CAVE
CREEK – Town council at its July 16 meeting, over objections
from Councilwoman Grace Meeth about potentially setting
a precedent, approved the final design of Stagecoach Village.
Construction
on the commercial development just off Cave Creek Road
and Galloway Drive, described at the meeting as having
an “Old West” feel to it, is nearing completion.
At
issue was the “mezzanine” or intermediate floor in one
of the structures. According to the
International
Building Code, a model code adopted throughout most of
the U.S., a mezzanine is allowed as long as it doesn’t
take up more than one third of the space the building
occupies. However, when the property was rezoned in 1994,
one stipulation was that any building constructed could
be only one story and no more than 25 feet in height.
Town
Planning Director Ian Cordwell said the plans show the
mezzanine is within code and that a mezzanine doesn’t
count as a second story.
“The
buildings appear to be two stories tall because that’s
how the developer wants them to
look,” Cordwell told The Desert Advocate. “But they’re
only one story.”
Meeth
still had a problem with approval and argued with council
members over this point, insisting that even though the
mezzanine doesn’t count as a second story, pursuant to
the one building code, in her mind it’s another floor.
“According
to our codes, this shouldn’t be allowed,” Meeth said.
“What we’re saying by signing (the development agreement)
is our code is meaningless. I don’t want to set that kind
of
precedent.”
Other
council members disagreed, however, with Dick Esser saying
the development is “a good fit” for Cave Creek, and Tom
McGuire commented, “I don’t see a problem here.”
Mayor
Vincent Francia noted the applicant had to go through
the town’s development process to get to this point, as
would any other applicant.
“This
is an addendum,” Esser said. “We can probably find 50
definitions with the international building codes that
we are in conflict with.”
Resident
Herb Natker spoke out against the project, saying the
mezzanine has allowed the building to “morph into two
stories.”
Natker
also pointed to potential traffic problems at the corner
of Galloway and Cave Creek roads and asked that a three‑way
stop be introduced.
Council’s
vote in favor of the development agreement was 5‑1,
with Meeth dissenting.
