The next step in the cultural center development project proposed by the Little Colorado Community Development Corporation (LCCDC) was achieved last week. Following a presentation to the Winslow City Council, a zoning overlay was granted to the project.
LCCDC is a citizen led development group that seeks to build on Navajo Nation owned land in the Winslow area. The plan is to develop a multi-use cultural center featuring retail space, restaurants, a miniature golf course, a 126-room hotel and shared office space. Also proposed is an outdoor event center, which would be rodeo ready, and would host livestock shows and pow wows, as well as Native American cultural exhibits.
Providing a learning environment as well as an economic one is important to the group. In a presentation given during a June Winslow Council meeting, Chief Executive Officer of LCCDC Jessica Stago said, “We want to provide accurate information about the Navajo and Hopi Relocation Act, and provide a Native American perspective on the history of this area.”
Currently, the 33.7 acres located at the northwest corner of East Third Street and Transcon Lane is already zoned for commercial use, but the overlay will allow for uses and development standards designed specifically for the intended uses of the property, many of which are not listed as being allowed within the commercial district. Some of those uses include agricultural gardens, artists’ residences and studios, an arts and crafts gallery, an assisted living/long term care facility, a conference and cultural center, indoor and outdoor entertainment and recreational facilities, a lookout tower, a museum, an indoor and outdoor performing arts center, outdoor camping, an outdoor market, a recreational vehicle park, a rehabilitation center, a senior care facility and a tourism/visitor center.
In the staff report related to the motion, Community Development Director Paul Ferris wrote, “A special development overlay is allowed on a property containing at least 10 acres, and is intended to allow any combination of compatible uses that may not fit specific requirements of any one zoning district.”
In order to obtain these special uses, LCCDC was also required to formally request exemption from some ordinances in the City of Winslow Property Development Standards, which requires all uses to be conducted entirely within a closed building or behind a solid six-foot wall or fence, to allow all outdoor sales and entertainment uses.
The exemptions also include Section 17.84 of the Winslow Municipal Code, which relates to parking requirements. Ferris explained the exemption would “allow the developer to submit an alternative parking analysis to address the mixed-use nature of the development and associated parking demands.”
Also required of the developer, according to the Planning and Zoning Commission, are 11 conditions that address developmental standards, off-site improvements, permitted uses, livestock, dark-sky lighting and signage standards, and use of a public address system.
During the presentation to the council, project designer Mark Reddie of LVA Urban Design Studio said, “We are in agreement with the staff report and all 11 conditions. We look forward to your support for this project.”
Stago explained, “We did three strategic planning meetings where we invited the community to help us determine what our priorities were and how we would achieve them. One of the priorities they listed was housing.” Housing for Native American relocatees in Winslow is scarce, Stago said, noting, “Although we don’t have housing on this commercial development, we realized that we were going to have to get some economic development project going that would eventually lead us to having funds to do housing.”
There are nine parcels of land within the Winslow city limits that are owned by the Navajo Nation that are in the overall plan of the development group. According to Stago, the timeline for developing all nine must begin with the capital generated from this proposed multicultural center. Stago continued, “Economic development was the second priority and the creation of jobs, so it made sense for us to take a look at where we could do some development and what resources we had available to us as a non-profit organization. We needed to make sure that this was something that would actually produce jobs and produce economic opportunity for the City of Winslow, as well as the Native community.”
The approval of the zoning overlay is a move forward in the process for this development group, as it will allow it to present the project more comprehensively to potential investors. Stago explained that with this approval and the required land withdrawal from the Navajo Nation both completed, the LCCDC can focus on marketing the proposal. She said, “These two things allow us to begin construction.”
The timeline for the development is not clear, as investment must come first. “This is a big step for us in terms of our overall plan of providing for the needs of the Native community,” said Stago, “and we feel like this is also a big opportunity for us to partner with the City of Winslow to provide for the citizens of Winslow as well.”
