good afternoon and happy New Year we'll begin today formal meeting with an invocation from fire captain Troy holtorf Lord of Truth you tell us that when we call to you that you will answer and you will tell us great and hidden things that we do not know we call on you today Lord Lord you tell us that if we look for you wholeheartedly we will find you Lord help us to look for you with all our hearts Lord you tell us that if we lack wisdom to ask for it knowing that you are a generous Giver Lord we ask for wisdom today we desperately need it Lord you tell us to wash our hands and to clean and to purify our hearts Lord we come now to you to be made clean and pure forgive us Lord change us to be more like you Lord Lord you tell us that you oppose the proud but you give grace to the humble Lord we humble ourselves before you now and we ask for help Father guide this meeting with a hand that is far more capable than ours that is able to do more than we could ever ask or even imagine we need your touch today touch those in this city who are sick who are hurting who are lonely lost down and out who need your love and rescue father Lord come come and show your amazing grace to them and to us today help us to be your people on mission for you we ask for your blessing and Supernatural favor on today's meeting and agenda in the name of Jesus Christ amen please remain standing councilwoman Ann O'Brien will lead us in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the for which it stands one nation indivisible liy andice for all we'll Now call to order the formal meeting of the Phoenix City Council for Wednesday January 3rd will the city clerk please call the role councilwoman W councilwoman Hodge Washington here councilwoman O'Brien here councilwoman Pastor here councilman Robinson here councilwoman Stark here councilman wearing vice mayor Ansari here mayor gyo here Elsie dwarte and Mario baras are with us to provide Spanish interpretation would you please introduce yourselves yes mayor thank you hello my name is Mario wahas and together with my colleague elte we'll be serving as today's interpreters for our city council formal meeting I'll now take a moment to introduce ourselves to our Spanish speaking audience graas thank you mayor thank you so much will the city clerk please read the 24-hour paragraph the titles of the following ordinance and resolution numbers on the agenda were available to the public at least 24 hours prior of this council meeting and therefore may be read by title or agenda item only ordinances number G 7172 7199 7200 and 7207 through 7216 s 50441 through 50 492 and resolutions 22170 and 22179 through 22181 thank you will the City attorney please explain the role of public comments yes thank you mayor members of the public may speak for up to two minutes to comment on agenda items comments must be related to the agenda item and the action being considered by the council General comments that go beyond the scope of the agenda item must be made in the citizen comment session at the end of the agenda the city council and staff cannot discuss or comment on matters related to pending investigations claims or litigation additionally any member of the public who appears before Council in their capacity as a lobbyist must as required by Phoenix city code disclose this fact before addressing Council the city code requires speakers to present their comments in a respectful and courteous manner profane language threats or personal attacks on members of the public council members or staff are not allowed a person who violates these rules will lose the opportunity to continue to speak thank you item one is meeting minutes councilman wearing yes mayor I move to approve the meeting minutes of uh March 3rd 2021 way back machine we have a motion and a second any comments all those in favor please say I I I any opposed passes unanimously item two boards commissions as revised vice mayor motion to approve mayor and city council boards and commissions nominations as revised second motion of the second all those in favor please say I I any opposed nay passes unanimously vice mayor do you have a comment yep I just wanted to give a quick shout out to Ashton um he's with the sunrise movement on his appointment today um a very smart high school student he's been working with my office the mayor's office and really focused on ensuring that young people's input is Incorporated in the updates to our climate action plan so just wanted to give him shout out for being here and congratulations congratulations to Ashton and all of our new Commissioners if you could please come forward we will conduct a swearing in ceremony please raise your right hand I state your name and then repeat after me do solemnly swear do Solly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the contitution of the United States and the Constitution and laws of the State of Arizona and laws of the state of Arizon that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same that I willar and defend them against all enemies foreign and domestic and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the office of and state your commission the office Valle commit according to the best of my ability according to the best of my abili so help me God so help me God congratulations thank you for serving our [Applause] city we are so excited to welcome our new Commissioners thank you for advising the city and helping us be a better Phoenix the city council will next turn to liquor license applications we serve an advisory role to the State of Arizona vice mayor do we have a motion motion to approve items 3 through 18 second motion a second any comments all those in favor please say I I any oppos nay passes unanimously city clerk are we ready for ordinances resolutions new business planning and zoning yes mayor vice mayor motion to approve items 19 through 96 except the following items 24 47 62 80 90 91 92 93 94 and 95 noting that item 82 is being continued to January 24th 2024 item 83 is withdrawn item 85 is withdrawn items 93 94 and 95 have additional information and excluding these additional items for virtual public comment 2744 6573 and 96 and can the clerk confirm if there are any other items that should be excluded for iners public comment mayor vice mayor no other items to exclude great second we have a motion from the vice mayor a second from councilwoman Stark any comments roll call hod Washington yes O'Brien yes pestor yes Robinson yes Stark yes wearing Ansari yeso yes passes 80 we next move to item 24 which is a selection of the vice mayor before we I will turn to councilman O'Brien for a motion on this one I want to recognize vice mayor Ansari for her diligent work in this role over the last year stepping up in more than just procedural ways she has helped us become a better City she continues to shed light on important issues such as climate action together we have gotten guns off the street in Phoenix ended income discrimination for renters responded to the homelessness crisis work to address extreme heat and much more vice mayor insar has had a strong and consistent Presence at community events from LaVine to downtown and has partnered with organizations including Mercy Care to bring the to bring her District together in fun creative ways we want to thank you for your impactful tenure keep up the great work any other comments mayor councilwoman Stark thank you um I feel kind of proud that I made the motion to make you vice mayor right and I know you work extremely hard in your district and so you took on this additional work and you did it quite well um I really do admire your um focus on very important issues in the city and you really carried those forward as vice mayor most notably affordable housing and helping with our com trying to combat uh homelessness I know I know you've been passionate about those issues and I appreciate that you were a leader in those issues I think you did a fine job and I thank you for your service councilwoman O'Brien thank you mayor I just wanted to thank vice mayor andari for all of her additional work this last year she does um already do a ton of work in her district and on behalf of the entire city she's very passionate about the issues that are near and dear to her heart and to the city so thank you councilwoman hun Washington I'll did I'm sorry I'll I didn't have the pleasure of serving your entire term as vice mayor but it's been my pleasure to serve in that capacity to see you serve in that capacity um especially in the LaVine area you made it a point to coordinate when appropriate in d8 and D7 and our LaVine quarterly our pilot for 51st Avenue and Baseline as well as a 35th Avenue and Caesar Chavez and Turkey Trot um I know it's a it's been a labor of love I can tell on your perspective I just want to say thank you for your service and thank you I also want to say also in addition to your other capacities we also had the pleasure of working together to support the go Bond and I appreciate all of the efforts that you did in that component as well so thank you councilwoman pestor I just like to thank you for your work um not only in your District well mainly in your and some of it throughout the city um and appreciate what you have done uh especially incorporating the youth into uh decision-making uh capacity so uh thank you I think we are ready for a motion councilwoman O'Brien thank you mayor I'd like to move um councilwoman Stark for vice mayor I'd like to just say that uh from the beginning she has been a mentor and I really appreciate all the hard work she does in her District as well um we share a boundary and have worked hard on a couple of issues so I I enjoy seeing her at coffee with the cop and community events and tackling all those difficult uh issues with her at my side so thank you mayor second we have a motion and a second Council a vice vice mayor and sorry thank you mayor thank you everyone for the nice comments it's truly been an honor to serve Phoenix as vice mayor for 2023 um 2023 brought a lot of positive news for Phoenix we um we passed very well-deserved raises for our city employees we banned source of income discrimination for renters we passed a $500 million Bond program with critical Investments across our city legalized Casitas Citywide ordered our first electric buses and a lot lot more more more importantly and I think most importantly we took very decisive action to engage the 800 residents who were living outside of the Zone we worked to get them into safer shelter um and the uh statistic that I really want to emphasize is that 69% of those individuals are still in shelter and 7% are in permanent housing our work is far from over on this issue but this was a critical step and we accomplished our goal in a very strategic Humane and collaborative way it's also been one of the few times on Council I felt where every single one of us came together and really agreed on the direction that we should go in and that was really great to be a part of another area that I focused on was extreme heat um we along with the rest of the world of course broke heat records and um all eyes were on Phoenix we were in the national news every day I'm sure everyone got texts and calls from friends and family across the country about whether Phoenix was going to be livable and sometimes that was scary and sometimes maybe even felt a little dramatic itic but every year we've worked to improve our City's response to this critical issue um we have the first publicly funded office of heat response and mitigation in the United States and that office is growing every year doing critical work to make sure that we are doing everything in our power to respond mitigate and adapt to the threat of extreme heat the number of heat related deaths in the city and the county are unacceptable but I'm very optimistic that Phoenix will be the city to work learn to solve this issue once and for all and I'm very much looking forward to our February policy update on this matter thank you again um for this opportunity and I'm very excited to work