Les Johnson, principal planner, presented the Haas project: a three-parcel site at the northwest corner of Ocotillo and Hawes totaling approximately 2.72 acres. The applicant requested a rezone to C-2 general commercial, site-plan approval for a roughly 7,600-square-foot funeral home and a conditional-use permit for that use following annexation of a small unincorporated island parcel. Johnson said the proposal includes 66 parking spaces, which exceed minimum requirements, and described the building program, including two gathering spaces, a catering/prep area, office space and a covered porte-cochère facing Ocotillo.

Johnson noted a portion of the western landscape buffer overlaps a stormwater conveyance easement established when Ocotillo was widened; the easement requires that the very westernmost strip remain open for drainage. At a June 23 neighborhood meeting six residents attended and raised only one substantive concern: whether cremation would occur on-site. "That was taken care of with the applicant representing that that would not be a part of the operation," Johnson said.

Applicant representative Sean Lake told commissioners SCI, the funeral-home operator, is a large national operator but that this facility would not include a crematory and would be a low-intensity, dignified use. "This is a service that everybody needs," Lake said, adding that the site is suitable for commercial use at the arterial intersection. Staff reported receiving one written comment in opposition from a non-adjacent resident citing zone-change incompatibility and traffic concerns.

Commissioner discussion was largely supportive, noting the use is compatible with neighboring properties and would improve the corner. Commissioner (speaker 9) moved to approve the rezone (P23-0173 and P24-0071), site plan (P25008) and the conditional-use permit; the motion was seconded and the commission voted to pass the recommendation to council.