The Camp Verde Town Council amended two town ordinances relating to unplanned subdivisions and roadwork during its April 4 meeting. Informal Subdivisions One of the motions before the council dealt with amending the town’s planning and zoning ordinance to exempt informal subdivisions of parcels greater than 20 acres in size from the Planned Area Development process provided that the property owner was not seeking a change in zoning district. The town previously updated the PAD process in August 2024.
“So if they’re in the RR-2A and they’re subdividing two-acre parcels, they don’t need a planned area development,” planner Cory Mulcaire said.
“So what we did is we just did a red line of what was approved in August 2024 and did an exemption where subdivisions that are not requesting changes to the underlying zoning ordinance don’t have to go through the planetary development process.” Councilwoman Wendy Escoffier asked for an example of a development that would have previously required a PAD rezoning but would not need one following the change. Mulcaire was unable to provide such an example but said there would be projects in the future that would not require a PAD process.
“Are we able to require this developer to put in water lines and sewer if they’re in an area that they could hook up?” Escoffier asked. Mulcaire replied in the affirmative and said that council would be able to pursue development agreements with developers if the ordinance were to be amended.
The council also considered amending town code to restrict third-party construction work affecting newly-paved or resurfaced public roads and rights of way. Public Works Department Manager Martin Smith said that the town’s roadways were its largest assets and that they needed to be properly maintained, and that having utility companies come to Camp Verde and cut into pavement interferes with that process. “The idea is, when we do ACIP projects, several of which are in process, we reach out to the utility companies to notify them that hey, this project is coming up,” Smith said.
“We seek utility conflicts. We put them on notice that hey, this is happening. If you’re going to have any improvements to your utility, now would be a great time to get those done.” Smith added that town staff plan to improve all of the major roads into the town during the next three to five years at an estimated cost of $60 million and that the ordinance would make it more difficult for utilities to cut into fresh pavement, as well as enabling him to inspect their cleanup work at the end of utility projects. “Given my construction background, I am completely confident ingoing out and monitoring the contractor’s work, the suitability of it,” Smith said. “If any questions arise, I [will] bring the town engineer out for a second opinion.”
The council passed both amendments unanimously.