with our new vice mayor um councilwoman Stark um in the coming year thank you any other comments I am very excited to move forward with nominating councilman Stark as vice mayor she is no stranger to the city council or to the city she's a dedicated diligent public servant and she's going to be a great vice mayor I look forward to working alongside you to tackle tough challenges and celebrate success as our former planning and development director she has taken on so many challenges including improving our processes in that area and speeding up timelines for important projects including affordable housing she's also been a great leader on public safety and making sure we have the best safest transportation system I'm excited to keep working with you now as our vice mayor to ensure Phoenix Remains the best city in the country so thank you any councilwoman HUD Washington yes I also am looking forward to say and vice mayor Starks move into that role I she has been um from the time I've been on on Council she has done nothing but welcome me with open arms always Community oriented and quick to help which I think are skill sets that the vice mayor um fills in greatly so thank I look forward to your support thank you for considering this thank you for all that you do councilwoman starts and your ability to bring everyone together and councilwoman and sorry will remain as our vice mayor for the duration of this meeting when we convene next week vice mayor Stark will help all right and Denise does this need a call okay all those in favor please say I I any oppose say nay congratulations Deborah Stark you have been elected vice mayor thank you vice mayor for your continued service and for all the work you have done this year we next go on to agenda item 27 the acquisition of we next go on to item 27 acquisition of easements do we have a motion move to approve item 27 second have a motion and a second Jeff Caldwell Jeff Caldwell he's not on okay uh roll call Hajj Washington yes O'Brien yes Pastor yes Robinson yes Stark yes wearing onari yes Gayo yes passes 70 item 44 is an agreement with Squire Patt and bogs we have a motion move to approve item 44 second do we have any speakers online for this item do not roll call water oh sorry Hodge Washington yes O'Brien yes Pastor yes Robinson yes Stark yes wearing Ansari yes goo yes pass is 70 item 47 is a request authorization to enter into a contract with the Southwest Center for HIV AIDS vice mayor move to approve item 47 second we have a motion in a second vice mayor for comments thank you um very excited about this item the Southwest Center does incredible work in district 7 and across the city they provide mental and physical health services for our lgbtqia plus community and this fund will specifically help provide services for patients who lack health insurance and are unable to pay out of pocket this community especially our trans constituents often don't have access to quality affordable health services and often need specialized support the Southwest Center and this $1 million arpa Grant from the city will help close that Gap and I'm very proud to support the item thank you thank you roll call hjge Washington yes obrien yes Pastor yes Robinson yes Stark yes wearing onari yes Gayo yes passes 70 item 62 is acquisition of real property for Hawk Crossings vice mayor move to approve item 62 second motion a second vice mayor more positive comments um this uh particular item is about pedestrian safety which is clearly so important to our residents and adding these Hawk signals will add more safe areas to be able for people to be able to get where they are going the hawk signals in district 7 in this item are by the Jack L Cuban Elementary School where many of the students nearby walk to school many of the streets they cross have large gaps between the crosswalks on wide streets that are frequented by semis and industrial traffic which is the surrounding area kids from the Homedale neighborhood will now have a safe Crossing on 35th Avenue something that they have been asking for for years so just wanted to shout this item out thank you wonderful thank thank you for your work to make sure we have safer Crossings councilwoman Stark thank you mayor um I'm too very excited about this item and uh a a big supporter of a safe streets and I'm very excited to see that a hawk will be going by Park Terrace a retirement community along Greenway that's been asking for one for a number of years and I know there's celebrating today so I'm happy that I'm going to support this wonderful roll call hjge Washington yes O'Brien yes Pastor yes Robinson yes Stark yes wearing yes Ansari yes Gayo yes passes 80 we next go to item 65 the parks master plan planning Services contract vice mayor move to approve item 65 second we have a motion in a second we have four public comments we'll go first to Virtual we still do not have Jeff Caldwell uh we will go to Michael Norton and then we'll followed in person by Jerry van guas we don't have audio okay uh Jerry will be next followed by Tim happy New Year uh Jerry Van gas uh I have a handout here this is in regards to uh a new city parks master plan we want it tabled right now uh we were at the here we go at the uh November and it's on video in front of the parks subcommittee we were told that uh this was going to be that it was Cynthia was direct director Cynthia and she stated we said where what is this going to cost couldn't come up with exact cost said contracts were still being finalized and yet they had somebody already with a website five months had been out there collecting input from the citizens had done a video and I know this wasn't done pro bono and when I asked what the funding source was she said 3pi so so here they are now we have record requests out from our Attorneys at the Center for Law and public interest that have not even been acknowledged this is seven weeks we have a legal opinion that we ask for the City attorney and nothing has been provided this is you know we're not going to go through another year of lies from the parks department we're tired of it they have it's not a option to provide record requests to our attorneys we want those and we want a legal opinion and we want this tabled now thank you thank you we'll hear from Tim and then we'll have Council comments good afternoon Tim Sakowski Happy New Year to all I'm the individual who at that November meeting asked for a legal opinion to date we have not received a legal opinion of usage of 3pi once again I am asking for a legal opinion from your legal department to explain to us exactly what they think that 3pi money can be used for I understand that there's $120 million there and I I understand that usages can be usages but I think there needs to be this year a clear understanding of exactly what this money can be used for I think the money has been used properly in most instances but I don't believe it's been used properly in some of the other ways that it should have been used so once again I'm asking for a legal opinion so that we can all understand exactly what this money can be used for secondly I'd like a full accounting of this money I want to know if this money consequently has been co-mixed with the city of Phoenix money because this is an initiative fund it has to be remain independent I want to know if this money was used to increase your bond rating for the City of Phoenix because $120 million would truly increase the bond rating if they knew you had cash money there so I think all these different items should be addressed at the present time and I think the public needs to at this point since they are being taxed on this money that they should have the the right to know exactly where this money is more importantly is I think we should set up a website for 3pi money and show monthly exactly where all the money is being spent so that we know clearly that it's being used correctly thank you so much thank you that concludes public com comment we'll go to councilwoman pestor I I would actually like to make a motion to continue this until uh we get clarity I sit on that committee and that was asked for um I guess my question is to Legal about uh public records requests uh because public records requests continue to be popping up here and what is the process in public records request because um I can't remember what department I think it was Transportation streets and transportation that said that they did weren't required to give Public public records requests and in all reality they were um so I would like to know what departments are exempt from public records requests so mayor and Council the city has um several different departments that respond to public records requests um each department has a uh public information officer and and we also have um through the communication office if it's multiple departments that are being requested so each time that a public records request comes in then of course we evaluate what we can release what we have and if necessary it's reviewed by the law department for any um personal identifying information or information that cannot be released for attorney client okay so then my understanding is every department when there's a public records requests they are required to go through the process yes mayor and councel that's correct okay um that's one of the reasons why I'm making the motion mayor councilwoman Stark thank you I'm assuming we wouldn't have this on our agenda if you hadn't fully vetted it with regards to 3pi correct so mayor and counil um as Council knows we cannot respond directly to public requests for legal advice or our legal opinion however when requested then we do give that opinion to the city departments in response to any of those legal issues that come up and so we have conferred with the parks department in regards to those types of questions and and maybe this is a question more for Cynthia but I think we have a 3pi oversight committee that audits 3pi every year as part of the process so would they have been involved in this anyway would they have vetted this issue as well good afternoon mayor council uh councilwoman Stark yes you are correct so we have a uh Phoenix Parks preserve initiative 3pi fund committee who meets annually uh and we have a third-party audit that's conducted on how we use the 3pi funds that committee is charged with revie reviewing uh the audit reports and deeming that uh that it's valid and that those funds are used appropriately in regards to the legal interpretation we did consult with the law Department who has given us uh the interpretation verbally that they have reviewed this and that we can use 3pi funding to fund the parks master plan uh and I know that that public records request is in progress we the department ourselves don't manage that request but I know that that review is in progress and an interpretation is pending thank you and and mayor I and and Jerry is a constituent of mine but I also have a lot of other constituents that are very anxious to see this master plan uh process move forward and I think it will help us in the future as we look at how we expend our monies as well as ensuring that we're Equitable amongst all the districts and so I I think we should move forward I I respect what you're saying Laura I get it but I think we've got a lot of people out there anxious for this process um to start if I recall it was a previous subcommittee that was chaired um by uh Betty and and and quite frankly she was asking for it back then so it's been quite a while that we've been trying to pursue this so I I would like to move forward with it thank you thank you mayor thank you councilwoman pestor so I will well I didn't get a second on my motion but that's okay because I'm gonna uh take my motion back I'm trying to get the proper uh term uh resend uh my motion but in the motion uh to to move this forward I would like all those items to be given all the requests that were requested and what we are allowed to do do um be given to those that have requested it um is the 3pi committee all those documentation