CAVE CREEK – Following two continuances, the planning commission, with commissioners Susan Demmitt and Peter Omundson (who would have recused himself) absent, voted 4-1, with Commissioner Bruce McNeil dissenting, to recommend approval of the rezoning application for Windmill Village from Desert Rural (DR-89) to Multi-family Residential (MR).
After numerous residents spoke during the August meeting, the case was continued until September so the applicant, Ken Madden of Landmark West Builders, could have his traffic engineer address the various concerns raised.
Last month, after hearing from the traffic engineer, a motion was made to approve the rezoning. However, Commissioner Dick Frye requested adding 11 conditions for approval that none of the commissioners had an opportunity to review in advance of the meeting.
The commission voted to continue the case again until the October meeting so they could review his proposed conditions.
Chairman David Smith announced at the beginning of the Oct. 20 meeting that there would be no public comment since the public comment segment had already been closed during the previous meeting and was back to the commission when it voted to continue the case.
Associate Planner Luke Kautzman, addressing Frye’s questions, said staff had added exhibit E to the commission’s packet with 3 proposed conditions for approval.
Frye moved to recommend approval with staff’s conditions, only inserting the word “comprehensive” before “phasing plan” in condition 3.
Commissioner Ted Bryda, who seconded the motion, asked to amend the conditions to limit the number of units to no more than 30, which Frye accepted.
The commission voted 4-1, with McNeil dissenting, to approve the amendment.
Frye stated staff was very helpful in explaining the many steps that will be taken as the project moves forward and comes back to the commission for site plan review.
McNeil said the town had received multiple input letters from people asking the commission to vote against the rezoning and stated, “I don’t think their concerns about traffic have been addressed.”
He stated, “I believe the human factor has been overlooked here” and said the project had “a little too much density beyond my comfort level.”
Vice Chairman Bob Voris said he shared those concerns. However, he stated, “I believe the time to address this is during the site plan review.”
Planning Director Ian Cordwell nodded in agreement.
Before calling for a vote, Smith said if this project were in any other part of town than the town core, he would not approve a rezoning application from DR-89 to MR or Commercial.
