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The Sierra Vista City Council voted unanimously to move forward two proposed development code changes for official 30-day public comment periods at its regular meeting on Thursday.

One proposed code change would create a process for the City to provide additional flexibility to a resident or homeowner to modify their home to accommodate a disability. The process would allow the modification to exceed certain dimensional standards (building setbacks and height) if it can be proven that the modification would provide the necessary accommodation.

A separate proposed code amendment would revise the public hearing process for requested map amendments (zoning changes), text amendments, and conditional use permits. The proposed process would only require a public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission unless there is an objection or a request for a public hearing before the City Council. The issue would still go to the City Council for final consideration. Only requiring one public hearing would expedite the review and approval process.

The proposed code changes are available for review and comment at engage.sierravistaaz.gov and www.sierravistaaz.gov/your-government/mayor-council/public-comment-opportunities.

In other business, the City Council unanimously approved the submission of a grant application through the Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART Grants: Small-Scale Water Efficiency Projects program. The grant would assist with the replacement of the irrigation system serving the sports facilities located north of the Rothery Educational Service Center. The City purchased this land from the Sierra Vista Unified School District last year.

Details on the council meeting items are available in the supporting documents for the Thursday, Feb. 25, City Council meeting. They can be accessed via the “City Council” folder on the City’s document server at docserve.sierravistaaz.gov/.

City Council meetings can be streamed live and past meetings can be viewed on YouTube. The meetings are also aired on Cox Channel 12. Learn more at www.sierravistaaz.gov/your-government/mayor-council/council-meetings/ or on this page.

The Sierra Vista City Council will discuss its mid-year budget review and a possible code revision regarding commercial activities in City Parks at its Feb. 23 work session. Access the agenda packet to learn more.

At its Feb. 25 meeting, the City Council will host public hearings on two proposed development code changes currently posted for public comment.

One proposal would revise the public hearing process for requested map amendments, text amendments , and conditional use permits. Learn more and offer input.

The other would create a process to provide additional flexibility to a resident or homeowner to modify their home to accommodate a disability. Learn more and offer input.

The City Council will also consider submission of a grant application through the Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART Grants: Small-Scale Water Efficiency Projects program. The grant would assist with the replacement of the irrigation system at the sports facilities located north of the Rothery Educational Service Center. The City purchased this land from the Sierra Vista Unified School District last year.

Learn more in the Council Meeting agenda packet.

The Sierra Vista City Council voted 5-2 to approve code amendments laying out local rules for recreational marijuana establishments and limits on what can be done with recreational marijuana while on City property at its meeting on Thursday.

Proposition 207, which was passed by Arizona voters in November, allows for the adult use of recreational marijuana within the state. The new law grants local municipalities discretion on whether to allow recreational marijuana establishments to operate within the city and on what zoning regulations to put in place, providing they are not more restrictive than those associated with medical marijuana establishments.

The Planning and Zoning Commission considered the proposed code amendments on Jan. 25 and voted unanimously to recommend their approval with some revisions. The commission recommended the 500 feet buffer between a recreational marijuana establishment and a school or place of worship (located outside the general commercial zoning district), a public park, another marijuana establishment, or public community center be reduced to 300 feet. They recommended maintaining the 500-foot buffer between recreational marijuana establishments and residential areas.

The amendments adopted on Thursday were approved with the recommended revisions from the Planning and Zoning Commission. The reduced buffer zone will also apply to medical marijuana establishments. In addition to the zoning provisions, the amendments prohibit the smoking, consumption, selling, distributing, storing, cultivating, manufacturing, producing, or displaying of marijuana on City-owned property.

Mayor Rick Mueller and Council Member Gregory Johnson cast the two votes against the proposed amendments, commenting that they support outright prohibition of recreational marijuana establishments in Sierra Vista. Following final action by the City Council on Thursday, the amendments will take effect in 30 days.

In other business:

• The City Council voted unanimously to deny a text amendment proposed by a member of the public, which sought to permit up to 30 percent of the total lots in manufactured home subdivisions to have recreational vehicles as a primary use.
• The City Council unanimously approved the acceptance of $93,120 in grant funding from the Arizona Department of Homeland Security through the Operation Stonegarden Program. This funding supports enhanced cooperation between the department, Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Border Patrol. It supports proactive deployments to enforce state drug trafficking and traffic laws in the Sierra Vista area.
• The City Council unanimously approved the renewal of an intergovernmental agreement between the City and the Arizona Department of Transportation to continue providing local traffic crash data to the state for statistical analysis and publication.
• The City Council unanimously approved the appointment of Mayor Pro Tem Rachel Gray, Council Member Carolyn Umphrey, and Council Member Sarah Pacheco to serve on the Sierra Vista Metropolitan Planning Organization board.
• The City Council unanimously approved the appointment of George Fisher, Jr., to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Details on the council meeting items are available in the supporting documents for the Thursday, Feb. 11, City Council meeting. They can be accessed via the “City Council” folder on the City’s document server at docserve.sierravistaaz.gov/.

