CDD Planning Services Division

Planning and Zoning balances cultural, economic and environmental factors to protect the overall aesthetic of the Community.

The Planning Services Division, under the Community Development Department, facilitates the implementation of the Community's physical environment as it develops economically.

The program continually expands its capacity to appropriately assist, communicate, coordinate, guide, direct and provide support services to the Land Management Board, Community Council, tribal enterprises, landowners, tribal departments and certain others in advocating the highest, best and intelligent land use planning and development of private and public lands.

It regulates and assures compliance with the Community's adopted land use planning and development policy through cognizant application of the General Plan, Zoning Ordinance, Design Guidelines, and Development Codes.

General Plan

The General Plan is our master policy document for making land use decisions. It serves as our guide for everything from capital planning and neighborhood planning. The spirit of the General Plan is supported by the Zoning Ordinances and Development Standards. To ensure compliance, planners conduct thorough design and site plan reviews and follow up with site inspections.

Pre-application

A Pre-application packet submittal and meeting is required prior to filing a formal application with the Planning Services Division (PSD) for a General Plan Amendment, Rezoning, Conditional Use Permit, Variance and/or Design Review. The purpose of the Pre-application packet submittal and meeting is to provide information on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC) development requirements, planning review and approval processes, application and fee requirements, and to allow PSD staff to provide an initial review of the request. PSD conducts hundreds of reviews each year to keep development and land use true to the Community Vision. The guidelines are set high so that the decisions made today are in line with our long term development strategy. The building architecture and landscape plans approved are complementary to the culture. Including a responsible approach to the environment and the natural desert beauty. When reviewing a development proposal, many elements are carefully considered to protect the people and look of the Community.

Planning and Zoning

Assures that the General Zoning Ordinance, Design Guidelines, and other land use regulations correctly reflect the goals and desire of the Community and are adhered to by the land owners and developers.

Planning Services provides preliminary land use assessments and land use reviews, and processes rezoning, conditional use permit, and variance applications.

Zoning Documents

Zoning Ordinance and Design Update (ZODU)

The Zoning Ordinance and Design Update (ZODU) is a comprehensive update to the Community's Zoning Ordinance design standards documents. These documents are primary tools for regulating and guiding the appearance and functionality of building and site development within the Community.

Design Review

The purpose of Design Review is to make sure that all projects built within the Community are consistent with the Community's land use planning policies and development regulations. Development and design standards set the developmental guidelines and the Design Review committee ensures that development plans meet the requirements.

Design Review Process Documents

Supplemental Information

Special Use Permits

The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community recognizes and appreciates the occasional staging of special events within its boundaries. In order to maintain safe conditions for the residents and visitors of the Community, organizers of special events are required to receive an approved Special Use Permit.

If you are planning an event or activity that requires a special use permit (some examples include an activity within the preserve lands or a special event that will block off a road), please fill out the application form and submit by email along with the other submittal requirements to Esther Moyah (Esther.Moyah@srpmic-nsn.gov) and John Roanhorse (John.Roanhorse@srpmic-nsn.gov) for processing. See the program document below for additional information.

GIS

In addition to the primary function of the department, the division supports the GIS users in the Community. GIS (Geographic Information System) captures, stores, analyzes, manages, and presents data that is linked to a location. GIS is the merging of graphic map entities and databases.

Having GIS is valuable in the sense that it can help us to explain events, predict outcomes, and plan strategies. It also assists in decision making and problem solving.

Some examples of uses for GIS are:

• Query and Analysis - once your GIS contains geographic data, you can begin to ask simple questions such as: Who owns the land on the corner? How far is it between two places? Where is land zoned for industrial use? Where are the lands most suitable for home sites? If we build a road here, how will traffic be affected?
• Buffers - GIS technology uses a process called buffering to determine the proximity relationship between features, i.e.: What are the total residents within a mile of the landfill? How many houses lie within 100 m of the sewer line?
• Overlay analysis - the integration of different data layers involves a process called overlay.
• Maps - maps are very efficient at storing and containing geographic information.

Any questions regarding maps and making a request please contact Gnani Marupakula at (480) 362-7629.