COPP ALERT COPP ALERT COPP ALERT

The End Run Around Scottsdale’s General Plan Moves Forward

In previous issues of the COPP News we told you how, in an apparent attempt to avoid the super-majority vote (5-2) of the City Council that is needed to approve a Major General Plan Amendment, the owner of the +/- 5-acre property at the southwest corner of Scottsdale and Lone Mountain Roads has applied for a Text amendment to the R1-70 Zoning District and an accompanying Use Permit to allow the construction of an 80-bed assisted living facility at that site.

That case – 5-TA-2009 – and its companion Use Permit – 35-UP-2009 are scheduled to be heard at the June 23 meeting of the Planning Commission. The meeting will begin at 5:00 pm in the Kiva.   It is important that members of the Planning Commission hear from residents of the area the extent of their concerns about this project, its negative impact on the character of the area, and the inappropriateness of this approach (Text Amendment instead of Major General Plan Amendment) to obtaining such a significant change in the allowed land use for this property, and in fact for every property in the City of Scottsdale that is zoned R1-70.  If you cannot attend the June 23 meeting in person, then please write to the members of the Planning Commission to express your concerns.

You can reach members of the Planning Commission by email as follows – please copy the staff coordinator on the case and ask that your correspondence be included in the Commission’s packet for the meeting.   Please mark your correspondence:  “For the Public Record” and reference the case numbers (see above).

You can also send your comments by fax to 480 312-7088 or by mail to the Planning Office at 7447 East Indian School Road, Scottsdale, AZ, 85251, attention Louisa Garbo.

January, 2010             

The End Run Around Scottsdale’s General Plan Continues

When the two 2009 Major General Plan Amendments, both requesting modifications to Scottsdale’s General Plan to allow otherwise prohibited uses in the area covered by the Foothills Zoning Overlay, were withdrawn, we cautioned that they had not gone away, but that it was likely the applicants would try a different approach to getting their plans approved.  That prediction has now come true.

In an apparent attempt to avoid the super-majority vote (5-2) of the City Council that is needed to approve a Major General Plan Amendment, the owner of the Property at the southwest corner of Scottsdale and Lone Mountain Roads had applied for a Text Amendment to the R1-70 Zoning District and an accompanying Use Permit to allow the construction of an 80-bed assisted living facility at that site.

Additionally, the owner of the +/- 10 acres on the northwest corner of Pima and Dynamite, who submitted and then withdrew an application for a Major General Plan Amendment from Rural Neighborhoods to Commercial, to allow the construction of a gas station and commercial center at that site, has applied to the city for a Text Amendment to the R1-190 Zoning District to allow their proposal to proceed without the need for a Major General Plan Amendment.

While the ownership of these two properties is different, there are many similarities between them:

• Both are represented by the same prominent, well-known Scottsdale Zoning Attorney;
• Both properties are located within the boundaries of the Desert Foothills Character Area and are covered by the City Council approved Foothills Zoning Overlay, neither of which support the uses applied for;
• Both proposals were originally submitted as Major General Plan Amendments, according to the timetable required by  state (and city) Statutes.
• Both proposals were accepted by the city’s Planning Staff as meeting the requirements for Major General Plan Amendments and processed accordingly;
• Both proposals faced overwhelming opposition from residents of the area and citizens who had participated with the city in the cooperative planning effort that led to the enactment of the Desert Foothills Character Area and Foothills Zoning Overlay;
• In the face of that opposition, both applications were withdrawn before being heard and likely denied by the City Council;
• Despite the overwhelming opposition, both applicants have returned with the same, novel approach to achieving their objectives, and that new approach appears to be the at the suggestion of the city Planning Staff, supporting and encouraging the applicants’ desire to avoid the need for Major General Plan Amendments and the super-majority vote of the City Council required to approve them;
• Both proposals, if approved, would undermine the spirit and intent of the Desert Foothills Character Area and Foothills Zoning Overlay, and set the stage for an influx of similar requests, all of which would destroy the character, ambience and lifestyle of this area of Scottsdale.

The most disturbing aspect of this Text Amendment approach to accomplishing what should be accomplished only by a Major General Plan Amendment is the apparent support and encouragement of the city’s Planning and Development Services staff, and David Richert, the city’s current Acting City Manager who was hired just over a year ago to replace Frank Gray as General Manager of Planning and Development Services.

It is difficult to understand why, as the city embarks on a nearly 3-year campaign to update its General Plan, an update that must ultimately be approved by Scottsdale’s voters, the upper echelon of the Planning Staff along with the Acting City Manager, would be supportive of such apparent attempts to undermine that process.  Doing so accomplishes nothing but to undermine citizen support of and confidence in the General Plan.

We will keep you apprised of scheduled meeting dates and other developments as they occur.