City Council meetings can be streamed live and past meetings can be viewed on YouTube. The meetings are also aired on Cox Channel 12. Learn more at www.sierravistaaz.gov/your-government/mayor-council/council-meetings/ or on this page.

The Sierra Vista City Council will discuss its 2021 legislative agenda and the November/December Council Executive Report at the work session on Tuesday, Feb. 9, at 3 p.m.

The Council will also discuss the items set for action at its Thursday, Feb. 11, Council Meeting during Tuesday’s work session. Access the work session agenda packet to learn more.

At its regular meeting on Thursday, the City Council will consider and may take final action to adopt local regulations on recreational marijuana. It will also consider a zoning amendment requested by a member of the public that would allow recreational vehicles as a primary use on up to 30 percent of properties in manufactured home subdivisions.

For more information on all the items up for consideration on Thursday, access the council meeting agenda packet.

The Sierra Vista City Council work session and meeting scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday of this week have been canceled due to staffing issues related to COVID-19.

Some City staff have been placed on quarantine to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The City conducts rigorous contact tracing, and that can mean a short quarantine for those who may have been exposed to the virus.

“The health and safety of our staff, council members, and the general public are top priorities,” says City Manager Chuck Potucek. “Canceling this week’s council meetings is a precautionary move that is intended to reduce everyone’s exposure to this highly transmittable virus.”

The Council work session, scheduled for 3 p.m. on Feb. 9, and regular meeting, scheduled for 5 p.m. on Feb. 11, are still on the books. Items on this week’s agendas will be moved to the February meeting agendas.

The Sierra Vista City Council unanimously approved an intergovernmental agreement continuing the joint emergency medical services and fire science program between Sierra Vista Fire & Medical Services and Cochise College at the council’s first regular meeting of 2021 on Thursday.

The only significant change to the current agreement is that the new agreement will remain in effect for five years, instead of three. Otherwise, the details of the program and partnership remain unchanged.

“It is the intention of both the City and the college to continue this valuable program for many years,” Sierra Vista Fire & Medical Services Chief Brian Jones said in his briefing to the council on Thursday.

In other business the City Council unanimously approved:

• A memorandum of understanding with Cochise College for the City to provide fleet maintenance services for a 1997 Pierce 1,000-gallon pumper fire truck that was donated to the college from the City for use in the fire science program.
• The appointment of Daman Malone to the Planning and Zoning Commission.
• The appointment of Jessica Kunkel and Joseph Hayes to the Parks and Recreation Commission.
• The appointment of Rachel Gray as Mayor Pro Tem.

A ceremonial swearing in was conducted at the council meeting for newly elected council members Angelica Landry and Gregory Johnson, and Mayor Pro Tem Rachel Gray, who was reelected in 2020. These council members started their four-year terms in January.

Details on the council meeting items are available in the supporting documents for the Thursday, Jan. 14, City Council meeting. They can be accessed via the “City Council” folder on the City’s document server at docserve.sierravistaaz.gov/.

City Council meetings can be streamed live and past meetings can be viewed on YouTube. The meetings are also aired on Cox Channel 12. Learn more at www.sierravistaaz.gov/your-government/mayor-council/council-meetings/

This week's meetings mark the first with newly elected City Council Members Gregory Johnson and Angelica Landry, while Mayor Pro Tem Rachel Gray begins a new four year term on council after being reelected in 2020.

The work session agenda includes a discussion about Proposition 207 and potential code amendments for recreational marijuana dispensaries. The City Council will also receive a COVID-19 status report.

Thursday's council meeting agenda includes an item to amend the IGA between Cochise College and the City for their joint program to train EMS and Fire Science students. It also includes an MOU requested by Cochise College to receive fleet maintenance on a fire truck that was donated to the college by the City for use in the college's Fire Science Technology program.

The Sierra Vista City Council unanimously approved a resolution to make the community’s longtime informal moniker official by proclaiming Sierra Vista as the Hummingbird Capital of the United States at its regular meeting on Thursday night, which was its final meeting of 2020.

Sierra Vista is already well known for its extraordinary diversity of birds and especially for the 15 species of hummingbirds that migrate through the area each year. With just 17 species of hummingbirds found in the U.S., few other locations boast such a variety and birders from around the world have already come to know Sierra Vista as the Hummingbird Capital of the United States.

