HomeMy WebLinkAbout98-273 ~OFTL~
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OFFICIAL RECORDS OF HOHAVE COUNTY, AZ
JOAN MC CALL, MOHAVE COONI'Y RECORDER
08/12/98 04:~1P PAGE 1 OF 4
MOHAUE COUNTY BOARO OF SUPERVISORS
RECORDING FEE O.Ot
RESOLUTION NO. 98-273
EVALUATION OF A REQUEST FOR AN EXTENSION OF TIME OF THE APPROVED
PRELIMINARY SUBDIVISION PLAN OF EMERALD RIVER ESTATES, TRACT 4093, BEING
A SUBDIVISION OF A PORTION OF SECTION 25, TOWNSHIP 19 NORTH, RANGE 22 WEST,
IN THE SOUTH MOHAYE VALLEY AREA, MOHAVE COUNTY, ARIZONA.
WHEREAS, at the regular meeting of the Mohave County Board of Supervisors held on August 10,
1998, a public hearing was conducted to determine whether approval should be granted for an Extension of
Time as requested by Gordon Hanshaw, President of Emerald River Development, Inc., Bullhead City,
Arizona. The project engineer of record had been Stadler Consulting Engineers, Inc., Phoenix, Arizona;
however, that engineering finn is no longer working on the project. The developer has not named a new
engineer, and
WHEREAS, the property is located approximately two miles south of Bullhead City. The property
is accessed via State Highway 95, then east along and south of E1 Rodeo Road to the site, and
WHEREAS, the Preliminary Plan depicts 32 acres subdivided into 107 single-family residential lots,
and
WHEREAS, Mr. Hanshaw has indicated in a letter dated February 9, 1998, that an Extension of
Time is being requested due to the following: "The processing of the final plat for Phase B portion of the
development was derailed by the ADEQ refusal to issue a subdivision approval based on the use of standard
septic tanks for sewage treatment and disposal." Individual septic systems had been approved for use in this
subdivision when the Preliminary Plan was conditionally approved eight years ago. During the dormancy
of this project the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has tightened the requirements for the
approval of the use of individual septic systems in subdivisions, with the result that Phase B of Emerald
River Estates is required to hook up to a central sewer service, and
WHEREAS, Mr. Hanshaw also states, "Since my request for extension last year, the property has
been put under receivership by Judge Gary Taylor, Federal Judge of Santa Aha, California." With last year's
extension request Mr. Hanshaw included a letter from the project engineer indicating that "all the original
proposed improvements for Phase B...are in place and complete," though no Final Plat has ever been
processed to approval for the second phase of the subdivision. No confirmation or update on the subdivision
improvements was received ~vith this year's request, and
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RESOLUTION NO. 98-273 Page 2
WHEREAS, the Preliminary Plan for this tract was approved by the Mohave County Board of'
Supervisors on March 5, 1990, per BOS Resolution No. 90-58. The Final Plat for Phase A was approved
on August 20, 1990, per BOS Resolution No. 90-216. The first Extension of Time for the Preliminary Plan
was approved on January 4, 1993, per BOS Resolution No. 93-4. The second and third extensions were
approved on September 6, 1994, per BOS Resolution No. 94-201. The fourth extension was approved on
May 1, 1995, per BOS Resolution No. 95-175. The fifth extension was approved on May 6, 1996, per BOS
Resolution No. 96-142. The sixth extension was approved on June 2, 1997, per BOS Resolution No. 97-
169. Subdivision Regulation Article 3.10-1 states: "Upon application to the Commission and prior to the
expiration of. the time limit, extensions in increments of. one (1) year may' be granted by the Board of.
Supervisors if' the subdivider is actively processing the Final Plat. If such action is not taken then all
proceedings relating to the plat shall be terminated.", and
WHEREAS, the Final Plat for Phase A of this subdivision was recorded on November 21, 1990.