everything they review is that that is public record mayor uh Council and councilwoman Pastor everything is public record yes okay is that on our website so that then uh citizens can go to the 3pi uh committee and grab uh the discuss discs the financials everything that is that is discussed in that committee uh councilman Pastor I don't know that everything is on the website but we can certainly make sure that the audit and the report and the results is on the website for review [Music] okay and I'm not sure if your microphone is on but we'll recognize the city manager excuse me oh there it is light was on but it wasn't working um so in regards to some of the requests I just wanted to add additional context the parks and preserve fund 3pi is also a part of the annual comprehensive financial report as well so it is also looked at from the finance perspective and an independent external auditor and the expenditures are also a part of the city checkbook so if anyone wanted to actually see what is being expended against the the 3pi fund it is available through the city's checkbook which is available online to all residents thank you and city manager would it be fair to say this is a relatively small amount of the fund to do long-term planning it is Mayor and if you if you recall that fund was initially the parks preserve fund was initially passed by voters in 1999 it was reauthorized I believe in 2008 um and it is for the acquisition of land in the Sonoran preserve and it's also for the development of additional Parks so I think this is definitely in line with what that um initiative was intending to do I am certainly excited for this plan to move forward I think there's things like looking at our Recreation strategies and Water Conservation where it's really great to have a city-wide conversation I always learn things and I suspect they will will'll get feedback that'll really help us do better unfortunately we also do need to look at things like crime prevention through environmental design and there is a lot of innovation in that area as well that can help us um I've talked about in the past I'm also looking forward to making a priority to do a real plan for the capital investment on vacant land that we own and make sure that we have a great conversation with our community and get moving on unitt projects in that area so I think this will be a valuable process it is relatively a small expenditure compared to the magnitude of parks and preserve initiative as someone who once worked in strategic planning I do think stepping back and taking a big picture can really help you use the resources that you have most effectively so Cynthia thanks to you and and the parks board for your leadership in this area I cannot wait to see what we learn and how we improve our R Great system councilwoman yeah so we did you make a motion okay okay the original motion okay so there is a motion for approval all right any so the motion is to approve and we have a second does anyone else have a comment councilman wearing uh thank you mayor just briefly Echo your comments I mean this is I think a necessary step to make sure we we don't waste money on stuff people don't want if I had to sum it up um as someone who has had the opportunity I guess I'll put it that way to Point people to uh uh help plan individual Parks I guess I would say if you're listening to this right now and you're interested in Parks this is a great opportunity to weigh in about what amenities you would like we don't want to build stuff you don't want to use we want to build stuff that's going to get the most use conversely if either you're weighing in or you're part of a committee or something if you don't get a 100% of what you want that doesn't mean the process is horrible terrible tear it all up you should have given me everything I wanted all I would ask is you've got an opportunity to weigh in take advantage of it right now Cynthia you and I have had I don't know how many discussions with how many constituents about this very thing and part in preparation for this process that we're going to be starting to engage in right now and so I'm glad that you're doing it to Echo the mayor's comments and I think it's needed and uh looking forward to the results thank you thank you Council councilwoman O'Brien yes um Cynthia how many parks do we have in the city of Phoenix mayor council one O'Brien we have 186 186 parks and in addition to that I know that um I have a large swath of land that used to be a landfill um in my area that was promised to be a park a long time ago and so I think for that reason in addition to the many reasons that have been named prior to my my comments that is another reason I'm excited to support this because it it's time for us to to have that master plan and know what is going to be happening um in the coming year so that our residents can know what kind of assets they'll have so thank you thank you roll call hge Washington yes O'Brien yes Pastor yes Robinson Stark yes wearing i'msorry yes g go yes pass is 8 Z Item 73 is GIS files for water users do we have a motion motion to approve item 73 second motion and a second we do not have any members of the public online wonderful this a important item that will help us do the best planning for our water department roll call Hodge Washington yes O'Brien yes Castor yes Robinson Stark wearing Ansari yes Gayo yes passes 80 we next move to item 80 which is retroactive approval to apply for the Arizona state parks and trails historic preservation Heritage Grant fund vice mayor move to approve item 80 we have a motion in a second I'll turn to the vice mayor for comments thank you mayor um over the last few years there has been a lot of anxiety in the downtown and historic preservation communities about the fate of the sergeant old Dicker house and I'm so pleased to say that there's now a developer attached to the project who has Tak on the very important responsibility of moving it to the corner of the lot rehabilitating it and bringing another great restaurant to Downtown Phoenix this is no small feet moving a 110y old house is not easy and costs a significant amount of money lesser developers would have demolished it to make room for a high-rise but this one is incorporating it into their housing project this is a big win for downtown um Downtown Phoenix and district 7 and I'm really proud to support this grant thank you thank you yes there's been a lot of Advocates who' have been working hard on this including members of the family who originally built it and former leaders of this city it's exciting that one of the the funding sources will also be the Phil Gordon threed threatened building grants we have several former mayors of the city who are very passionate about this project and historic preservation uh roll call H Washington yes O'Brien yes pastor yes Robinson yes Stark yes wearing onari yes Gayo yes passes 8 Z we next go to items 90 and 91 they are related items we will have two votes and one public hearing I'll um open the public hearing we do not have any members of the public to comment so I will close the public hearing for 90 and 91 and turn to councilman wearing for a motion thank you mayor uh motion to approve the item per the Planning Commission recommendation and adopt the related resolution second okay um Denise has pointed out to me we do have a representative for the applicant here do you need to speak thank you mayor members of council my name is Michelle green I'm with Lazarus and silven I'm here to answer any questions that you may have thank you I think Madam chair Larry was unable to be here today yeah so very understandable I thought you were just pleased with my motion that face you were making so glad I was glad it wasn't me it was an excellent motion look forward to voting in favor of it we have a motion in a second do you want any additional comments roll call H Washington O'Brien yes Pastor uh yes Robinson yes Stark wearing yes Ansari yes Gayo yes passes 80 woohoo councilman wearing for 91 do you have another excellent motion for us I I do um a motion to approve for the plan commission recommendation and adopt the related ordinance second may I just say one thing please yeah uh so uh like I said Larry couldn't be here today this this was this project was a long time coming um it's very active neighborhood they are terrific about providing feedback and so forth uh Larry worked with them for years and then the project I think that was planned for the spot didn't wind up getting funding and so forth so we had to start all over again and did it again but I really appreciate his work with this neighborhood um uh they they have very definitive uh needs and wants and I believe the fact that nobody is here today um really speaks volumes uh to the good work he did on this so I just want to say uh thank you for this because this could have been extremely controversial and wind up not being extremely controversial thank you wonderful thank you roll call Hajj Washington yes O'Brien yes Pastor yes Robinson yes Stark yes wearing yes Ansari yeso yes pass is 8 Z items 92 and 93 are related items we'll have two votes but one public hearing we will open public hearing we'll begin with inperson Mark cardinus followed by Greg best oh Mark does Mark is marked in support and that is all he needs uh Greg best followed by Musa salahi good afternoon mayor council people um I'm Greg best I live in the area I met uh you the mayor at the Salt River Flats groundbreaking that was one of my properties that we allowed the city to do affordable housing on recently we sold another property the Dal Dalia Village we sold that for affordable housing in that area uh I gave um I had the renters that had to be relocated so you could do the Dalia Village and they all received money to be relocated and it was a nice transition now we're across the street with 28 Acres R4 that we need affordable housing I sent everybody an email I don't know if you've got it um with the median home house prices at 535,000 it's too much for the that type of neighborhood Hood um but they want to put warehouses in R4 property 28 Acres of R4 the city I know you guys have been fighting to do the best you could do to get people located in something they can afford and you have the golden opportunity here to turn down warehouses that are not needed to allow for a whole subdivision to be built at a price range that people in the neighborhood or people that you're trying to locate could afford um and I I gave you that email but what's important is since you're aware that I sold the properties for those two huge affordable housing apartment complexes I owned I got support letters with people that say they're from the my house okay so if you look at these form letters that you receive from traml Crow there's a support for Michael tooya he says he lived at 3622 my office okay he never lived at my office then you've got an Andrea Espinosa Audrey and Espinosa again 3622 all the tenants that I had relocated all received financial aid to be relocated neither of these people ever Liv there nor did they receive the aid that's of record um some of them received up to $100,000 to move they received more money than they ever paid me in rent but they were taken care of to get this project in so these form letters that you received in support I can tell you right now they're not true okay I can also tell you I was offered $130,000 for my vote I didn't take it okay I didn't take it to be in support of because you need affordable housing you don't need warehouses um so I I saw somewhere you guys said you're investigating something if you're investigating we can definitely investigate that side of it um so I would ask that you stick with the plan that you take that you've been trying to fulfill which is get yeah thank you unfortunately we've given everyone two minutes uh so uh Musa I apologize for my pronunciation is next and then we will have uh for virtual testimony we will have Guadalupe Gonzalez good afternoon my name is Musa Salah I own a property just south of the 28th 28 acre