Guest View- Don Bristow: In Oro Valley, An RV and A Truck Are "Cars" According To Town Staff

What is a Car?

This question appears to be so easy to answer that you might wonder: Why ask?  Though the answer is obvious to you and me, it's not obvious to the Town Of Oro Valley.  In Oro Valley a 24 and 26 foot length delivery-moving truck and small box trucks are cars.  In Oro Valley  a recreational vehicle (RV), 5th wheel trailer, and some other classes of towable trailers are cars.

How and why did did this come to pass in Oro Valley, you ask??

How? The Oro Valley Manager–Planning and Zoning Division, David Williams, used his authority to issue 2 administrative decisions that these vehicles are cars. Why? I can only guess. I do know that the result gave two applicants the ability to circumvent the Town’s codes and planned area development documents (PAD), laws that only allowed cars in the zoning areas where businesses wanted rental trucks and RVs.
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One such use of an administrative decision involved a hardware store requesting a conditional use permit (CUP) to operate a U-Haul rental franchise. The idea was rejected by council, only after Williams allowed it to move forward by saying a truck is a car.  The C-2 zoning for the location only permitted car rental.

His logic?  At the May 7, 2013 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting and the June 5, 2013 Council meetings, Planning Manager Williams stated that the Town’s codes don’t define a car and he couldn’t identify any clear definitions of a car; therefore, he used alternative terms to define a motor vehicle. To Williams, any motor vehicle is a car. 

When I conducted a search of definitions for cars and trucks, contrary to staffs’ claims, there were several definitions from recognized-legitimate sources that clearly defined cars and trucks as different types of vehicles.

This strange interpretation of what is a car reared its head once again last month.  At the October 16, 2013 Town Council Meeting, Planning Manager Williams again stated that, based on his authority, he made an administrative decision that a recreational vehicle is synonymous with an automobile.   As a result, La Mesa RV could move ahead with the display of RV's at the Oro Valley Marketplace.  This decision, once again, subverted the law which is that only cars can be displayed on Rancho Vistoso commercial lots.  Council approved the use this time, as this blog reported.
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My best efforts of informing Planner Williams, Planning and Zoning Commission, and Oro Valley Town Council that there are definitions of a car being just that had fallen on "deaf ears."   I was left, therefore, with no recourse but to attempt to appeal William's decision to the Board of Adjustment.

Then, I found out I couldn't really do this.  I was told that I lacked "standing" because I am not directly harmed by this decision.

The town attorney told me that, even if I was granted a hearing, and the Board of Adjustment  found the Planning Manager erred in his administrative determination, that it wouldn’t stop staff issuing a Conditional Use Permit allowing RV display and sales. A favorable finding would only mean that RVs would no longer be cars in Oro Valley, until the Council changed the definition.  The display would go on.
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In my opinion, Town staff and Council rewrote the law by changing the definition of a "car" to just about anything with a motor and wheels.  In doing so, they place special interest above the law.

What is your opinion regarding the Planning and Zoning Commission and Council accepting administrative decisions without requiring factual and logical proof?    If you were told an RV and 26-foot long trucks are the same as a car, would you accept it without questioning?  Is there anything citizens can do to cause staff, council and commission members to uphold the Town codes?

Don Bristow
Oro Valley Resident
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