Gilbert Town Council unanimously approved Jan. 24 adding mixed-use zoning designations to the town’s land development code.
Along with the approval of mixed use/small, mixed use/large and mixed use/regional zoning, council approved design guidelines for future mixed-use developments. The differences among the districts are on items like allowable height, density of development and size of lot.
The town defines mixed use as a development plan that integrates two or more distinct types of uses into a cohesive, pedestrian-oriented environment, with a variety of new public and semi-public spaces. The different districts allow for the developments to vary in scale from individual buildings to large regional-scale developments.
Previously, mixed-use developments could be approved under existing zoning designations. Examples in town include Epicenter at Agritopia and Verde at Cooley Station, both of which are still putting retail uses in. Epicenter has a vertical development of lofts above ground-floor retail. Verde is a horizontal development that includes retail, medical offices and apartments.
Gilbert Planner Noah Schumerth told council that such developments are becoming increasingly popular, but without the mixed-use zoning districts, the town planners and officials lacked tools and standards to best determine where they should be. He said the districts also allow the town and developers to be more transparent with the public.
Schumerth said the town wants the developments to be “greater than the sum of their parts.”
“The goal of this project was to try to create a tool that increased developer flexibility for mixed use zoning ... while providing greater town control over mixed-use site placement and design,” he said.
Schumerth said during the presentation that property will not be automatically rezoned into one of the mixed-use categories. Rather, the developer will have to apply for the property to be rezoned into a comparable mixed-use district.
The mixed-use zoning will be allowed within the town’s vertical development overlay districts, which permit mid-rise buildings in town, but will not be allowed within the Heritage District Overlay.
The town also included amendments to support the zoning for items like signage and parking.
Council members gave praise to staff for their work on the code amendments.
“We are asking a lot for (developers) to come in ask for a mixed-use project,” Vice Mayor Kathy Tilque said. “I believe that by providing the guidelines that we have, it provides those developers who want to come in an understanding of the standards that we have, and, of course, those guidelines provide flexibility, which is important.”
Council Member Scott Anderson said the amendments were a long time coming.
“I think for our City of the Future initiative, this is a great example of how we can address much of what is in that initiative about quality of life in Gilbert,” he said.
Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on twitter. To voice your opinion on this story, connect with us at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.
Tom Blodgett Senior News Editor | Gilbert @sp_blodgett
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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