding accessory dwellings, residential rezoning reviews, and standards on domesticated fowl to meet new state law requirements.

Earlier this year, the Arizona state legislature passed two significant housing bills regarding regulating development standards for accessory dwellings and reviewing deadlines for residential rezonings. The first eliminates architectural design requirements for accessory dwellings and removes restrictions for those units if they are more restrictive than those for single-family dwellings with regards to height, setbacks, lot size or coverage, or building frontage.

The second sets review deadlines for rezoning applications. Both laws intend to address statewide housing shortages. The amendments passed by City Council bring Sierra Vista’s Development Code into compliance with these new state laws.

City Council also passed an amendment to the ordinance regarding domesticated fowl, which caps the total number of allowed domesticated fowl on detached, single-family dwellings to six regardless of lot size. Priorly, the ordinance language allowed one fowl per 1,000 square feet up to a maximum of eight. This ordinance amendment complies with the new state law governing domesticated fowl.

The state set a deadline for municipalities to adopt these standards by Jan. 1, 2025, and the City Council votes to approve the amendments meet these requirements.

In other business:

• Mayor Clea McCaa presented Certificates of Appreciation to outgoing City Commissioners.

• Council voted to approve the transfer of a Series 6 Liquor License to Chiragkumar Patel on behalf of Shree Hanuman Inc. dba Jr’s Bar, and to approve two new applications for Series 6 Liquor Licenses for Vanessa Lea Laurin on half of Beatnik LLC and Aaron Isaac Dawson on behalf of Jar Enterprise LLC dba Vista Beverage House.

• Council moved forward code of ordinance amendments regarding parks for public comment. The public can review the proposed changes and submit comments on Engage.SierraVistaAZ.gov during the 30-day public comment period. Comments must be submitted by Sunday, January 12, 2025.

• Council approved amendment updates to the City Code relating to the office of the City Manager regarding requirements, powers and duties, and various other specifications related to the position. These changes update outdated provisions within the code to reflect state laws and current practices.

• Council approved amendment to the City Manager’s contract to adjust the annual base salary to $197,083, provide 20 days of administrative leave that may be used as additional vacation days, and compensate the City Manager for any unused vacation leave that exceeds the accrual limit of five days or 40 hours of administrative leave.

• Council voted to amend the Personnel Rules & Regulations to allow the extension of light duty past the current six-month limit with approval of the City Manager and to provide paid military leave.

• Council voted to approve the Industrial Development Authority issuance of an Education Facility Revenue Bond to Signature Preparatory and another to Champion Schools Project.

• Council approved an amendment to the intergovernmental agreement between Cochise County, City of Sierra Vista, and Cochise County Community College District regarding the Southeastern Arizona Law Enforcement Training Academy. The amendment includes the dates of the spring semester and requirements for on-campus housing and meal plans for non-resident participants.

• Council approved the Estates II at Holiday final plat.

• Council approved an amendment to the Southeastern Arizona Communications Intergovernmental Agreement regarding human resources services and governing board makeup. The amendment begins to shift human resources and administrative services from the City of Sierra Vista to Cochise County and adds the Cochise County Sheriff in an “ex officio” capacity, to serve as the non-voting Chairman of the Board with limited authority to cast a vote only in the case of a tie.

At a special meeting on Thursday, the Sierra Vista City Council voted to certify the official canvass of the Nov. 5, 2024, General Election.

The returns of the Sierra Vista City Council General Election, as well as the conduct of the election, were examined by Sierra Vista City Clerk Jill Adams who certified that, to the best of her knowledge and belief, all election proceedings were accomplished according to federal, state, and local laws.

A total of 19,929 City ballots were cast in the recent election, which represents a 60% voter turnout. The City had six candidates on the ballot, with David Jones, Faye Jackson, and Angelica Landry receiving the most votes. They will receive certificates of election as council members and take office on Jan. 1, 2025.

The City’s Vista 2040 General Plan was also on the ballot. The adoption of the plan failed with 7,807 votes for and 9,472 votes against. With the failure of that measure, the City will continue to use the Vista 2030 General Plan as mandated by state law. Over the next two years, City staff will seek further public input to revise the plan before putting a new draft on the ballot in the 2026 General Election.

At the Sierra Vista City Council meeting on Thursday, City Manager Chuck Potucek was recognized as a 2024-2025 Defense Community Champion. The award was presented on behalf of the Association of Defense Communities (ADC) in partnership with Navy Federal Credit Union.

Potucek is one of only 19 leaders nationwide to be recognized by ADC this year. He was nominated for his history of remaining engaged in a spirit of cooperation with Fort Huachuca and his advocacy for its soldiers and their families.

“Chuck’s leadership continues to challenge [City staff] to find more ways to partner with Fort Huachuca,” Tourism & Economic Development Director Tony Boone noted in the nomination. “From Intergovernmental Support Agreements (IGSAs) and partnerships to efforts on the environmental issues, Chuck remains the catalyst.”

The nomination specifically spoke to Potucek’s work with Congress to develop Section 321 of the National Defense Authorization Act in 2003; his leadership on IGSAs to provide refuse, ambulance, and other services to the fort; his support on identifying off-base housing opportunities for soldiers; and his proactive approach to military/civilian community challenges, including responsible water management.

The last local recipient of the Defense Community Champion award was former Mayor Rick Mueller. During Mueller’s nomination process, he expressed that Potucek deserved the credit and asked that Potucek be nominated next.

In other business:

• City Council conducted a standing roll call and observed a moment of silence for former City Council Member Gregory Johnson who passed away last week.

• Mayor McCaa proclaimed November as Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame Month. Former Mayor Thomas Hessler also said a few words, including honoring Sierra Vista’s two new Veteran Hall of Fame inductees Theresa Walsh and Jane Strain.

• City Council accepted the resignation of Keith Landry from the Transportation Commission.

• City Council reappointed Randy Wilcox and Daman P. Malone to the Planning and Zoning Commission.