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A. Purpose

The purpose of this Section is to improve and protect the public health, safety, and welfare by pursuing unified planning and development and provide for development proposals, which are superior to that which may occur under conventional zoning regulations and the following objectives:

1. To ensure that future growth and development which occurs is in accord with the adopted goals and elements of the general plan and all planning policies of the Town.

2. To encourage innovative site planning by providing:

a. Variety in individual lot sizes,

b. Variety in land uses,

c. Open space,

d. Preservation of natural topography,

e. Integrated circulation systems which provide for safe vehicular and pedestrian traffic interaction.

f. Solar design and water conservation features such as water harvesting, minimizing or eliminating use of turf in landscaping, incorporating design features which enhance and protect solar access and providing for solar orientation of structures.

3. To foster the safe and efficient use of the land.

4. To facilitate greater efficiency in design and provision of adequate public services and infrastructure.

5. To avoid the inappropriate development of lands and provide for adequate drainage and reduction of flood damage.

6. To encourage patterns of land use which decrease trip length of automobile travel and encourage trip consolidation.

7. To increase public access to mass transit, bicycle routes and other alternative modes of transportation.

8. To reduce energy consumption and demand.

9. To minimize adverse environmental impacts of development.

10. To foster a rational pattern or relationship between land uses for the mutual benefit of the community.

11. To protect existing neighborhoods from harmful encroachment by intrusive or disruptive development.

B. Applicability

These provisions apply to any application for a rezoning to the PAD District.

C. General Provisions

The following standards and requirements apply to all PAD Districts:

1. Minimum district size: 20 acres

2. Minimum open space requirement: 20 percent of gross acreage of the PAD district.

3. Underlying zoning districts established:

a. All PAD development plans shall include underlying zoning designations. The underlying or base zoning districts are to be derived from existing Oro Valley zones and reflect the most logical designation in consideration of the proposed land use for a particular parcel, tract, block, or planning unit. The development standards of the underlying zoning districts will prevail where the PAD does not specifically modify said standards.

b. Underlying zoning districts shall be assessed by Town staff in determining adequacy for proposed land uses.

4. Modifications to the development standards of the underlying district may be permitted if they are found to offer a desirable improvement over the conditions produced by conventional zoning standards. The following standards may be modified:

a. Permitted and conditional uses,

b. Area/volume ratios,

c. Density,

d. Building height,

e. Distance between buildings,

f. Landscaping,

g. Yards and setbacks,

h. Walls, fences and required screening,

i. Access.

D. Application

The rezoning application shall follow the requirements of Section 22.3 with the following additions:

1. A tabular summary comparing all requested modifications to the normal underlying district standards shall be included in the PAD text. The summary will include rationale supporting the requested modifications.

2. A separate landscape concept plan shall be prepared which addresses the treatment of vehicular use, open space, pedestrian areas, and buffering of adjacent properties and uses including landscape buffer widths.

3. A text furnishing additional information as needed, including background information, appropriate detailing of development concepts incorporating architecture, open space, support data, and market studies, shall be submitted. The text shall, for each underlying zoning district within the PAD, include a listing of the proposed permitted and prohibited land uses and a statement indicating the variance of those land uses to the underlying zoning district. Schedules of development shall be included in the PAD text. If development and construction of the entire PAD is not to occur simultaneously, a plan showing the boundaries of each development phase shall also be provided.

4. Open space details, including allocation, dedication, floodplain preservation and percentages, by type. The amount of open space, both natural and landscaped, shall be specified, and treatments, purposes and ultimate ownership and maintenance of open space shall be described.

E. Review Process

The rezoning review shall follow the procedures of Sections 22.3 and 22.15, with the following additions/modifications:

1. Public Hearings

A minimum of two (2) public hearings before the Planning and Zoning Commission shall be required in order to ensure adequate review time for Commissioners and interested members of the public. The final Commission public hearing shall not be scheduled prior to the submittal of the final PAD development plan.

2. Repealed by (O)11-15.

((O)16-02, 01/20/16)

F. General Plan Compatibility

As a component of approval, all proposed PADs must be found to be consistent with the adopted Oro Valley General Plan and any other applicable, adopted area, neighborhood or specific plans. Compatibility is required for all applicable General Plan elements and shall be determined in accordance with subsection G of this section.

Lack of compliance with the General Plan or its subsets may, solely, form the basis for PAD denial. Any PAD applicant who recommends deviation from the General Plan or other adopted plans shall concurrently apply for, and process, a plan amendment. Only upon approval of such an amendment may a non-complying PAD be subsequently approved.

