On Sept. 8, The Camp Verde Planning and Zoning Commission saw what was likely its largest audience to ever appear for a special session; town staff had to manage overflow by providing additional seating and a Zoom screen for attendees at the Town Council Chambers, located next door to P&Z.
“This is the largest meeting since I’ve been here,” Community Development Director John Knight said.
The meeting and public hearing were held for the purpose of discussing the potential approval of a zoning change for Arena del Loma, a community equine facility situated in the residential neighborhood known as Montezuma Heights.
If approved, the zoning change would alter the arena’s current status from R1-70 — or Residential Single Family, 70,000-square-foot minimum lot size — to R1-70/PAD — or Planned Area Development.
Arena del Loma’s lessee and manager Tanner Bryson, the son of the property’s owner Donald Bryson, requested the change to legally permit a commercial equestrian arena and additional recreational vehicle lodging for equestrian training events, roping events, barrel racing, team roping, fundraisers, equestrian show events, potlucks, parties, car shows and festivals.
Since the request for the zoning change was made public earlier this year, a group consisting of approximately 30 of Arena del Loma’s neighbors, most of whom reside in Montezuma Heights, have held a series of public meetings at the Camp Verde Community Library to denounce the zoning change and assemble a declaration of opposition, consisting of multiple letters of opposition, photographs of the property and a petition.
The documents were submitted to P&Z prior to the Sept. 8 meeting.
Though Arena del Loma currently operates under grandfathered non-conforming use status, as defined in a 2016 Notice of Decision document, the group members have claimed the arena has violated the terms of its agreement on multiple occasions, is a general nuisance to the neighborhood and should not be allowed to operate commercially.
One group member stated that various owners of the property “have pushed the boundaries of what was allowed, with little, if any, oversight by the Town of Camp Verde.”
The group provided a long list of complaints about the property, including an “unsightly” accumulation of items near the road, light pollution, excessively large manure piles and their resulting odor, animals like dogs, goats, horses and cattle wandering off of the property, excessive water use, road and traffic related issues and more.
Additionally, the group claimed that Bryson has been operating a commercial hay business and has also been conducting “heavy trucking operations,” which Bryson said were untrue.
“I’m not doing a trucking business; I have three locations, I have a ranch in Kingman, I have a ranch in Page Springs, Arizona, and they’re trail riding operations so I’m feeding about 250 animals,” Bryson said. “I’m buying about a truck-load of hay every month. We’re talking $120,000 worth of feed. We are a community-based horse facility.”
Multiple group members raised additional questions over the legality of other arena activities under its current zoning, such as long-term RV parking and long-term livestock boarding.
At least two group members asserted that Bryson’s clients have been living in RVs on the property, which they say is a violation of the current terms of use.
While Bryson admitted that various affiliates have stayed on the property for “a number of weeks” during events, the arena’s RV sites are “event oriented.”
“When you go to a roping or rodeo event, most people are in their RV and they’re uncomfortable leaving a $20,000 horse and getting a motel,” Bryson said.
Bryson insisted that his reason for requesting the zoning change was to preserve the arena’s historical uses and included he does not intend to turn the property into an RV park.
“There’s a lot of cowboy activity going on [within] this property and we want to preserve that and make it better,” he said. “We want to make it nicer and bring it back to what is was originally — a gathering place for the community. [The arena] fell on hard times and when I got involved it was basically bankrupt. This is not my idea to come in here and try to make this a new entity.”
A Show of Support
While many of the attendees at the meeting came to oppose the proposed zoning change, a potentially equal amount were in support of preserving the arena and spoke about Bryson’s commitment to improving the facility, which has been in operation since 1964.
“Arena del Loma is a historic site in Camp Verde and should remain a staple in our community,” said Jordy Weaver, the former treasurer of the Verde Fair & Recreation Association. “When I took office, the association had no money to sustain the arena and the Brysons were funding the arena and making the necessary improvements needed to keep it functioning.”
Other speakers recalled fond memories of attending various horse-related clinics, gymkhanas and roping events at the arena.
Bryson’s daughters also spoke about growing up on the property.
“People come from all over Camp Verde to rope and learn,” Clay Bryson said. “Without the arena, I might not have been able to end up in the top 15 in the state in team roping and went on to make Silver State International Rodeo. We have great mentors and professional rodeo athletes come and teach and tell stories. The arena is so important to so many people.”
Resident Carl Daniels said Bryson has already addressed certain complaints relating to manure and lighting, and implored the community to give him a chance to prove himself.
“Everybody in here has got complaints, but nobody has given [Bryson] a chance to do anything,” Daniels said. “If we don’t give him a chance, who will? We could throw rocks all day long, but the one person who has, every time there has been a complaint, gone forward and made sure that was taken care of, if that doesn’t show enough for you then I’m not sure what will.”
Finding Common Ground
One of the speakers at the hearing, Tierra Verde Builders owner John Bassous acted as an intermediary between the opposing group, Bryson and P&Z.
Having served as a consultant at the opposing group’s meetings and after reviewing documents and speaking with Bryson, Bassous suggested that the community should seek common ground.
“I’m not here in a capacity representing a group, I’m here professionally to share what’s going on,” he said. “I think people on opposing sides can always get along. I don’t know of anyone that wants [the arena] to cease and desist, but there are concerns.”
In a presentation, Bassous discussed the problem of manure using precise mathematical calculations, RV hookups, noise and septic issues and the proposed monitoring of the property by the town of Camp Verde as listed under the PAD terms.
“I think that a business should stand on its own; I don’t think it should have to be monitored,” he said. “There’s concern that if the monitoring hasn’t been as regular, because there have been lots of complaints; some of them legit, some of them were not. Some were personal vendettas against [Bryson]. Do we really want our town monitoring [the arena] weekly, monthly or whatever?”
After more than 1.5 hours of testimonials and discussion, P&Z Vice Chairman Todd Scantlebury stated, “I don’t believe that anybody’s talking about getting rid of the arena. What I’m seeing is differences in opinion about how that arena should be run.
“The 2016 [Notice of Decision] as you all have pointed out, is really vague. If we’re all here tonight it’s because of that 2016 agreement. [P&Z] did the best they could in 2016 and the town’s held to that but it’s not sufficient to meet the needs of the neighborhood or to meet the needs of the athletes, so the applicant came here with a PAD, which is a goodwill effort to do the right thing to try to improve things. But the way the PAD looks to me right now is, I see we have legal objections to it.”
In regard to the PAD, Bryson’s lawyer, Rose Winkeler also presented a list of proposed revisions to the community development department’s recommended conditions, which factored in to P&Z’s decision to table Bryson’s request for the purpose of further consideration.
“I think it would be good for you guys to meet with the council and go through this [list of conditions] and try to get some medium ground,” Commissioner Ingrid P. Osses stated.
In her motion, Osses suggested a two-week time frame for review. During this time, the public may provide additional input.
The next meeting is scheduled to take place on Thursday, Sept. 22. For more information, visit campverde.az.gov.