Thursday’s action makes the designation official at the local level and also puts forth a request to state representatives to pass a similar resolution in the upcoming legislature. The designation was initiated by outgoing City Council Member Gwen Calhoun who, along with Council Member Kristine Wolfe, were honored for their service as their terms expire at the end of the month. Calhoun served 10 years on the council and Wolfe served four.

In January, newly elected Council Members Gregory Johnson and Angelica Landry will take their seats and Mayor Pro-Tem Rachel Gray will begin a new four-year term after being reelected.

In other business:

• The City Council unanimously approved the Program Year 2019 Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Report, which describes how the City used federal funds granted by the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development under the Community Development Block Grant program.
• The City Council unanimously approved a code amendment to change the maximum number of Planning and Zoning Commission members from seven to five, which aligns code with the Board and Commission Practice and Procedures Guidelines that were amended in June, 2020.
• The City Council unanimously approved updated development fees corresponding to the Land Use Assumptions and Infrastructure Improvement Plan approved by the City Council on Sept. 10, 2020. The council also approved a reduction of the City’s excess construction sales tax to align with the City’s standard sales tax rate of 1.95 percent, which offsets much of the increase in development fees and improves efficiency in budgeting and reporting requirements. The changes take effect March 1, 2021.
• The City Council unanimously approved a transfer of funds from the General Fund to the Park Development Fee Fund, making use of higher than projected revenue to help reduce a deficit in the Park Development Fee Fund.
• The City Council unanimously approved a payment plan with Castle & Cooke Arizona for the Avenida del Sol sewer interceptor.
• The City Council unanimously approved amendments to the Infill Incentive District Policy intended to facilitate the reuse and redevelopment of vacant, underutilized, and distressed property in the West Sierra Vista and Cloud 9 planning areas.
• The City Council unanimously approved the Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan.
• The City Council unanimously approved an addendum to the City Manager’s contract, increase the annual base salary by 2 percent, which is the same increase that was received by all classified City employees this year.
• The City Council voted 5-2 to approve a resolution in support of All Aboard Arizona’s efforts to expand Amtrak service in the region. Council Members Kristine Wolfe and William Benning voted against the resolution.
• The City Council unanimously approved the appointments of Barbara Fleming, Neil Gago, and Ron York to the Sierra Vista Employee Benefit Trust.

Details on these council items are available in the supporting documents for the Thursday, Dec. 10, City Council meeting. They can be accessed via the “City Council” folder on the City’s document server at docserve.sierravistaaz.gov/.

City Council meetings can be streamed live and past meetings can be viewed on YouTube. The meetings are also aired on Cox Channel 12. Learn more at www.sierravistaaz.gov/your-government/mayor-council/council-meetings/.

The Sierra Vista City Council will consider numerous action items at its final meeting of 2020. Outgoing commission members will also receive certificates of appreciation. To review the full agenda and documents providing background on each item, head here.

The Sierra Vista City Council unanimously approved an agreement with Cochise County for court co-location and operations at its regular meeting on Thursday.

The agreement marks the conclusion of efforts by the county and City to update the funding formula used to determine the City’s fair share of costs associated with the county conducting its municipal court services by handling civil, civil traffic, and misdemeanors cited into Justice Court, Precinct 5, by Sierra Vista. The City has partnered with Cochise County to provide the operation of a consolidated court since 1990 and this new agreement will take effect on Jan. 1, 2021. It will be renewed on July 1 each year starting in 2022, unless either party decides to end the agreement with 120 days’ notice.

“Developing this agreement was a true team effort between the City and the county,” Assistant City Manager Victoria Yarbrough says. “We appreciate all the county’s hard work and analysis to ensure we arrived at an agreement that accurately reflects court costs and will serve both organizations well in the long term.”

Under the agreement, the City will budget $276,807 for court services in fiscal year 2021-22.

In other business the City Council unanimously approved amendments to the City’s Community Development Block Grant plans allocating an additional $239,351 in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief & Economic Security Act (CARES Act) funds to an Emergency Crisis Fund administered by the United Way. This fund provides a variety of assistance to local residents impacted by COVID-19, to include help with rent, utilities, employment, food, education, homelessness, and mental health.

Details on these council items are available in the supporting documents for the Thursday, Oct. 12, City Council meeting. They can be accessed via the “City Council” folder on the City’s document server at docserve.sierravistaaz.gov/.

City Council meetings can be streamed live and past meetings can be viewed on YouTube. The meetings are also aired on Cox Channel 12. Learn more at www.sierravistaaz.gov/your-government/mayor-council/council-meetings/