G. General Plan Criteria

The following criteria are derived from the adopted Oro Valley General Plan. All PAD applications shall be evaluated utilizing these criteria. In order to approve a PAD, the Town Council must find eighty percent (80%) of the applicable criteria are adequately addressed in the PAD plan and text documents. All absolute criteria (shown in bold typeface) must be met by the proposed PAD.

1. Land Use Element

a. Varied types and intensities of development have been incorporated.

b. Site analysis information completely supports the land use proposals contained in the PAD.

c. A mix of housing types, such as single-family attached and detached, single-family cluster homes, patio homes, townhouses and apartments, is incorporated in the PAD.

d. The PAD promotes clustered (average density) developments to protect environmentally sensitive areas.

e. Higher density or intensity developments abutting lower density or intensity areas include buffering and shall substantially mitigate any negative impacts.

f. Residential neighborhoods are afforded multi-modal access to, and are in close proximity to, activity centers to minimize travel times.

g. Activity centers provide a wide range of appropriate services.

h. The PAD protects natural features through transfer of development densities and similar strategies.

i. Office, technical and corporate employment facilities are scaled to the surrounding area.

j. Campus-type employment is incorporated.

k. Multi-family residential development, at moderate to higher unit densities, has access to arterial or collector roadways.

l. Multi-family (apartment or condominium) developments have planned-in recreational facilities and other amenities.

m. Recreational facilities and appropriate links to open space amenities are provided.

2. Transportation Element

a. The Oracle Road Corridor is de-emphasized for high intensity development.

b. Bike lanes are included in all planned arterial improvements and on collectors deemed appropriate in the development review process.

c. Homeowners’ associations are required to maintain pedestrian-bicycle paths, within approved master-planned communities.

d. Bicycle parking facilities are provided.

e. Safe pedestrian/bicycle access to schools and parks is provided within the boundaries of the PAD.

f. Curvilinear residential streets patterns are incorporated.

g. Sidewalks or related pedestrian facilities are incorporated within neighborhoods.

h. All new roadway and future pedestrian-bicycle improvements meet public design standards.

i. Park-and-ride lots are incorporated with planned facilities.

j. Projects larger than 100 acres in size provide direct access to an arterial.

3. Economic Development Element

a. A favorable fiscal impact analysis.

4. Public Services and Facilities Element

a. School site planning has been addressed in large-scale planned communities.

b. One elementary school site of at least ten (10) acres has been reserved within developments for every 500 elementary school level students forecasted to live within the development.

c. Park/school combination site dedications are incorporated.

5. Community Design Element

a. Building height and bulk are moderate to low intensity, in harmony with individual site attributes.

b. Parking lots with greater than 20 car capacity are screened from adjacent uses and public thoroughfares.

6. Open Space/Recreation Element

a. Pedestrian, equestrian and bicycle trails are designated including picnic/rest areas.

b. Handicapped accessible facilities are provided to users.

c. Recreation and open space facilities are linked to the community open space network where appropriate.

d. Gateway treatments are incorporated at appropriate locations along the open space network.

e. Neighborhood scale recreation (at a suggested standard of three (3) acres per 1000 population) and appropriate linkages to existing and planned trail systems are provided.

7. Natural Resources Conservation Element

a. The floodplains of washes with a discharge greater than 1000 cubic feet per second (cfs) during the 100 year flood event and associated riparian habitats are preserved as natural open space except as stipulated in number 7.b.

b. Washes with a discharge greater than 100 cfs during the 100 year flood event and associated riparian habitats are preserved if vegetation and habitat quality are found to be unique by the Planning and Zoning Commission and Town Council.

c. Hydrologic studies of washes greater than 100 cfs discharge during the 100 year flood event are provided which include effects on riparian habitats.

d. Only native plant materials and approved Southern Arizona Water Resources Association plants are utilized.

e. Only floodplain compatible uses are proposed in flood prone areas.

f. When erosion protection is required, environmentally sensitive alternatives including geotextiles or gunite containing integral desert colors are utilized as opposed to concrete lining of water courses.

g. Indigenous (native desert) vegetation and riparian habitats are maintained and enhanced where possible.

h. Select native plant material, which is to be transplanted within the development or to approved sites outside the project limits.

i. Mass grading techniques are minimized for project development.

8. Safety Element

a. Bike paths are constructed, where feasible and appropriate, to separate pedestrian and bike traffic from motorized vehicles in order to provide safe access to schools and parks.

b. The PAD adheres to the “Suggested Policies for Fire Management in the Wildland Urban Interface,” published by the National Forest Service, May 1990.

9. Cultural/Historic Element

a. A cultural resource survey has been performed where cultural/archaeological resources are determined likely to occur according to the Arizona State Museum.

b. The PAD provides for protection of cultural resources discovered during construction.

c. Cultural resources sites are left generally undisturbed and not identified to the public.

