During the Oct. 14 Holbrook City Council meeting and convening as the Board of Adjustment, the council voted without opposition to grant a variance sought by Texas Republic Signs LLC of Houston on behalf of Allsup’s at 1702 and 1704 W. Hopi Drive, where a gas station and travel center is planned at the Interstate 40 interchange. City code caps freestanding signs in the C-2 commercial district at 36 feet and 300 square feet, while the approved sign will stand 125 feet with 865.28 square feet of sign face.
City Planner Kevin Auster said staff took no position but that the council had to find a hardship tied to the property itself. The applicant’s drive survey showed a rock landform east of the site blocks westbound drivers’ view of any shorter sign until they are nearly at the off-ramp and Justin Mayberry of Texas Republic Signs said the site also sits at least 50 feet below the interstate. Pacheco asked what happens if the sign goes up and the store never opens and Mayberry said signs go in about three months before opening, are not powered until the building is turned over and can be covered in the meantime. The approval limits electronic displays to fuel prices, bars off-premises advertising, requires plans stamped by an Arizona-registered engineer and extends the deadline to finish construction from six months to 24 months.
Convening as council, two of four events in a proposed addendum to the city’s agreement with the Holbrook Chamber of Commerce and tabled the other two. Resolution 26-24 would make the chamber lead organizer of the Parade of Lights, the Fourth of July Parade and Games, Happy Holbrook Activity Days and the New Year’s Eve Tumbleweed Drop, with $1,500 in city reimbursement for each, or $6,000 a year.
Mayor Kathleen Smith said the chamber has always run the Parade of Lights and that the contractor the city has paid to run the Tumbleweed Drop the past two years is willing to hand it over. She proposed pulling Happy Holbrook Activity Days, saying the April celebration has been a city event since its inception and that staff already have events planned for the month. Smith said the chamber hopes to stage a full Fourth of July parade and festival downtown. Councilmember Teri Tafoya said she wanted assurance the Kiwanis bike parade at Hunt Park would continue and not be scheduled against it, noting next year’s Fourth coincides with an all-class Holbrook High School alumni reunion.
The council first voted to table the entire resolution, then rescinded that motion after Smith noted the chamber needs lead time for the winter events. It approved the Parade of Lights and Tumbleweed Drop at $1,500 each on a 5-0 roll call vote, tabled the rest and asked Sullivan to have a chamber representative at the next meeting. Becki Colon the director of the chamber of commerce stated after the meeting that she was not made aware of the agreement being on the agenda for that meeting and will be there at the next for this discussion.
Two housing resolutions passed 5-0. The first adopts revised housing rehabilitation guidelines required by the Arizona Department of Housing and the second authorizes a January application for Community Development Block Grant funds for an owner-occupied repair program. Sullivan said grants administrator Barbara Blythe has resigned and the city may not apply unless it finds staff to write and manage the grant. Council member Robert Black and Mayor Smith both said at least two homeowners were unhappy with work done under the previous grant.
The council also approved accepting a $19,971 from the Gila River Indian Community, with no local match, to upgrade the police department’s training room. Police Chief Nathan Christensen also introduced the department’s newest officer, Eddie Corrales, who came from the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office after three years at the county jail.
The council discussed the transfer of 902 1/2 N. 6th Ave., which the city took through the abatement and lien process, to adjacent owner Tabatha Richards, the owner of 902 N. 6th Ave. Staff said the lot has no municipal use and Mayor Smith said she and Tafoya drove by before the meeting and found it sits in an alley and could not hold a house because of setback requirements.
Tafoya said she did not want to set a precedent of the city giving away property and asked whether the lot could be sold for a minimal amount instead. City Manager Randy Sullivan said the city would normally put property out to bid but worried the highest bidder might not be the neighbor, leaving someone else with an unbuildable lot and said he would ask the city attorney whether a direct sale is allowed. Smith noted the city recently gave up an easement on Hopi Drive for Calvary Chapel but said she shared the precedent concern. This property, however, is unlikely to be productive with any other owner and would represent a larger tax liability for the homeowner which benefits the city. At Councilmember Arcenia Pacheco’s request for written direction from the attorney, the council tabled the second reading.
The council voted to recommend approval of a beer and wine store license for Holbrook Corner, a gas station at 101 W. Hopi Drive. The applicant is TKGAS Inc., with William Telya as agent and manager. The Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control makes the final decision.
Navajo County Public Health staff presented the county’s 2026 Community Health Assessment, the same report they have delivered to other local governments. Smith asked why county life expectancy, at 68.1 years, trails the state’s 77.2 by so much and the presenters said they could not point to a definitive cause beyond access to resources. Ciera Hensley the county’s public health deputy director told the council that this survey was only representative or survey respondents and may or may not represent the county as a whole.
Smith said the city is sponsoring the Petrified Mud Run on Oct. 24, at $25 for individuals and $150 for teams of up to 10, with a free kids’ loop for ages 4 to 10. Halloween events include a Historical Society haunted house at the museum from 6 to 10 p.m., the Elks Spooktacular at Martinez Hall from 2 to 5 p.m., a trunk-or-treat at the Bijou Center from 4 to 6 p.m. and a Sheriff’s Office trunk-or-treat at Gillespie Park at 5 p.m. on Oct. 28.