they're trying to Res Zone uh the area need aord housing and it's coming we got like 120 and plus another 120 in the area that got built in the past 24 month it's moving North where people are building on the empty lots the the building a commercial property next to residential and having 30 ft or 40 ft building it will disturb the neighborhood having 18 wheeler going in and out in the neighborhood also just for your information today or yesterday I was I get email from real estate agent I'm very active of on property buying and selling the property that right now exists next to this 28 acre is up for sale it's already commercial the the motorcycle I I don't want to call it junkyard but it's up for sale that could be perfect it's already Zone commercial why do we need to go to the R4 change it to commercial if the other one is available for sale that's all I have to say thank you so much for your testimony we will go to Virtual testimony now with Guadalupe Gonzalez followed by Maria bushing uh yeah uh my name is wupe Gonzalez um I'm a business owner my address is 3808 South 12th Street I live across the property lot and I have spoken before with the commission and I bought my property from the city of Phoenix 10 15 years ago and I have seen this property empty along with some of my neighbors we have help with some of the cleanup uh with my own resources to keep this area clean so we have seen a development in the past that didn't get develop and so we are happy to see that there's a developer again willing to develop a business park in the area and so I would hope that the city council would support the project thank you thank you we'll go next to Mara my name is mar mayor city council my name is Mara bushing I'm a member of the Village planning committee as well as the City of's Planning Commission reluctantly I come before you today uh and I only come before you because as the prior speaker said our city is in great need of housing this is 28 Acres of already zound uh are for property uh as well as a general plan uh multif family property 10 to 15 dwelling units per acre and we don't see as a village any reason to change the uh change it from the multif family zoning um there was discussion when it was sent back to Village at the last Village meeting uh to actually have it multiuse and I think that that's a excellent alternative to have a portion of this huge 28 acre parcel be possibly Commerce Park and the balance be multif family but there's no reason that we need to put 28 Acres of Commerce Park at this location when there's multif family going in all around it there's been some discussion about the uh A1 Property to the East and Northeast and how that would create a detriment and I think the idea upgrading two types of property uh two types of zoning on this property would make it um usable in that regard thank you thank you we'll go next to Edgar followed by Marcelo konis um state representative kones state representative okay so we have lost do we have any beyond the applicant representative kones the floor is yours thank you mayor GGO uh hello Phoenix uh City Council Members this is Marcelino gones uh my address is 2119 West virgess plane Phoenix Arizona 8541 and in addition to uh calling South Mountain Home I also have the distinct honor of representing the district at the capital so I'm calling as as a neighbor today to advocate for this project uh the land has been vacant for a number of years and as you've heard from other neighbors this could provide an opportunity to um create Parks walking areas trees shade and improve our dashboard um so I would I'm calling to support this project I also believe that it would bring in a number of jobs which always benefits all of our cities and so uh I'm calling in support of this project thank you mayor thank you representative appreciate your service uh to our team do we have any beyond the applicant any speakers waiting all right uh we will um ask the representative for the applicant to come forward and I'll recognize coun H Washington who I believe has some questions thank you mayor council my name is Jason Morris with the Morris ball 2525 East Arizona builtmore Circle in Phoenix uh I'd be happy to make a presentation I'd be happy to save you from the presentation if you'd prefer uh I'd also be happy to just to address some of the comments that we've heard from those in opposition but I'm also open for any questions uh that may be out there the I'm the floor is yours I'll ask you because I was going to ask you to address some of the opposition so I'll let you take a stab at it and I'll fill in the blanks I I appreciate that mayor council member my office has likely done more multif family work in District 8 uh than most if not all of the other Consultants would work within this city knowing that and knowing that the applicant in this particular application is a multifam developer seeing an R4 property of this size and I should point out that this is uh an assemblage of property so it took some time to create the 28 Acres that we're discussing it is absolutely available as air our for property and has been for now decades and has gone undeveloped in the biggest housing boom particularly for multif family that the city has ever seen and I've ever seen in my career that being said there is a reason this applicant did not proceed with a multif family application despite the fact that the property is already zoned and no developer seeks to hire the likes of me and go through this process because it is the least effective least efficient least profitable way to move forward with development but in this instance and I'm I know you're all aware of the exhibits that are associated with this property we are immediately adjacent to the most intensive industrial zoning that the City of Phoenix permits literally car shredders Waste Management's transfer station a recycling center 24-hour operations which are not only bad neighbors for residential but have stopped the ability of this property to be developed veloped and to be financed as a residential property instead what this application offers is an opportunity for residential in the proximate area without having the immediate neighbor having some buffer and that's what this property represents it is the buffer to those uses if developed successfully and in this instance traml Crow is a nationally recognized developer that is bringing a lead silver project and I say that because it represents less than 1/ half of one% of all of the industrial projects that have been developed in this state are developed to that sustainability and standard lead silver is a significant investment but it's also a commitment to this site and it's a commitment to improve what's there because as it stands now this property has not and will not and I want if nothing else to make this point which is I understand the impetus from the village and I have nothing but respect we heard from the vice chair of the Village today and it would be wonderful if their contention that by getting rid of this application you would see housing develop on this property but if that were true it would have happened in the 30 years that this property has been sitting available with our for zoning and I know from my development experience my client's development experience and my clientele this property will not be developed as residential so it is not as though it's being taken out of residential production instead one of the comments that was made and this actually came because of our revisit with the village after the vote so more recently within the last month there was a conversation about the opportunity for mixed use on this property if not just a business park so we discuss that as a development team and one of the things that we've done and you've seen in the changed plan was we have now put some of our ameni some of our open space some of our walking paths closer to the residential that's being developed by ulses development to our South and they are also our neighbor to our West and I'll point out because their letter really accurately describes the reason for their support and that is our development of this site is the key to success for their site it acts as a buffer and now with the development of that property to the South and a potential for the shared amenities the uh active and passive walking areas in the park it does act as a mixed use but in terms of this property by itself being that mixed use because of its poor access we have no ability to go to the East and we have no ability to go to the north which is unusual for a property but it's bound by an SRP dry Canal bed so we have no access to the roadway system except 2 12th Street and a very limited vehicular access only to Jones so we can't do a true mixed use it's an inappropriate use as mixed use it's an impossible use If we're honest with ourselves about residential on this property but instead this can be a catalyst to good development surrounding it because there hasn't been good development in this area on this spot that was a very long answer thanks for your Indulgence thank you I have a couple of questions you were talking um some of the issues that were raised by um some members of our community here one of those comments was potential of 18 wheelers in and out of their Pro in and out of the projects and into their adjacent neighborhood can you talk a little bit about that absolutely uh mayor council member we have designed this property specifically so that first of all I I should preface this by saying with the existing zoning there would actually be I believe a 78% increase in traffic if we talk Al about this being utilized as R4 property so with the rezone there's a significant reduction in overall traffic but more specific to our design of this property it's been designed so that Jones Street which is our southern boundary is for vehicles only passenger vehicles only so cars essentially all of the larger traffic and this will not generate uh a significant amount of 18 wheel traffic but we would expect as a business park that it's likely to see 10-wheel trucks and that type of use um all of that is directed to 12th Street and 12th Street then North which would connect to either the 10 or the 17 not South and and this project is in relation can you talk about about how it's in relation to Arizona fresh is proximity thank you go ahead thank you mayor and council member Arizona fresh that this Council worked uh a tremendous amount of time on to bring to reality is an A1 and A2 Industrial Park immediately across the street from the proposed site um our buildings are typically smaller than the Arizona fresh development but together they work because our site actually permits an open space that then connects immediately across the street to their park system and their path system that takes you out to the Rio solato I'm going jump around a little bit uh I want to make sure the members of the community understand that I hear their concerns and I am trying my best to get the best information um there were uh some suggestions that some of the form letters that sorry some of the support letters were more form letters and the information was inacurate can you tell me about your process and generating those or and um acquiring the support letters thank you mayor council member I appreciate you reminding me of that uh in fact the individual that were mentioned uh by Mr best are tenants in the building they are the closest residents who were home when we were doing one of our seven uh community outreach sweeps in the neighborhood they are in fact residents in that building they had told us that they weren't sure how much longer they would like they would be able to be residents in that area but they were residents and we have affidavits that they are residents of that building and lived in in that building more importantly we have 80 letters over 80 letters of support from surrounding businesses and Property Owners what was most interesting is the amount of support we got from the existing A1 and A2 buildings and those