All improvements within Phase A were completed prior to plat recordation, and
WHEREAS, on April 10, 1998, the Planning Director received a letter dated April 3, 1998, from
Timothy L. McCandless, an attorney involved with the receivership proceedings on property including part
of this subdivision. Mr. McCandless advised Mohave County to take no action regarding Tract 4093 until
~urther notice, as court action in California affecting the receivership issue was apparently still pending, and
WHEREAS, this request originally was scheduled for consideration by the Planning and Zoning
Commission at their meeting on April 8, 1998. On April 7th, an agent for the applicant requested that the
item be continued until the following Commission meeting to allow the applicant mad agent more time to
prepare for possible discussion regarding staff s recommendation of denial, and the anticipated Comission
concerns, and
WHEREAS, the Mohave County Attorney's Office offered the opinion that the court action
regarding this property might not be binding upon Mohave County, but ultimately recommended that
Mohave County abide by the notice from Mr. McCandless, and not take any further action on Tract 4093
until the litigation had been resolved, and
WHEREAS, the reviewing Deputy County Attorney has also advised staff that without an Extension
of Time to keep alive the conditional approvals of the unrecorded portion of Tract 4093, the project
approvals automatically expired on March 5, 1998. This will require a developer to start over processing
for any proposed subdivision of this property, despite the amount of improvements already completed by
the developer in unrecorded Tract 4093-B, and
WHEREAS, a letter dated June 18, 1998, fi'om Richard A. Marshack, "Receiver" for this property,
was received which appears to clear the issue of ownership. Upon receipt of that letter, the Planning
Director instructed staffto again place this item on the Commission agenda for heaxing on July 8, 1998, and
WHEREAS, the Mohave County Public Works Department has indicated that upon receipt of any
additional submittals of this project for processing, the adequacy of the drainage and compatibility of this
proposed subdivision with surrounding development will be reviewed. They have recommended that any
required changes or modifications will be the responsibility of the developer, and
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RESOLUTION NO. 98-273 Page 3
WHEREAS, this action, if approved, will be the seventh Extension of Time, and
WHEREAS, though staff recognized the extent of the completion of improvements in the
subdivision, staff recommended denial of this request based largely on the lack of any apparent progress
toward the resolution of the sewer-service issue, which must be addressed by a commitment from the
developer to provide this remaining improvement to the subdivision before Mohave County can allow the
subdivision to proceed. Regardless of the developer's recent legal difficulties, without evidence that the
developer had in the previous year made any efforts to bring sewer lines to the subdivision, and for
continued lack of submittal of a Final Plat for the unrecorded portion of the development, staff could not
support another extension, being bound to the terms of the previous extension to a recommendation of
denial, as "significant progress" had not been demonstrated by the developer, and
WHEREAS, the following are Findings of Fact for the above captioned item:
a. All notices have been advertised and posted according to regulations.
b. This request does not comply with the Extension of Time Policy due to the following: 1) The
Final Plat submitted for Phase B in 1992 required many corrections which have never been
addressed with a corrected Final Plat submittal; 2) A phase of this subdivision has not been
recorded in the two years prior to the expiration of the current Extension of Time; 3) Despite
the 1997 statement by the project engineer that "all improvements" have been completed in
the subdivision (except sewer lines and cmmections), no as-built improvement plans have
been submitted for Phase B to demonstrate or document their completion; 4) The policy
does not anticipate a seventh Extension of Time for projects in which a Final Plat has not
been actively processed.
c. One of the conditions of the previous Extension of Time stipulated that "Unless significant
progress is made in the coming year toward the recordation of this project, Planning staff will
recommend denial of any additional Extensions of Time for this Preliminary Plan." Nothing
has been submitted to Mohave County in the past six years to further the progress of Phase
B of this project.
d. This subdivision and many other proposed developments within the South Mohave Valley
were conditionally approved years ago, contingent in part upon ADEQ approvals of the use
of individual septic systems within those subdivisions. ADEQ has, in more recent years,
approved fewer individual septic systems in the South Mohave Valley, requiring instead
package treatment plants, alternate individual disposal systems, or hook up to a central sewer
disposal service. No subdivision can be recorded without the required ADEQ approval of
Sanitary Facilities. In those instances ~vhere ADEQ reevaluates a subdivision's approval and
prohibits the use of individual septic systems, redesign of the subdivision may be necessary.
Depending on the extent of the changes made to the plat, it may require that a project be
processed again, at an earlier stage of review.
WHEREAS, at the public hearing before the Mohave County Planning and Zoning Commission on
July 8, 1998, the Commission recommended APPROVAL of an Extension of Time for the Preliminary Plan
subject to the following conditions:
F'AGE z~ OF ~
RESOLUTION NO. 98-273 Page 4
1. Compliance with all conditions of BOS Resolution Nos. 90-58, 93-4, 94-201, 95-175, 96-
142, and 97-169.
2. The developer must, prior to the expiration of this conditional approval, submit a complete
Final Plat submittal for Phase B of this subdivision, including improvement plans and
required review fees. That submittal will also provide for the extension of central sewer
service to all lots in the subdivision, or provide for another approved method of sewage
disposal.
3. Unless significant progress is made in the coming year toward the recordation of this project
(including compliance with Condition 2 above), no further Extensions of Time will be
approved for the Preliminary Plan of this subdivision.
4. If revised plats of this subdivision are submitted including substantial changes from the
Preliminary Plan being extended herein, the extent of the changes may require the developer
to process a new Preliminary Plan or a new Sketch Plan.
5. This Extension of Time will be in effect until March 5, 1999.
WHEREAS, the notice of hearing was published in The Standard, a newspaper of general
circulation in Kingman, Mohave County, Arizona, July 25, 1998, and posted on July 24, 1998, as required
by Arizona Revised Statutes and the Mohave County Zoning Regulations.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Supervisors, at their regular meeting
on Monday, August 10, 1998, APPROVED this Extension of Time as recommended by the Mohave County
Planning and Zoning Commission and outlined herein.
James R.~~