Coversheet

Tract D was created as a part of the Ash Meadows Subdivision, Phase II. Ash Meadows Subdivision Phase I and Phase II were preceded by the approval of a Preliminary Plat and were in substantial compliance with the Preliminary Plat. This Preliminary Plat proposed Mobile Home lots on the entire area including Tract D. Northern Drive was shown bordering the land on the north on all plats. The portion of Tract D to be rezoned is 15.40 acres in size.

According to the owner, the sales of the Mobile Home lots is very slow and the potential traffic on Northern Drive have prompted this request to change the zoning on a portion of Tract D from M-H, Mobile Home District, to I-1, Light Industrial District. This portion of Tract D is the northeast portion and leaves some unplatted and undeveloped tracts of M-H zoning to the west and south adjacent to the existing Mobile Home development for future development as Mobile Homes. The property to the north and east of this site is zoned A-L, Agricultural District, in the County and is used as agricultural and large lot residential.

The plat for Ash Meadows Subdivision, Phase II, had a Disclosure Statement on it regarding the impact of nearby mining operations. This disclosed that the mining operations were not responsible for impacts to urban growth, such as, blasting and gases. These impacts may be smaller on development in the I-1 zone. The Comprehensive Plan designates this area as Manufactured and Mobile Homes. The City-County Joint Future Land Use Plan designated Residential to the east and Mining to the north. The nearest industrial zoning is in the County located 1/2 mile southwest along Kluver Road and 1/2 mile east on Garner Lake Road.

Development in the I-1 District will require a Site Plan approval. This will include a 40 foot wide landscaped buffer between the surrounding residential and agriculture uses. This is intended to mitigate the otherwise stark transition between residential and industrial development. The proposed tract to remain M-H to the west would have the right-of-way of Ash Meadows and the landscape buffer across from their front yards. The proposed tract to remain M-H to the south would have the landscape buffer adjacent to their rear yards.

The I-1 zoning along Northern Drive is justified by the potential traffic but the impact to the Mobile Home development may not be adequately mitigated by the 40 foot wide landscaped buffer. Certainly the existing home owners in the subdivision did not anticipate I-1 zoning nearby and, although the future owners of the remaining M-H zoned property will be aware of the I-1 zoning, this does not improve the transition between the zones. The impact of the I-1 zoning is not just its proximity to the residential area, but its size. The larger the area and the more it extends south of Northern Drive, the greater the impact. The minimum size of an I-1 zoned property is five acres.

Access to the proposed I-1 zoning will impact the Mobile Home development unless it is restricted to Northern Drive and not allowed to use the internal street network of the Mobile Home development. This may not be preventable if Ash Meadows Drive is extended to Northern Drive as planned, since it would provide a short cut to the south.
Staff met with the applicant and recommended they look at reducing the size of the I-1 parcel, keep it up against Northern Drive and provide an acceptable transition. Staff does not feel the current proposal meets these objectives.

An amendment to the Zoning Map shall not take place unless at least one of the two criteria exists as set forth in Section 12 of the City of Gillette Zoning Ordinance:

a. The Zoning Map may be amended when there is a need to correct an obvious error. In this case there was no obvious error.

b. The Zoning Map may be amended to recognize changing conditions within the City. In this case the applicant has stated that market forces reducing the demand for Mobile Home lots and increasing the demand for industrial land are the changing conditions.

The Planning Commission recommended to the City Council denial of the proposed re-zone on a 0 - 5 vote for approval of the case on August 25, 2015.