businesses because frankly they're not leaving they have outdoor storage it's the largest outdoor storage yards in this part of the city it's fenced with metal sighing and because their operations are often 24 hours a day they supported this use because their fear was somebody trying to build residences that close to their operations because they don't want to be forced out because they have nowhere else to go there aren't other options for outdoor storage and shredding and this type of intense use so much of our support came from those I'd be happy to get anyone in contact with our Outreach consultant we did two neighborhood meetings a virtual neighborhood meetings and seven sweeps of the neighborhood on foot so that we would get that input because the South Mountain Village expects that level of participation concludes my questions thank you thank you you councilwoman Stark thank you I know this is a a case to struggle with but I'm looking at the aerial I I would tend to say it's it's nice to have a buffer because the uses to the north and to the East are pretty intense and while we need affordable housing I'm not sure it's fair to put them next to a junkyard and a shredding use I mean that's that's tough on anybody um and it appears that there's some R4 to the South so maybe I'll turn to the staff was that your thinking was it would provide a buffer because there's a j u to the South of their proposal is zoning that could then become multif family and perhaps affordable housing mayor members of the council uh that's a correct assessment of of staff's evaluation of their request the proposed zoning coupled with the required setbacks that are stipulated as part of their request provide an adequate buffer from the existing A1 uses to the Northeast I appreciate that and I understand the struggle you're going through councilwoman because we really want a champion affordable housing but I am having concerns seeing looking at this area it's it's pretty telling of what's adjacent to it so thank you mayor thank you uh thank you if uh no other questions we do have two more virtual speakers we will go first to Jacob Evanson and then Gabby Diaz good afternoon Council uh mayor and council members my name is Jacob Evanson uh our business is the boil makers 627 located at 2345 West Thomas Road Phoenix Arizona um we are in support of the project um we I mean it just seems like the area that the project is in it I mean it's has it's been vacon for a while and we we'd like to see better improvements brought to the area um it does have good uh good jobs that would be along with the development of the project and um the design of the project will develop on other properties and other areas so we are definitely for the project to go forward thank you thank you our final speaker will be Gabby hi uh my name is Gabby Diaz I am a current homeowner I live at um 1024 East Jones AB in Phoenix um I am just on the call here just to let you know that I am supportive of the project um I am the current homeowner and have been here for over 10 years and I'm excited to see what um Business Park can grow here for our community wonderful thank you for your testimony to our team is that all the speakers great we'll close the public hearing we will first have a motion on item 92 and then a separate motion on item 93 this is in District 8 so I'll turn to councilwoman Hajj Washington thank you mayor um I moved to approve um per the December 29th memo of the planning director with a modification to stipulation number four as follows that the maximum Building height shall be 30 feet or 42 feet if the applicant enters into an agreement with the city of Phoenix where the developer makes a single 250,000 contribution to the City of Phoenix Housing Trust Fund to provide improvements and in incentive Housing Development within the 5 mile radius of that site mayor if I may right is that the motion for 93 that's that should be that would be a motion for the zoning case the general plan Amendment would be uh per the Planning Commission recommendation and adopt of the related resolution my apologies thank you for the clarification I move that we adopt the sorry to approve per the December TW uh 29 Memo from the planning director and the related ordinance oh I'm sorry one second I'll get it right I will get it right here it is thank you motion to approve for the plan and commission's recommendation and adop adop the related ordinance second have a motion and a second thank you uh and thank councilman thank you you've spent a lot of time on this I know you are very passionate about the topics that we've discussed today we appreciate the hard work on this may if one slight correction councilman is it's moved to approve for the plan recommendation and adopt the related resolution for the general plan Amendment did I not say that you said you said ordin ordinance would be for 93 I'm sorry I read it incorrectly 2024 is give me a little struggle okay let's start it over motion to approve for the Planning Commission recommendation and adopt the related resolution thank you second a second from councilwoman Stark roll call H Washington yes O'Brien yes pastor yes Robinson yes Stark yes wearing yes Ansari yes Gayo yes passes 8 Z Item 93 thank you mayor um can I add a little comment before I make my motion is the I I want to make sure that my Village Planning Commission understands that I I recognize the need for affordable housing in our area um but I do not believe that affordable housing means that they should get the less desirable um locations and this is generally not the type of location where many people would want to live directly and it's the most intensive industrial um project so my recommend my motion is to address that issue and make sure we have additional funds in our district to provide for affordable housing projects that are more um palatable so I will go ahead and make my motion properly this time is I move to approve for the December 29 Memo from the planning director um with the modification to stipulation number four as follows that the maximum Building height shall be 30 ft or 42 ft if the applicant enters into an agreement with the city of Phoenix where the developer makes a single $250,000 contribution to the City of Phoenix Housing Trust Fund to provide improvements and incentive Housing Development within the five mile radius of the site second second the motion in a second any additional comments roll call A Washington yes O'Brien yes pestor yes Robinson yes Stark yes wearing yes onari yes K yes passes 8 Z thank you we next go to item 94 which is the southwest corner of 15th Avenue in McDowell Road in District 4 we will open the public hearing we have on behalf of the applicant we have two speakers who are available to speak if necessary um on behalf of the applicant Brennan Ray in support and available to speak if necessary Brent Kleinman um do either of you wish to speak nope all right then I will close the public hearing and turn to councilwoman pestor yes um I would first like to open with uh thanking Circle K um for taking the time to meet with the neighbors and hearing the neighbors concerns uh in that process uh Circle K um agreed to uh provide some funding to the fq story regarding Gates and speed humps and maybe possibly a space for a mural that they would maintain so I want to thank Circle K for doing that and uh participating in understanding the importance of the neighborhood uh plus we did talk about the architecture and uh seeing if it could blend in with uh the historic um neighborhood so I I really appreciate that time because I did continue the item um with that i' like to make a motion motion to approve her the January 2nd 2024 Memo from the planning and development director and adopt the related ordinance second we have a motion in a second any comments roll call hod Washington yes O'Brien yes Pastor yes Robinson yes Stark yes wearing yes anari yes Gayo yes pass is 80 we next go to item 95 also in District 4 this is the northeast corner of Central Avenue and Indian School Road we'll open the public hearing we'll uh begin with Jeremy ther oh no I'm sorry we will we um on this one we do have presentations so we will have a 10-minute presentations each side the um applicant will go first and can reserve up to two minutes at the end to reut so we'll have the applicant first followed by the appellant and we believe we have Jason moris on behalf of the applicant thank you mayor I apologize I if it's more efficient and in keeping with the standards to let the appellant go first I'm I'm fine we can just respond to the appellant's comments and may be more efficient refer to councilman pestor I prefer you to go first all right thank you going to give the we'll give you the full presentation mayor council member I just think you just the basics you can do the full presentation if you like uh Madam mayor members of council for the record Benjamin Tate with withy moris Bob 2525 Easter and I'll build more circle on behalf of the applicant uh pivotal group we seem to have some uh some issues with the presentation so uh but frankly I know this case like the back of my hand because I've been working on it since 2019 and truly believe in this project so this is the northeast corner of Indian School in central it's a 15 acre piece of property that's adjacent to Steel Indian School Park uh and even prior to the Uptown to plan but really uh as it came to fruition in the Uptown Tod plan this site has always been envisioned as a gateway to Steel Indian School Park but also as a Gathering Place place for the central Corridor and so in 2019 uh through pivotal group we brought a project uh to the encan Village planning committee to the Planning Commission ultimately to the city council for final approval in July of 2019 for that Urban mixed use development uh that borrowed many of the ideas from the Uptown to plan and and some of its predecessors namely the Phoenix Indian school specific plan what happened approximately 7 months after that uh was that the world dramatically changed in March of 2020 we were moving full steam ahead with a project or with that project uh and and Co changed everybody's plans and over the next 3 years uh we went back to the drawing board numerous times uh with pivotal group and several different Consultants to try to find a way to make that original Vision still work and to create that Gathering Place on the central Corridor and to create that gateway to steeling need school park and what we came came up with is the plans that are in front of you today and and really takes many of the ideas is that this project had in 2019 and and significantly improves upon them we had the opportunity over the course of those several years to really look at what worked in the stipulations and what didn't and retool the land use for what works in 2023 uh that didn't that does not work now or that sorry that worked in 2019 and does not work now uh and over the course of multiple designs uh we were able to come up with this one which through the stipulations that you see in front of you takes the intent of that 2019 plan and and really improves upon it and there are a couple of things that I want to point out that we've gone through in this process so this is a pH this is not a zoning case all we're asking to do is modify some of these stipulations in order to make this project work in 2023 despite that we have been through twice as many public hearings as a typical rezoning case so a typical rezoning case would be your village planning committee your Planning Commission and city council we went to the Village twice we went to the pH twice we went to the Planning Commission and now we're here in front of the city council it's highly unusual for a project like this for a pH to go through this many public hearings and be subjected to this level of scrutiny and I think what's even more unusual is despite the fact that we have been successful and resoundingly successful at every stage of this public hearing process we had a recommendation of approval from the encan village