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MINUTES PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING Tuesday, October 28, 2025 - 5:30 P.M. 155 N. TEGNER STREET WICKENBURG, ARIZONA 85390 A. CALL TO ORDER - Chair Green called the meeting to order at 5:30 PM B. PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE – Led by Member Tom Pollei C. INVOCATION – Led by Member Bill Cowles D. ROLL CALL Present: Bill Green, Chair Kristi Henson, Vice Chair Connie Jenson, Member Tom Pollei, Member Darcy Wekell, Member Bill Cowles, Alternate Member Absent: Verne Crissman, Member Bill Holder, Member Art Rubash, Council Liaison Staff Present: Steve Boyle, Community Development Director Amy Brown, Town Clerk E. CALL TO THE PUBLIC – No Response F. ITEMS OF BUSINESS 1. Consideration and Action to Approve the Minutes of September 30, 2024 MOVED BY Member Henson to approve the minutes of January 25, 2024 SECONDED BY Member Jenson VOTE: 6 - 0 (Yes – Chair Green, Members Cowles, Henson, Jenson, Pollei, and Wekell) 2. Discussion and Action on the Proposed Annexation Strategy for the Town of Wickenburg Steve Boyle, Community Development Director, stated that the town is working Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes of October 28, 2025 Page 2 of 5 to create an annexation strategy. The Council heard about the strategy at a study session in September and wanted to get the input from the Planning and Zoning Commission. There was a lot of annexation in the early 2000’s. Annexation is the town’s ability to expand the town boundaries. The town needs to look at it from a revenue generating perspective such as with increased sales tax, bed tax, property tax and state-shared revenues to make it cost effective to at least partially fund essential town services. The purpose of the strategy is to have a document to follow when there is an annexation application or interest in annexing an area. It needs to match the General Plan section Land Use (LU) -12. It also needs to align with Section 2-7 of the Town Code. An annexation strategy was identified in the Council’s strategic plan with the goal of ensuring that any annexation is strategic and beneficial. This plan is to establish a clear framework and priority areas. State law sets the legal requirements for annexation: • Area must be contiguous to Town boundary (min. 300 ft) • Minimum width: 200 ft (excluding right of ways) • Length less than 2x width of boundary (shape) • Petitions: ≤50% property owners & ≤ 50% assessed value • State Trust Land needs Selection Board approval (not regular meetings) • Federal land annexation allowed without federal consent Even though the town must receive 50% approval from the property owners, the town likes to get 60-75% approval. The timeline is one year from the start of the annexation to receive all the signatures. State Trust Land takes a longer period of time since their board doesn’t meet regularly. They want the highest and best use and usually don’t want to pay for any infrastructure costs, so any annexation of State Land will usually be done as a separate annexation due to the timeline. Federal Land can be annexed without their consent, however their rules for that land still apply even though it is in the town such as allowing hunting on the land. The strategy will establish the following evaluation criteria: • Ability to provide service within 10 years ✓ Infrastructure needs - Hwy 93 corridor example ✓ Roads and utilities – The town currently maintains 77 miles of roads. • Fiscal impact analysis (cost vs revenue) • Consistency with the 2045 General Plan & Strategic Plan • Zoning compatibility • Community support & engagement • Road upgraded to Town standards • Subdivision infrastructure improvement before annexation or through a pre- annexation development agreement • Square off Town limits; reduce peninsulas • Target areas with tax revenue potential to have growth pay for itself • Prioritize large, contiguous areas Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes of October 28, 2025 Page 3 of 5 • Opportunities for town gateway signage • Include revenue-generating commercial properties Since 2005, the town has doubled the land in the town to currently being 27.23 square miles or 17,400 acres. The town’s Municipal Planning Area (MPA) is 434 square miles and is designated by the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG). The MPA is an area of influence so that the town gets notified if there is any large development or projects in that area. Our MPA is close to the MPA for the City of Surprise and the City of Buckeye. Chair Green asked if the Wickenburg Ranch Phase 2 is within the town limits. Director Boyle confirmed that it is in the town at the upper edge of that development. Director Boyle continued that there are several proposed priority areas for possible future annexations: • Southeast along US-60 – This will square off the town limits. This would be a large job for code enforcement to clean up the area, but it would help to clean up the gateway into Wickenburg. This area attempted to be annexed in 2008 but didn’t receive the numbers needed. • Southwest to include Rancho de los Caballeros – They are still building in this area and have had issues with Maricopa County permitting. They have expressed interest, but they have concerns with taxes. It is close to the town to attach to the water and sewer. Their roads