((O)11-01, 02/16/11)

H. Findings – Specific and Required

As a basis of approval or conditional approval for a PAD District, the Planning and Zoning Commission and Town Council shall make the following required findings. Any or all of the specific findings are optional and shall be applied on a case-by-case basis.

1. Required Findings

The required findings function to assure that the purposes of the PAD zoning have been accomplished through a given PAD proposal. In order to approve a PAD, the Town shall find that:

a. The PAD development is in accordance with the adopted Oro Valley General Plan and a minimum of eighty percent (80%) of the applicable General Plan criteria, as outlined in subsection G of this section, are satisfied.

b. The PAD demonstrates innovative design in site planning.

c. The PAD fosters safe and efficient use of the land.

d. The development facilitates efficient design of public services and all infrastructure.

e. The development provides for adequate drainage and reduction of flood damage.

f. The PAD encourages reduction in automobile trip lengths and trip consolidation as measured against development under conventional zoning.

g. Public access to mass transit, pedestrian and bicycle circulation systems is provided and designed to assure that pedestrians can move safely and easily to properties and activities in the site and in the neighborhood.

h. The design and arrangement of elements of the site plan (e.g., building construction, orientation, and placement; selection and placement of landscape materials, and/or use of renewable energy sources, etc.) contribute to the overall reduction of energy use by the project as measured against development under conventional zoning.

i. The design and arrangement of elements of the site plan minimize adverse impacts to the existing natural topography, natural water courses, existing desirable vegetation, and views.

j. The elements of the site plan display a rational relationship (e.g., buildings, circulation, open space, and landscaping) between land uses for the mutual benefit of the community and neighborhood.

k. The PAD protects, in a manner equal or superior to existing zoning, existing neighborhoods from harmful encroachment by intrusive or disruptive development.

l. Overall, the entire PAD represents an improvement to living, work, and recreational conditions superior to that which would be produced by development under conventional zoning districts.

2. Specific Findings

In addition to required findings, the Town may wish to make supplementary specific findings relevant to individual PAD applications. Specific findings may include, but are not limited to, the following:

a. The development is compatible with, and sensitive to, the immediate environment of the site and neighborhood relative to density, scale, bulk, and building height.

b. Conflicts that exist between the proposed development and the surrounding land uses have been effectively mitigated in the planned area development.

c. The project is designed so that the additional traffic generated does not have significant adverse impact on surrounding development, or the development has detailed plans to mitigate the adverse conditions.

d. The project contains known areas of natural or geological hazard (e.g., unstable or potentially unstable slopes, flood, etc.) or soil conditions unfavorable to urban development, and special precautions have been taken to overcome those limitations or these areas have been set aside from development.

e. The project will conform to applicable local, State, and Federal water quality standards including, but not limited to, erosion and sedimentation, runoff control and prohibited solid wastes and hazardous substances.

f. The proposed land uses and activities will be conducted so that noise generated shall not exceed the minimum performance levels established herein. Detailed plans for the elimination of objectionable noises may be required before the issuance of a building permit.

g. All developments will be connected to the public sewer system unless otherwise stipulated in the PAD document.

h. The street and parking system provides for the smooth, safe, and convenient movement of vehicles both on and off the site.

i. Each active recreational area is suitably located and accessible to the area it is intended to serve and adequate screening is provided to ensure privacy and quiet for neighboring uses.

j. The development is adjacent to an existing or approved public park or public open space area, and provision has been made in the site plan to avoid interfering with public access to that area.

k. All signs in the project are in compliance with the provisions of Section 28.1.

l. Solar orientation and design concepts are incorporated in the PAD.

m. The PAD provides for safe pedestrian and bicycle access to schools and parks.

I. Records

1. Prior to a zoning ordinance for a PAD District becoming effective, recordation of primary open space commitments shall be required. The instrument for open space recordation shall be a subdivision plat or block plat, which shall include a complete legal description.

2. If construction of the PAD does not occur according to the approved schedule of development, the PAD zoning shall lapse for all phases not complying with the schedule of development and all subsequent phases. Such schedule may be amended upon application to the Planning and Zoning Administrator thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of the PAD schedule of development. The amendment will be processed in accordance with the procedures outlined for all PAD rezonings.

J. Approvals Required

No structure or building shall be built or remodeled upon land in the PAD District until Planning and Zoning Commission approval for plats and development plans has been obtained as outlined in Section 22.9, including the posting of all required bonds and assurances, particularly site restoration assurances. Residential development in a PAD District which utilizes underlying single-family residential (R-1) zoning districts shall not be subject to Planning and Zoning Commission approval.