planning committee we got a recommendation of approval from the planning hearing officer and most recently we have a unanimous recommendation of approval from the Planning Commission and yet despite that at each stage of this process the developer has been willing to commit to additional stipulations and to make additional commitments in order to just enhance this project even further and that's where we are back in front of you today is that despite this uh the unanimous recommendation of approval that we have from the Planning Commission with the stips as they were presented at the Planning Commission we've now committed to three additional stipulations which are stipulations 25 26 and 27 and additional modifications to stipulation for to further shape what will ultimately be an incredible project for the central Corridor and I think two things first that the recommendations of approval that we've gotten at every stage of this process including the staff recommendation of approval that you have in your staff report speaks to the incredible Merit of what we are asking for which is relatively small if you look at the grand scheme of what this project is and what it's going to represent for the central Corridor and more importantly that the additional commitments that pivotal group has been willing to make despite these successive recommendations of approval at every stage of the planning process illustrate their commitment to taking on what is going to be an incredibly expensive and Incredibly complex project uh to ultimately deliver what is going to be the Marquee project for the to and for the central Corridor and with that i' would be happy to answer any questions you may have wonderful thank you and we'll reserve some time in case you need it after the appellant thank you for the your work on this and now we will hear from Ken Waters thanks Josh yeah a point of order mayor the uh the presenters get the worst view of what they're presenting with being that far away I mean it'd be great if you give the presenters ability to see the screen that they're presenting so luckily I've got a a um a iPad here to follow along but I've got to coordinate my iPad with that so anyways um in the Planning Commission I'm not on the clock yet Planning Commission let you sit up there and be really close to the screen and and look at the monitor of what you're presenting so you'd get better presentations if you sort of went with the planning commission's protocol letting the presenters get down there and see the screen they're actually utilizing so uh anyways I've got let me uh let me get my iPad going hang on a second okay slide number one uh this is the money shot I took this uh three days ago Sunday morning December 31st this is at the corner of Indian School and Central this is the money shot this is what has garnered Federal legislation a specific plan back in 1991 a Parks master plan in 1993 uh the reinvent Phoenix Uptown Tod PL uh policy plan all have spent exorbitant amounts of time manh hours hundreds if not thousands of of man hours invested in this vision for the park now this is not a island into itself cross the street Petri was surrounded by streets this is up against the uh the park and that's my problem I have a ton of confidence in pivotal I have a ton of confidence in the jfy uh in in version 1.0 in 2019 it did the job this 2.0 pH reversion it's radical how this the pH process the whole planning process is broken in the in the city but these guys they put an application in for the pho process uh and it's a radical change the version 1.0 had 50% more open space now we're getting this is a ho hum application oh we're g to do some minor uh tweaks on the uh stipulations now anyways let me start going through the before I I lose all my time um okay slide number two this is from Main Street USA in in Walt Disney's Disneyland isn't it crazy that Disney's Main Street USA a walkable neighborhood with public transit local shops and a pedestrian at the same time is something that people are willing to pay for and yet the concept is at risk of its Extinction in America I want you to Envision Fairington Avenue the Gateway into Ste Indian School our Premier Park Phoenix's Premier Park arguably this this is it um let's go to slide three Fairington Drive is one less than one% of what it could be I put the the St Louis Arch Gateway there because I think fingon is the gateway to our Premier Park and right now it's in dog doodo condition um and with the this plan does that 1.0 did not but what this plan does 2.0 totally caves in on our gateway to the park zero lot line back porch Stoops are going to go on Fairington Avenue and every single major plan that's been done over 36 years here I can't believe I'm it the 36 years of all this talk and miles of ink in the Arizona Republic about this site it's its Visions now I'm the only one contesting this site 2.0 Fairington Avenue is our diamond in the rough we don't recognize its value what it could be I got to keep up okay uh this since this is a since this is all councilwoman uh pastor's district and you guys have all basically bowed out and it's all up to her now uh this is her blank canvas this is a good thing on piles of failure uh successes are built steel Indian School Park is way due for makeover I would have signed on back in 93 for the master plan for this and all the do do good that was done we sort of played the federal government in making uh steel Indian School Park what it is they were going to just auction it off the highest bidder but the the great city council people back in 9088 and 91 uh they they put a specific plan in place and they put restraints on Collier and the federal government in their Public Law 100-96 69- 6 it's the 100th Congress so it's public law 100- 696 you can read it in the GAO the Inspector General did a follow-up report on it um uh they specified there needs to be a specific plan and Colliers you can you can you can bail out if you don't like the specific plan but it's going to be the restraint on this and now in two in 2019 you guys repealed it I think it was arguably illegal Federal legislation said there was constraints on this so anyways let me keep going uh five minutes Legacy is a blank canvas it is what you make it in District 4 uh councilwoman uh Pastor is going to have three and a half years three and a quarter years left she's got a great legacy but what's happening with crley and this TCP version 2.0 let's go back to 1.0 uh it's just going to cave in and just there's no Synergy going on with any of these projects with crley with pivotal maybe in in version 1.0 there was open uh cordor yes um here we go inside the gorgeous historic cafeteria Tower Building represent represent uh is representative of the tire dilapidated state of Steel Indian School Park let's turn this into a good thing steel Indian School Park is due for a makeover it is deserving of a specific plan what I'm arguing is let's not go back to the specific plan of 1991 councilman Pastor let's put a new specific plan let's revisit all this have the najafi pivotal uh Morris and Tate at the tables along with a lot of citizens uh and do a new specific plan what's going on with 2.0 is a travesty this is uh fingon look at all this room on Fairington right now that's basically what we get it's 1% of what it could be I want to go back to this I I included all all of the uh the task force members on the Phoenix indan Indian school specific plan what my point is is there's been hundreds if not thousands of man hours involved in the the the guidance of this and now I just got repeated Shield four year ago four years ago okay next oh my that's a beauty the basis of the repeal is now nullified with 2.0 um here it is uh the the the Uptown do policy will address the outstanding goals and issues of the Phoenix and Indian school specific plan and whereas the Phoenix Indian School uh specific plan has fulfilled its purpose and intent with 1.0 they honored The View corridors they honored the open space they honored the setbacks everything was good enough I didn't challenge it 2.0 this is my God okay hang on oh this is the the federal legislation uh that specified there would be a specific plan in place to guide the development and then you just repeal it and the basis was the woo code uh is now the driving Factor but in talks with uh our planning director Frank talks with our planning director he has admitted yes the wo code has done a poor job in pulling out the objectives of the reinvent Phoenix Uptown Tod policy uh goals and objec Ives so now we're relying on the weakest uh it's code it wasn't even part of the master plan there we go uh a little uh uh title at the top Steel's most beautiful building hidden in the back there and the blight uh the Quasi blight uh in waste its bases front and center along Central in Fairington this is a a comparison and contrast um you can see 1.0 on the left and 2.0 on the right look at the difference look at all the view qudos look at all the open space look at all the setbacks look at how the gateway to is is is protected it it it it hit all the the great plans that were there and then four years after the the specific plan is repealed they don't even pretend to try to honor all the previous plans and hopes and dreams for this site they just put it with a footprint and look at the open space here the open space on the right is pretty much dominated by Street asphalt that's your open space folks 20% basically streets and asphalt on the left you had 50% more open space oh okay let's back up here we go here's a footprint of it look at the footprint of this thing the footprint is a monstrosity it it 1.0 it was late years better than this um my my colleague who had he started his clock didn't start for like three minutes until after he is so M could I have some little more leeway here seeing that been clock didn't even start for three minutes we didn't he didn't get his PowerPoint at all though was that um no thank you that was a a very I think we got the information that we needed unless anyone has questions all right then we'll go we have three in-person speakers in support and two virtual in opposition uh and then the applicant did or did re does have time if to reut if needed we'll begin with Wade Kempton followed by uh Brent Kleinman honorable mayor and city council my name is Wade Kempton our current business address is 4100 South Lindsay Road suet 129 Gilbert Arizona 85297 I represent the owners of the north property adjacent to the entrance to Steel Indian School Park which is adjacent to the property referenced in item number 95 all fronting on Central a Central Avenue our company has reviewed in detail the proposal by pivotal group to modify certain stipulations to the current approved W code T6 hwr uh zoning we have met in person with the owners of the property and have discussed their proposal we appreciate their accommodation of our meeting request the proposal by pivotal has changed the original approval to some extent in discussion with pivotal the new proposal intend is to bring substantial retail restaurants and an anticipated Gathering Place for this area of Phoenix the concept of retail shops and restaurant is a much desired component to enhance the development vibrancy of this uptown area our initial comment to the various stipulations request in the over site plan proposed was a desire to build midrise instead of high-rise buildings at the entrance to the park is an aesthetic aesthetically pleasing Street Cape for us and general Phoenix residents when entering the park this request would necessitate a change to the proposed site plan by interchanging the mid-rise with the highrise however understanding the negative e economics of the current high cost to build high-rise buildings and the benefit of major retail our company is not now against the current placement of buildings in the overall site plan proposed by pivotal group and we are in support further in the event that Pivot Group changes the site plan in the future such as retail and restaurants are not a material