Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona (ECoNA) — Working to Streamline Development in Flagstaff

Good afternoon,

For the past four years, the city of Flagstaff has been leading transformative work in an attempt to address two City Council-declared emergencies: the critical need for approximately 8,000 more housing units by 2031, while also striving to achieve carbon neutrality by the end of this decade.

Much of the work to address these issues is coming out of the city’s Planning and Development Services Division, led by Director Michelle McNulty in partnership with the Housing and Sustainability Divisions.

The city launched a major project – the Land Availability and Suitability Study and Code Analysis Project (LASS+CAP) to assess whether there was enough land in Flagstaff to meet housing targets and to identify barriers in development-related codes that inhibit developers from building housing in Flagstaff.

“The important thing to know about our development codes is they’ve been written over three to four decades,” McNulty said. “Different councils had different priorities, and so you have all these processes and codes that have evolved over the years. We needed to see where there might be conflicts within our existing codes, but also were they working to achieve our housing and carbon neutrality goals.”

Certain changes coming out of those studies have already taken effect. For example, starting next year, developers will no longer have to submit a concept plat as part of the subdivision process and preliminary and final plats are no longer required to go to City Council for final approval. Meaning much of the plat approval process will be done administratively, greatly shortening approval timeframes.

Other changes will hinge on voter approval of the city’s Regional Plan 2045 in next year’s special election in May. The plan, which has been approved by the City Council, clearly designates land uses and potential zoning districts for every property, to protect community character while providing predictability for developers and neighbors.

If passed, it will allow the City to address one of its biggest challenges – the rezoning process.

Much of Flagstaff’s remaining developable land is zoned rural residential (one unit per acre), which requires rezoning to allow higher-density housing. Current processes involve extensive negotiations and upfront investment by developers, including the creation of a full site plan, making it an uncertain, lengthy, and highly expensive process.

Approval of the Regional Plan will allow the City to separate site plans from the rezoning process, although approval of a full site plan would be required before the property is developed.

Ultimately, passage of the Regional Plan will reduce the number of goals and policies that developers need to conform with from more than 500 to about 97, she said.

“It makes it easier for the developer to propose something that meets the expectations of the community,” McNulty said. “It’s not about making it easier for developers, but about making it easier to make good decisions that allow Flagstaff to grow efficiently, sustainably, and in a way the community supports.”

We applaud the City of Flagstaff for taking these essential steps to modernize its development codes and create a clearer, more predictable path forward. As we look ahead to the Regional Plan 2045 vote next spring, ECoNA remains committed to working alongside the City, local employers, and other stakeholders to build a thriving future.

Sincerely,

Gail Jackson

President & CEO

Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona