A proposed rezoning to build a new garage door manufacturing plant near Bouse was closed after no motion was obtained to approve the rezoning for one second. This comes after a public hearing on the matter was held at his Oct. 17 meeting of the La Paz County Board of Supervisors.

Unique Garage Doors, Inc. wanted to build a factory to assemble garage doors at 32250 Highway 72 near Bouse. Located south of the intersection with Avenue 41E. They needed to rezoning rural areas from agriculture to light industry. did not support. District 1 supervisor David Plunkett resigned after a hearing speaker said there was a potential conflict of interest on the matter.

Robert Kelley, owner of Unique Garage Doors, said he wanted to move his factory from California to La Paz County. He said he has been in the garage door business for 35 years. At the factory, only the finished parts are assembled. No processing of raw materials or use of chemicals. He added that he likes the area and wants to build a house here.

Phillip Solesberger, who helped with Kelley’s presentation, said the plant has a small footprint and is located along Route 72 away from residential areas. He said the place would be surrounded by trees.

At the public hearing on land readjustment, several residents voiced their support for land readjustment. They said the plant would be a good fit for Bowes and would bring needed jobs and development to the Bowes area and county. Opponents of the zoning outnumbered those in favor of the zoning, claiming that it was against the county’s comprehensive plan and could be illegal.

The County’s Comprehensive Plan has not been revised or updated since 2010.

Julie Wright spoke in favor of rezoning. She said the factory would bring in jobs, increase tax revenue and use less water than agricultural water. I said there is.

Bowes resident John Bennett said he was reminded of the county’s comprehensive plan to establish SR 72 to attract businesses to the area.

“There is no other company as small as this,” he said. “This is good for the county.”

Small business owner Al Rafferty said the county needs to set up businesses so young people can find jobs and stay here.

“I agree 100 percent with this,” he said.

Kenneth Martthorff said it’s road safety that no one is talking about. He pointed out that SR 72 he is a two-lane country highway and already has a lot of traffic. He added that he hears different numbers about how many people work at the factory and how many trucks come in and out each day.

Both Cynthia Larrimore and Kariann Noeltner said the factories were against the county’s comprehensive plan and under state law ARS 11-814 (A) they could not go against the comprehensive plan.

Noeltner continued to maintain that ARS 11-814 states that a unanimous vote is required to approve this rezoning because the oversight board has fewer than five members.

When it was his turn to speak on the matter, Minor said ARS 11-814 (E) only required a majority vote if there were fewer than five county supervisors.

Michael Noeltner said he knew Plunkett had sold a property near the site and asked if that property would go up in value on the day’s vote. He said Plunkett would report to the Attorney General’s office if he didn’t deny himself, and that a conflict of interest would be a Class 6 felony.

When it came time to meet with the supervisor, Plunkett said he didn’t know about the property in question, but that there were properties in the area and that there were people working for him.

“I am not at all interested in this issue,” he said.

After raising the issue of the dispute with Deputy County Attorney Jason Mitchell, who was present at the meeting, Plunkett decided to back off from the matter.

District 3 supervisor Holly Irwin said she was all in favor of the development, but the proposal goes against comprehensive planning and amounts to spot zoning. She and the board need to consider the interests of people around the site and how it affects their lifestyles, she said. He added that he hadn’t done anything personal.

“I don’t want to put something where it shouldn’t be,” she said.

Miner said the rezoning was not a “Trojan horse” to bring in heavy industry. He added that the comprehensive plan is meant to be flexible. This plant is compatible due to its proximity to the transportation corridor.

The land in question could be used for far more destructive and harmful uses by leaving it plotted for rural agriculture, Miner said. , there may be agricultural operations that may involve the use of large amounts of water and the use of spray chemicals such as pesticides.

“We should push this[garage door plant]to happen,” he said. “There are so many worse things out there.”

When a motion to approve the rezoning was not obtained, Minor said he hoped the county would not gain a reputation for trying to keep businesses out.

“We’re not going to grow if we’re going to make it impossible for people to come here,” he said.