component our company requests that mid-rise buildings not high-rises be built at the park entrance and that we have opportunity to make comments to the new site plan so I appreciate your time and allowing me to speak today and thank you for giving this opportunity thank you uh I understand Brent is actually online but while we look to find him let's go to Jeremy ther in person Jeremy ther 4520 North uh Second Avenue in Phoenix I live uh less than half a mile away from this in the park uh I've stood up here and been very uh unsupportive of many of the developments that have gone up around us um even some from by Wy Morris here um this is not the case with this development uh other than the Park Central I don't know of a better development that's happened um on the to this will be the premier development and I'd like to bring your attention to uh having objective standards for this just a few months ago you approved the Petri development less 100 ft away to the northwest of this development um they're very similar in the size almost 16 Acres a piece this is a little more roughly 1500 housing units each then we get into some very different aspects Petri is going to be four buildings this is going to be seven retail square footage of Petri was 25,000 square feet this is almost 880,000 commercial square feet of Petri was Zero this is 245,000 square feet of commercial open space of Petri was 5% this is 20% was there a grocery store at Petri no this is a planned grocery store ownership options here yes Petri no senior living here yes Petri no years of construction over 10 for Petri less than that here you all voted to approve Petri which is a garbage development by way but that's neither here nor there at this point this is a great development that's going to benefit our neighborhood tremendously um and is what the walkable Urban code is really meant to do um Kenny's complaints while I agree with many of them are misguided and pointed at the wrong the wrong people in this um there's still work to be done on Indian School Park um but I think that happens north of this development along Central not with this development this is a great development thanks we will go next online to Brent followed by Ed thank you very much mayor members of the city council um I am going to Echo a lot of what Mr ther just said and share my support for this project was parts of the original plan that we passed at the Village planning um Committee in 20 19 admirable and something we would like to have seen and envision of course it is but 2023 and now 20124 is an entirely different world and I believe that um the project that's been put in front of you all is a project that will provide a landmark for the corner of Central and Indian School and will bring people to the park and to that community in ways we've never met imagined and I am 100% behind this project and hope you all approve this wholeheartedly and we get another 80 vote today so thank you all very much for your time thank you Ed is next followed by Nick who will be our final speaker on the item oh hi thank you so much um uh Madam mayor this is Ed Hermes I live at 212 West monoco Avenue I can see this development from my front yard of the president of the Carnation neighborhood Association um we did support this development back in 2019 the up zoning in large part because of the stipulations we're talking about today I'm asking today that you table this request to be relieved of the stipulations so we can have more time to work together to come up with a uh a consensus resolution with the community and especially the Native American Community uh which deserve to be involved in this process I want to recognize the land that we're talking about here um and unique history for 100 years this land was worked on by the kids who were removed from their families and forced to to live on and work this land new 1991 when the school closed the city did a really good job of working with the Native American community and our community Carnation neighborhood to put together the Indian School site specific plan it was a great um resolution to a very difficult history but recognized paper over the history did that's unfortunately that's what relieving stipulations might do that I'm concerned of is it's going to block these historic and block the intent of the Phoenix Indian School site specific plan we need more time to work with the Native American Community specifically to develop some new stipulations if the developer doesn't want to be bound by these any anymore the developer came to us in the neighborhood in 2019 promis these stipulations and and I think it's fair that they be held to these and if not then we come back to the table and really come to a consensus with the community the Native American Community to have new alternate stipulations so I'm asking today the Carnation neighborhood on behalf of the Carnation neighborhood association that we table this with today come back work with the Native American community and our community to come up with something better that recognizes the history here thank you so much thank you Nick will be our final speaker although the applicant has some time if needed good afternoon I'd like to draw the esteemed council's attention to three items recorded in the staff report for the original resoning request approved in 2019 in item number two staff has noted the rezoning request is accompanied by a general plan amendment to repeal the Phoenix Indian school specific plan item number seven highlights the need for stipulations 2 3 4 and five this is a quote to ensure that the property develops as envisioned by the specific plan staff has requested that a 1acre public pedestrian Plaza be provided at the intersection of Central Avenue and Indian School Road and that an 85 foot average 60 foot minimum View Corridor in public pedestrian accessway be located on the site with The Pedestrian Plaza view quarter focused on the historic ceter Tower and on the distant Mountain views to the Northeast these are addressed in stipulation numbers 2 3 4 and 5 excuse me and last item number 10 justifies the inclusion of stipulations six seven and8 quote furthermore the plan envisioned an open space amenity at the intersection of Central Avenue Indian School and a view Corder bisecting the site for Linked access to the park item 10 goes on to note these requests are addressed in stipulation number six seven and8 now the city's already allowed this developer to repeal a carefully sourced recipe for the entire Indian school property staff took care to highlight some of the most valuable ingredients with stipulations 2 through eight before they were lost with the specific plan now we're bearing witness to an attempt to thoroughly adulterate the Indian school specific plan by replacing these last valuable ingredients if the City of Phoenix fails to hold this developer to the minimal standards that were agreed upon when the IND school specific plan was repealed then this esteemed Council will have played a pivotal role in corrupting any future development on the site thank you thank you for your testimony Mr Tate do you have any additional comments Madam mayor members of council I'm more than happy to answer any questions that may arise as a result of those comments but otherwise that's it any additional questions we'll close the public hearing thank you so much it's a very exciting corner and it's exciting to have a worldclass partner who's also a local company so thank you councilwoman pestor yes um I believe I have some videos or slides actually the midt thank you um I've been meeting with the community for maybe the last year and a half and uh I even surprised myself in this whole process um in my tenear as you look at Midtown um I have done re 38 rezoning cases that have been approved 19 of those have been built and five more are under construction and that's Midtown then I move up to Uptown 25 resoning cases have been approved 16 of those have been built and three more are under constructions so if you look at Midtown and Uptown you see all the growth that is happening down Central and this is all happened within my tenure what I have to say is from when I first entered to where I am today I have uh become U an expert in in this space and Zoning which I never thought I was going to be as an elected but I have learned and uh throughout the process and my my evolution of who I am today from that time when I entered is I have learned uh what I need to do in order for projects to be built and uh Way community can have an input and be able to be part of it if you go to slide three this was the original project um and it was an ambitious project but it was a great project to to want and dream and have um but times have changed too just like times have changed from 1988 from when the the property was given to 1991 where there was um exchange to when believe it was 2014 2013 2014 where at that point it was supposed to be a casino I was running for office at that point and I was getting hit um in 2013 2014 that I was going to make it a casino uh because the property was up in up in limbo um that it went back to the federal government and uh what ended up happening is all the agreements and all the work that had gone on um I believe it was 2015 2016 the land went up for auction Kier gave it back to the federal government the federal government the in tribal uh we were hoping that it would go to the tribes uh but it didn't and then the land went up for auction and it got bought so that's a whole new development and no way of looking at it however um the nafis who own the land understood all the efforts that went into it and tried and did a great job in connecting all the elements that we had to do there is pedestrian from friendly walkways there is actually three different points now uh in the original plan it was diagonal but now we have new uh three different ways to enter this property and and to be able to uh utilize the park uh there is mixed use uh there's everything that the community ask for I can't give you everything either can the owners of the property give everything but pretty much 75% of what the community wanted it is in this project I did add several stipulations that we agreed to that enhance the property and I think we've we've come to a great space and time because Indian School and Central is key it connects everything not only that it's key because it's connected to uh still Indian park now I got questioned and I always had a vision for that space um I met with the economic development uh director I met with the parks director I met with the stre streets director and I met with planning to discuss Indian steel and what it's going to do to revitalize that space and get it to the level that we need to get it as this project is moving we are looking at one of the spaces to bring in a restaurant uh we are looking at other activations of what needs to be there we are looking at additional shade canopies so I heard the community and I have worked with the community and worked with the developer to this point um I actually personally have it my uh Josh has and so what I am going to say is that I make the motion to approve per January 3rd 2024 Memo from the planning and development director and adopt the related ordinance second second we have a motion in a second councilwoman Stark thank you um I want to commend the councilwoman for working on this project it was a long and hard one um I've had the opportunity to work with the najafi brothers in the past when I was planning director and even if they were just going to sell it I still have faith they will make sure the right thing is done on that property I worked with them on westwing and Peoria and they initiated the project and did a lot for that City and and then it turned it over to some additional home builders and it was a quality project and so um councilwoman Pastor I think you're going to luck out so I am happy to go along with this motion thank you and steel Indian School Park is a gem of our city I'm jealous of the up to 600 people who