are private roads and are not built to the town standards. • Flying E Ranch – Before this area is developed, it would be easier to annex with one owner. It would help them with their development as the building permits would come from the town. • Interstate 11 / US-60 Intersection – This is mostly state and federal land, but there will eventually be commercial at the intersection of I-11 and US-60. There is no threat of anyone else annexing this area. Member Henson asked about the zoning transfer. The zoning along US-60 south is odd, so how would that transfer. Director Boyle stated that in that area there is a county overlay where there is a certain distance that is zoned commercial along the highway, not the entire parcel. The town will usually rezone an entire parcel, so the town would have to work through that issue. It is listed as C2 zoning with the county, but that would be changed to C3 in the town as C2 is in the downtown only. Chair Green asked if another city could come into the town’s MPA as he thought it would be nice to have Morristown in the town’s MPA. Director Boyle stated that usually the other city will need the consent of the town to move that area into their MPA. A few years ago, the town gave up Morristown to not be in our MPA anymore. Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes of October 28, 2025 Page 4 of 5 Member Pollei asked if the town would look at annexing Section 15 with Los Cab. Director Boyle stated that there are different issues with Section 15 than with Los Cab, so they would probably be separate annexation. Chair Green wanted to confirm what he heard which was that the property taxes decreased when someone is annexed into town and thought the town should make sure to mention that benefit. Director Boyle confirmed that the property taxes are lower in the town since the town’s property tax rate is less than the amount that they pay to the Fire District. That amount is usually a couple of hundred dollars less to be in town with increased police service and the same fire service. Chair Green asked the fees to annex. Director Boyle stated that there is an application fee of $2,000 and usually the person applying for the annexation will pay the survey costs to establish the map of the area for annexation. If the town is initiating the annexation, usually the town will cover the costs. The town will usually look to have a pre-annexation agreement for managing larger projects such as Wickenburg Ranch. This is usually paired with a Development Agreement. This is typically used for commercial or large residential projects, not individual residential parcels. The fiscal impact on the town needs to also be reviewed with staff looking at the following: • Project growth & land use • Assess demand for services • Estimate revenues (sales tax, property tax, etc.) • Calculate infrastructure & service delivery costs A structured, forward-looking annexation strategy will answer the question of “Why should we annex this area” and is part of the analysis for an annexation. It should support the long-term community growth because growth is inevitable. The town has been at a consistent 2% growth rate. Any annexation needs to be fiscally responsible to not stretch the town’s services too thin. In addition, it should preserve the community character of being western, not looking like Surprise. This strategy will enable informed decision-making for sustainable expansion. If the commission recommends the annexation strategy, either as is or with changes, it will then go back to the Council for formal adoption via a resolution. After Council approval, staff will reconfigure the internal application documents and process based on the approved methods in the strategy. Chair Green thought that the town should annex as much as it can as soon as it can as the area might look much different in 5-10 years. In addition, the I-11 corridor will be key for commercial property, but that is going to take a lot of Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes of October 28, 2025 Page 5 of 5 years. The issue with that area is that it is state land, which is difficult to annex. Member Henson suggested including Rio Vista Hills in the south annexation as that area has wanted to be annexed. Director Boyle stated that the idea of the policy is for it to be a living document that can change as things happen. If there is something in one area, the town can decide to look at annexing that area or not. MOVED BY Member Pollei to recommend the policy Member Henson would like to recommend including Rio Vista Hills for another possible priority area. Member Jenson thought that Rio Vista Hills should be a separate annexation area. Member Pollei stated that the roads in that area are substandard. Director Boyle stated that the code enforcement could be difficult and adding that area will need police service as well as enforcement on the highway. MOVED BY Member Pollei to recommend the policy and amended the motion to include Rio Vista Hills as a proposed priority area SECONDED BY Member Wekell VOTE: 6 - 0 (Yes – Chair Green, Members Cowles, Henson, Jenson, Pollei, and Wekell) G. NEXT MEETING DATE – November 25, 2025 H. ADJOURNMENT MOVED BY Member Jenson to adjourn at 6:27 PM SECONDED BY Member Henson VOTE: 6 - 0 (Yes – Chair Green, Members Cowles, Henson, Jenson, Pollei, and Wekell) Bill Green, Chair Attest: Amy Brown, Town Clerk