The Mesa Design Review Board has seven Mesa residents who volunteer their services. The mayor, with the approval of the City Council, appoints the members of the Design Review Board.
The Design Review Board is unique in that its composition is set by the zoning ordinance to include two architects; two from other design professions, such as landscape architecture, engineering, urban planning, interior design or other design-related background; one contractor or developer; and two citizens.
The Design Review Board’s purpose and duties have evolved over the years. The board’s original purpose was to hear appeals of decisions made by the city’s building safety division regarding its newly adopted design guidelines.
It now reviews buildings of four or more stories in height; any multiple residential projects that exceed the RM-2 density range, which is a minimum lot size of 7,200 square feet; commercial and industrial projects that have frontage on an arterial street or that are part of an existing or planned development that has frontage on an arterial street; and any commercial and industrial projects which have, or will have, greater than 20,000 square feet of gross floor area.
The board also reviews parking garages and city of Mesa municipal projects.
A Mesa business that turns scrap steel into rebar plans to double its output with the expansion of a mill and the addition of other buildings on 229 acres west of the Meridian Road alignment, south of Pecos Road and north of Germann Road.
“We’re excited to expand — more than double — our facilities here in Mesa. Been a pleasure working with the Mesa team in the past, like in 2007 when we developed the property, and hope to work together for this,” Andy Sarat, director of operations at Commercial Metals Co. Steel operations in Arizona, said at the Feb. 9 Zoom meeting of the Mesa Design Review Board.
The expansion will add 186 jobs to the current 265, said Rod Jarvis, the company’s zoning attorney.
“I think it’s important in evaluating the design of this project to fully appreciate what it does,” he said. “The existing plant — the first phase, which is already in place, which we call AZ1 — recycles 450,000 tons of scrap metal, producing 435,000 tons of rebar annually. So that drives the design — that kind of volume, that kind of activity. What is being proposed is even bigger. It’s going to be recycling approximately 600,000 tons of scrap steel annually.”
Steel and other materials will be used on the buildings, Mesa Planner Ryan McCann told the board.
“(T)he buildings use concrete, metals, steel and CMU, just to give you an idea,” he said of concrete masonry units.
“They produce rebar, so a lot of different storage buildings, manufacturing — different things like that, and then in the bottom middle would be kind of their office and operations building,” Mr. McCann said of the planned expansion. “As we take a look at the site plan, the largest building on the site will be their mill building expansion and then they are proposing supporting industrial buildings just kind of scattered throughout the site; for instance the scale house, an office and locker room for employees as well as some additional storage of materials and different things like that.”
A rail spur has been proposed on the site’s west side to bring in product, and in the northeast corner the business is proposing a future solar area, he said.
The landscaping plan shows mesquite, palo verde and acacia plants. The closest building to Germann Road is approximately 150 feet from the property line, and the large mill expansion will be 1,100 feet from Germann Road, he said.
Mesa resident Ken Smith, who has property east of the Commercial Metals Co. facility, asked why landscaping was proposed around the new buildings but not close to Pecos and Meridian roads.
“I’m thrilled at the progress CMC Steel is making and excited about their expansion. I just have a question for the board and that would be, ‘What ... is the architecture for a buffer zone on the east side and the south side of the expansion at CMC Steel?’” he asked.
Planner Tom Ellsworth said when the facility was first constructed a bonus intensity zone overlay and development agreement were approved for the phasing-in of that landscaping.
The agreement authorizes the city to continue to work with the property owner or operator on when to put the landscaping in so it doesn’t have to be taken out because of additional improvements and development, Mesa Planning Director Nana Appiah said.
Mesa Design Review Board member Paul Johnson said he is not familiar with the area where the facility is to be constructed but did an Internet search.
“I did a little Google streets view. There’s a lot of chain link fence around this site as well as all the neighboring sites, so eventually I’d like to see that development agreement hit and get a better street frontage treatment, both from the landscaping and a fence standpoint,” he said. “(I)t looks like the one building that they put closest to the street, they added some more premium materials on it? I don’t even think that’s necessary. I think they can just roll with what they have consistently throughout the site.”
The landscape plan was not complete is missing Latin names of plants, board member J. Seth Placko said.
“(T)his is one of the hardest landscape plans I’ve had to read in a very long time. The plant legend I don’t think meets, necessarily, the city’s standards,” he said. “It just says ‘sage species’ — that could be anything; I don’t know what that is. ‘Senna species’ — there are five or six different senna species. And ‘sage species’ is in here twice in the plant legend. And the quantities don’t appear to match the plans. So I think this landscape plan needs a lot of work. The scale is too small to read the shrubs.”
The planned yucca baccata should not be around parking lots and near buildings, he said.
“(I)t is a mean plant. It’s not something you want to walk into, and it’s also a plant that tends to clump, so even if the book says it gets 5 feet wide, unless you’re doing maintenance on it routinely, you will have a cluster of these things. These things would be great along your perimeter — the yucca baccatas — because they would keep people out and they would ... maintain themselves over time,” Mr. Placko said.
Richard Dyer Managing Editor | East Valley @RHDyer
Meet Richard Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.
Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions.
Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.
Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.
Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.
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