The Commissioner — Fall 2006

Commission Profile

A Long History of Planning

Kingman, Arizona, Planning and Zoning

Since the city's first plan was developed nearly 125 years ago, Kingman, Arizona, has been looking to the future. The purpose of Kingman's 1882 town site plan was to centralize intensive land uses and return investments to the railroad. By contrast, the city's most recent general plan says its goal is: "Balancing the needs of Kingman's growth in a cost-effective and orderly manner, while at the same time maintaining a high quality of life ..."

"Our job is to look at what's going to be best for the city not just right now, but down the road," says Mike Blair, chairman of the planning and zoning commission. "We don't always agree with staff and we don't always agree with developers. What we try to agree on is if what's in front of us is in everyone's best interest."

Deciding whether or not to approve land-use and zoning proposals has taken an increasing amount of commissioners' time, according to Blair, as Kingman has experienced enormous growth in housing development. "We try to go on a drive-around the week before our meeting," he says. "Seeing a place helps. Sometimes projects fit and sometimes they don't."

Commissioners made numerous site visits over a three-year period as they helped develop the City of Kingman General Plan 2020. "We met at least once a month, in addition to our regular monthly meeting, and visited each of our six planning areas four or five times to listen to and work with citizens," he says.

"The plan update was required as the result of Arizona's Growing Smarter legislation," says Tom Duranceau, AICP, the city's planning and zoning administrator. The law required not only the approval of the commission and city council, he says, but voters as well. "We got it on the ballot and then did a bunch of presentations throughout the city. In the end, ours passed. Had it not, we would've been stuck trying to figure out why without much to go on."

Kingman has seven commissioners who may serve two three-year terms. Generally, two seats are up for appointment every year. "We use a talent bank system," says Duranceau. "Individuals can go to the city's website (http://ci.kingman.az.us/pages/depts/cityclerk/boards.asp) and fill out an application to serve on any board or commission." The council seeks recommendations from current commissioners before holding interviews to fill the seats. Recent changes in the political environment have led to a temporary freeze in appointments. "No one has gone on or off for almost a year," says Duranceau.

The Planning and Zoning Division supports the commissioners. "We provide background material, comments, staff reports, and information from other public agencies," says Duranceau. Staff members also offer recommendations. "We used to give three or four, a preferred and a few others," he says. "Recently they've said they want a clear yes or no."

Because the city council has the final word on any issue that comes before the commission, a council member attends commission meetings. "It helps to have a liaison who can answer questions about why certain decisions were made," says Blair. Most commission actions appear on the council's consent agenda, he says, "and they go along with our recommendations about 95 to 98 percent of the time."

Occasionally the two bodies part company, as happened with a proposal for a Wal-Mart Supercenter. The commission twice denied a request for a partial rezoning based on traffic concerns. On its second try, the council overturned the commission's decision. "We did what we thought was best for the city, but not everyone agreed," says Blair. "Now the people who wanted it have to live with traffic congestion."

Anticipating the Boom

Kingman, Arizona, is a city poised for growth despite a recent slackening in the housing market.

"We will eventually be a bedroom community for Las Vegas," says Tom Duranceau, AICP, the city's planning and zoning administrator. When a $234 million bypass replaces a winding, two-lane bottleneck across the Hoover Dam in 2008, it is expected to cut at least half an hour off the 98-mile commute.

The city's history is replete with booms in housing and commercial growth. The designation of the Old Trails Highway in the 1920s (later Route 66) brought people into the area, as did construction of the Hoover Dam in the early 1930s and activities at Kingman Army Airfield during and after World War II.

Kingman's population grew more than 50 percent between 1990 and 2000––from 13,208 to 20,069. As of July 1, 2005, the planning division estimates a population of 25,860.

By issuing 914 new single-family housing permits in 2005, the city set a record for the third year in a row. Some of the building was speculative, but some of it was fueled by "California refugees," says Duranceau. "We've had an influx of retirees. They sell a house for $500,000 that they bought for $50,000 and then come here and buy a really nice home for $250,000."

The median house price in Kingman rose from $130,000 to $230,000 in just 18 months, according to Duranceau. "It's taken a lot of people in the middle- to lower-income brackets out of the housing market."

"Because housing is getting kind of pricey here, apartments are filling up," says Mike Blair, chair of the city's planning and zoning commission. "Our apartments are about 90 percent full."

The commission has begun encouraging more affordable housing, Blair says. "We're promoting infill housing, especially in places that can handle a duplex or a fourplex."

Unfortunately, says Duranceau, higher density development, such as town houses, often meets with community resistance. "There seems to be a concern over the type of buyer these homes would attract," he says. "It's disappointing because many of the sites are located close to schools, fire stations, and commercial areas that residents can walk to."

While Kingman is far from built out, water eventually will become an issue in the subdivision approval process, predicts Duranceau. "Kingman is almost all ground water and we've had bad droughts for several years," he says. The city also must decide how far out to extend city water service. "We'll need to look at things such as whether to extend water out into the community or whether a property should be annexed before providing water," says Duranceau. "Should we accommodate builders on the fringe or let them go it on their own? Which is worse?"

With the most recent development boom behind them and another on the horizon, Duranceau sees it as a time to step back. "We need to look at what's happened and where we want to go so that when the time arrives we'll have some consensus about how to deal with it."