A months-long fight over a proposed Arizona Public Service 69kV Substation on SR 89A in Clarkdale — just past the Number 1 Food Station on the way up to Jerome — reached its resolution on Tuesday, Aug. 13, when the Clarkdale Town Council voted 4-1 to approve the zoning change that would allow APS to move forward with the construction. The zoning came with several conditions that APS would have to abide by in order to continue with the town’s blessing.
Tuesday’s vote comes after a May meeting of the Clarkdale Planning Commission that featured dozens of irate residents complaining about the planned substation and another meeting in July of the Clarkdale Town Council that featured the same. Tuesday’s meeting had its own fair share of disagreement, with several residents from the area near to the proposed location complaining that the addition of a power station in the area would ruin the view and impede on the rural character of the neighborhood.
“For those of us living in the vicinity of this facility, our backyards are already littered with infrastructure that benefits all who live in Clarkdale,” Randall Skeirig said in a letter he wrote to the council, read to them at the meeting by Donna Chesler. “It is unreasonable to expect the same group to sacrifice over and over.”
Dissent on the proposed substation was aimed heavily at APS, with some residents feeling that the power utility had made the choice without the input of Clarkdale residents, and that the council was moving ahead to accede to APS’ wishes against the will of their constituents.
“Everything they’re telling you today is intended to drive their profits,” Steve Cheifetz, a Jerome resident with property in Clarkdale told the council. “Your duty is not to care about the profits of APS. Your duty is to plan to the town of Clarkdale.”
The opposition to the new substation had an impact on at least one council member, as Vice Mayor Richard Dehnert made a motion to table the discus- sion until receiving more information from APS. No other council member signed on to Dehnert’s proposal and the motion failed. Dehnert was the one dissenting vote against approving the zoning change.
“Zoning needs to mean something,” Dehnert said, echoing the words of a speaker at the meeting. “I’ve always felt that when someone buys a house or builds a house on a property, if they do their due diligence and look at the zoning map around their location, they should be able to have some faith that unless there is an urgent need for that zoning to change, it will stay the same.”
Dehnert’s colleagues on the council were more sympathetic to APS’ arguments.
“Nobody seems to want any of that infrastructure in their back yard but it seems to be necessary,” Councilwoman Deb Hunseder said. “It seems to me that one substation would be a lot less impact to the neighbor- hood and environment than nine new homes, which is what it’s zoned for.”
“What I’m hearing from people is they don’t want to see this thing,” Mayor Doug Von Gausig said. “I myself could not tell you where the one in Cottonwood is. I don’t know where it is.”
“The way this one is being designed, it seems to be having less impact on the viewscapes than the houses that could be put there,” Von Gausig said.
The council’s approval does come with some concessions from APS, which are as follow:
“1. That the Applicant excavate the site and build a wall around the substation, so that the equipment is not visible from the adjacent ground level;
2. That the applicant land- scape with evergreen trees and other landscaping to make the wall more attractive to the surrounding area;
3. The Zone Change/ Conditional Use Permit is void if a building permit is not issued within one year of approval of this Zone Change/Conditional Use Permit application;
4. The established social foot path parallel to SR 89A and within the ADOT right-of-way shall remain accessible to pedestrian traffic except during construction when it shall be rerouted as much as possible;
5. No portable restrooms shall remain on site after construction is completed;
6. All landscaping shall conform with the Landscape Design Standards effective May 10, 2019.
7. Driveway access to the property shall be developed as agreed and in cooperation with the Town of Clarkdale, ADOT and the Verde Valley Fire District. This access shall be designed to be the minimum width necessary to serve projected traffic of both facilities.
8. The installation shall comply with the Town of Clarkdale Zoning Code 11-040 Section 19 regarding noise. Identified violations of the noise regulations in the Town Code shall be immediately remediated.
9. The Landscape Plan shall be modified to include at least fifty percent non-deciduous species to provide year-round screening
of the structure wall.”
At the meeting, the council did further ask APS representative Kendra Lee whether it would be possible for APS to get involved in certain infra- structure improvements in the area, such as work on sidewalks or a planned fire station close to the location. Lee said that was certainly a possibility, but that APS would need to know more details about what was being proposed.
