At its meeting on Monday, Oct. 17, the city of Cottonwood Planning & Zoning Commission unanimously approved the rezoning of the proposed Clemenceau Place site from single family residential to a planned area development, which will allow the construction of apartments and townhomes on the former United Verde Mine housing plot.
As planned, Clemenceau Place will offer 355 apartments in 17 three-story multi-family buildings, 42 townhomes in 13 clusters and 19 single-family homes for a total of 416 housing units. One-bedroom units will range in size from 777 to 989 square feet and two-bedroom units from 1,228 to 1,301 square feet, while three-bedroom units will be 1,453 square feet; all units will have balconies.
The development will also include a three-story, climate-controlled storage facility containing 205 units and a two-story, 15,000 square foot medical office building, as well as a community clubhouse with pool.
Clemenceau Place will occupy three parcels of land straddling West Mingus Avenue and abutting the Clemenceau Heritage Museum and the Verde Valley Medical Center. It will replace a number of demolished single-family houses that were formerly accessed via the now-abandoned Cholla Street and Apache Place.
The proposal required special approval to exceed Cottonwood’s two-and-a-half story building height limitation, which the commission granted subject to the buildings meeting the necessary fire department requirements.
The developers will be required to provide a number of easements that will ensure access to existing homes, Clemenceau Place will offer 355 apartments in 17 to improve Candy Lane and other adjoining streets, to construct a trail into Blowout Creek Wash and to designate a minimum of 42 units as workforce housing. The master development plan defines the workforce housing income threshold as “between 60% and 120% of the area’s median income level.”
Other features planned for Clemenceau Place include “traffic calming” measures such as speed bumps, stormwater capture and the incorporation of native plants and drought-resistant, low-water landscaping. Trees and buildings will be used to shield parking areas from street view.
Construction is slated to begin in July 2024, with occupancy starting in November 2024 and full build-out of the project completed by December 2026. The developers are required to apply for building permits no later than October 2024.
The Clemenceau Place development is being financed via multiple intermediary companies by Matthew J. Heslin of Laguna Hills, Calif., who has underwritten numerous projects elsewhere in Arizona and across New Mexico, California, Colorado and Oregon. The development company is represented locally by Realtor Richard Whitney and Jesse Dowling of Pender Engineering, both of Cottonwood. Douglas Stroh, principal of Stroh Architecture in Prescott, is designing the project.
Public and commission support for the proposed rezoning was strong, although Vice Chairman Randy Garrison and some residents expressed concerns over increased traffic and congestion on Willard Street and at nearby intersections.
“I use that road almost daily. I’m really nervous about the impact that’s going to happen to Willard and Main,” Garrison said, suggesting that the development would add a thousand trips a day to traffic on Willard.
City planner Gary Davis acknowledged the potential traffic problems, but pointed out that increased congestion would result from natural growth anyway and that the developers would be required to widen Willard, adding a turning lane to relieve some of the pressure. City engineer James Bramble added that most congestion would occur at small intersections where there are few options to mitigate it.
In his presentation, Davis stressed the future walkability of Clemenceau Place.
“Within a half mile walking distance of this project there’s a lot of major employers and major attractions,” he said. He expressed the hope that potential residents “would appreciate that amenity.”
Commission Chairwoman Lindsay Masten agreed, commenting, “When I look at this … it really gives us an opportunity to increase traffic in Old Town without having to increase parking.”
Cottonwood residents Ruthann Joy and Al Bradshaw rose to signal their approval for the development and its responsiveness to local needs.
“I see the housing situation in this area literally as a crisis,” said Joy.
Bradshaw said he thought the project was an excellent fit for the area and hoped the community would work together to make it happen.
Suzanne Marcinko offered an alternative view.
“This city has no jobs unless you work in the medical profession, Walmart or Fry’s,” she told the commission. Marcinko wanted to know where the commissioners thought people would be able to work in order to afford to live at Clemenceau Place. She suggested that providing wellpaying jobs would be more effective at solving the valley’s housing crisis than building more expensive developments.
The commissioners disagreed. Masten retorted that she knows plenty of local managers unable to hire enough workers to meet their needs, and another of her colleagues added that some of his friends can’t open their businesses seven days a week for lack of staff, since potential employees have nowhere to live.
Garrison had a separate concern, asking why the proposed buildings were so “lackluster.”
“This scale of project is amazing, and we’re supportive of housing, but it seems like the design has a lot to be desired,” he told the applicants. “I don’t want to say it reminds me of ghettos, but it’s pretty stinking close. It’s boxes … So why did you choose to take such a basic design on structures?”
“We like the design,” Whitney said. “We worked with the architects on coming up with what we thought would be a great design for this community. We wanted something more contemporary.”
“It’s going to take a heck of a long time for the trees in that area to get anywhere near big enough to hide these things,” Garrison opined.
He also noted that he would prefer to see single-family housing, rather than apartments, so close to an elementary school. “The American dream is to own a house; it isn’t to live in an apartment,” he said. Masten objected, declaring the belief that families need homes with yards to be “antiquated” and “unrealistic for this community.”
In spite of Garrison’s aesthetic critiques — at one point, Masten reminded him that “this is a zoning review, not a design review” — he voted with the remaining commissioners to approve the rezoning.
Absent from the evening’s discussion was Verde Heights resident Rick Cerny, who at the neighborhood meeting on June 1 had denounced the idea of three-story buildings as “ridiculous” and worried that people would be able to see into his bedroom from across the wash.
“Rick, I do not think anyone wants to look into your bedroom,” the moderator reassured him.
Those interested can view the complete application package and development plan on the city of Cottonwood’s Planning & Zoning Commission website.