may be able to live with that amazing location roll call ha Washington yes O'Brien yes Pastor yes Robinson yes Stark yes wearing Ansari yes Kayo yes pass is 80 congratulations with that vote we have enabled or entitled the construction of 758 units of housing at today's council meeting that is um then we move on to item 96 which is a citizen petition we'll begin hearing from Mr ther who presented the petition and then I'll turn for a motion okay the city Charter which uh has very few rules for this Council um citizen petitions are one of them it's a single sentence in the city Charter that reads any citizen of the city may appear before the council at any regular meeting and present a written petition such petition shall be acted upon by the council in the regular course of business within 15 days I submitted this petition on December 6th I I don't think any of us need to be rocket scientist to figure out the math of 15 days is not today this citizen petition is in violation of the citizen Charter how this been handled also I received a response from the city that said they would only look at the one through three of my uh requested actions that the other ones were not not available well number four was decide whether the instances described above were violations of the charter if the city council can't decide whether the charter has been violated who the hell can I very confused about this entire process um and this petition asked for clarity only to be receive more confusion so I'm hoping that you individually stand your responsibility and that the charter can't be changed uh by the council it has to be changed by a ballot initiative so the point of the S petition is to get each member of the council to vote on the items and to get your stance on it but when you remove parts of the petition and say that they're not allowed like number four whether these instances have violated the charter just very confusing to me so I'm hoping that you guys will step up and do the right thing and we can have some discussions and you'll ask questions today because clearly it doesn't make [Music] sense thank you vice mayor do you have a motion motion to approve staff's recommendation that the city council authorize the process for handling citizen position oh second we have a motion in a second I didn't finish the motion just because I wasn't sure if okay we'll continue to recognize the vice mayor sorry apologies motion to approve staff's recommendation that the city council authorize the process for handling citizen petitions and the specific requirements to qualify as a citizen petition and post them online Second motion and a second um Michael Norton was not with us earlier but thank you very much for the opportunity to speak the residents of Rogers Ranch have filed two citizens petitions Each of which has either been kicked down the down the street and ignored or um you know completely ignored we we support the request for a formal and structured process for submitting residents petitions the the requirement is set forth in the charter it it's part of the state constitution I realize that rules that were passed in 1919 don't necessarily apply well in 2024 but that's exactly the reason that there should be a administrative action taken to formalize the process for Citizens petitions the requirement is that the city council will react and respond when residents of the city's issues have become so important that they bring them to you and we expect that you do that as you go forward therefore we support this citizen petition thank you very much thank you councilwoman pestor yes I I would like Clarity on four through S as it says it does not qualify uh as actions mayor and Council so on 4 to7 um our determination is our review is always based on whether the council can take an action now council could certainly direct staff to take an action but council could not act on um deciding you know legal opinions on whether violations uh could be changed in an open meeting okay but what I heard is that um Council can direct staff to take action am I correct correct or wrong correct mayor and councel if if Council wanted uh to direct staff to look further um whether violations have occurred or try to or have an executive session to discuss this further then we would be happy to do that thank you all those in favor please say I I any opposed nay motion carries that is our final agendized item we next go to the public comment portion of our meeting and I will turn to our City attorney to introduce that thank you mayor during citizen comment members of the public May address the city council for up to three minutes on issues of Interest or concern to them the citizen comment session is limited to 30 minutes the Arizona open meeting law permits the city council to listen to the comments but prohibits council members from discussing or acting on the matters presented thank you we will begin with ESU followed by Rihanna thank you can I can I start okay hi my name is AA Cod and today I stand before you not as a concerned individual but as someone whose life has been deeply impacted by the growing crisis of climate change um I wanted to share my journey with you a personal Journey that has opened my eyes to the harsh reality of climate change and its devastating effects on our world um as a child I marveled the beauty of nature the Lush Forest the beautiful rivers and the Majestic Wildlife that thrived around me and I remember spending countless hours Outdoors exploring and connecting with the environment as a child back then the idea of climate change seemed distant and Abstract something that scientists talked about on TV um little did I know that the loing threat would become an inescapable reality of my life and as um the heat became more and more in avoidable um I became I began staying inside more and more as a child and fast forward a couple of years the signs of climate change were becoming increasingly evident the parks I began to go to as a child were bare and the swimming pools were unbearably hot extreme weather events were more frequent and the Summers were hot hotter than even before but it wasn't until I experienced a catastrophic natural disaster firsthand that the gravity of the situation truly hit me just a couple of years ago a devastating Wildfire struck out on our annual camping spot due to excessive heat leaving behind a trail of Destruction and heartbeat and trees were ripped apart and lives were lost and the devastation was a wakeup call a harsh reminder that climate change is not a distant threat but is a present danger that affects us all and this impact extends far beyond natural disasters moreover we must prioritize the voices most affected by climate change marginalized communities indigenous peoples and future Generations who will inherit the consequences of our actions today we must ensure that climate change Justice remains at the Forefront of our efforts leaving no one behind in the pursuit of a sustainable future majority of Phenix houses are at risk of burning down several risk of wildfires in the next year and there are almost 300,000 houses at risk of being burnt down which is almost 54% of all property in Phoenix in conclusion climate change is not an abstract concept it's a personal and Urgent issue that affects us all my journey has taught me that we cannot afford to be passive observers and we must become active advocates for Change and thank you for listening Thank You Rihanna is next followed by mintra hi everyone I'm Rihanna and I'm a junior living here in Phoenix living in Arizona I'm no stranger to the extreme intensity of the heat from simple activities such as walking my dog and playing Outdoor Sports the heat seems to take control of every day but even as these tiny troubles seem so extreme to me I've realized my privilege and the luxuries that I have having access to shelter education and support against the Heat in 2023 Justin Maro County there have been over 500 confirmed deaths due to the extreme heat and it's time we realize the extremity of this heat crisis is as much if not more intense than any natural Devastation extreme heat is a natural disaster FEMA has yet to qualify heat as a natural disaster even though the EPA has reported more than 1,400 deaths caused by the extreme heat compared to the 100 plus deaths due to flooding which is classified as a natural disaster by FEMA although neither disasters casual IES must be undermined it's clear that extreme heat is a raging and overpowering natural disaster and Vima should classify it as one the mayor has already as asked President Biden but it hasn't worked death tolls keep Rising people human beings your constituents keep dying in June of 2023 one of the hottest recorded summers in history Sunrise movement Phoenix launched a petition to push FEMA to declare extreme heat as a natural disaster over 1,100 plus people signed the petition United to face the struggle against the Heat and today I met with vice mayor Ansari and we spoke about writing a letter to President Biden asking him to declare a climate emergency and classify extreme heat properly this week each of you will receive an email asking to meet and discuss signing onto such a letter and we want your support Phoenix wants your support will you join this fight with us thank you thank you mintra is next and our final speaker will be Ashton um good afternoon everyone and happy New Year um my name is minra worm and I'm currently a sophomore living in the Phoenix area and today I'm here to discuss the basic human right of having a shelter the pressing need for shelter guarantees in Phoenix particularly during the unforgiving summer months cannot be ignored no one should endure the perilous heat without safe Refuge the Relentless heat possessed life th ining risk to our vulnerable population those experiencing homelessness elderly and the disadvantaged every summer I Witness A Familiar scene in Phoenix the elderly and the homeless seeking refuge in public spaces like libraries it's a it's a poignant reminder of the urgent need for guaranteed shelter as public places offer more than respite they become a vital Sanctuary for those enduring the scorching temperatures without a home or those who can't afford constant air conditioning enforcing shelter guarantees in new legislation is a moral imperative ensuring a safe ensuring access to safe havens from extreme temperatures it's not just a matter of comfort it's about preserving lives according to the CDC extreme heat events are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change Phoenix known for its soaring temperatures experienced prolonged periods of extreme heat with temperatures often surpassing 100° fah these extreme conditions significantly Elevate the risk of heat related illnesses including heat exhaustion heat stroke and even death in 2019 and earlier the tally of deaths never Rose above 200 in 2020 and 2021 it topped 3 320 last year 425 people in the Phoenix Valley died of heat stroke and 42% of those people were people that were homeless the number of people dying from heat related inj illnesses are increasing and so are the number of homeless people affected by it we often don't think that this could be us think this could be us however any one of us today can find ourselves out of our job or our home we should all care about we should all care and want to build a shelter it could be something someone or someone we know and love that needs one someday I implore the city council to heed to this advice and take decisive action by incorporating Provisions for shelter guarantees in their legislation let us Stand United in ensuring no individual in Phoenix faces the blistering heat without a place to seek shelter thank you thank you Ashton will be our final speaker hi um okay so Phoenix heat crisis is the first page in a book of trauma and disaster yet to come it's a first step and a long line of climate disasters that Phoenix will face over the coming decades if we don't improve our action on the climate crisis just in the past year Phoenix hous this deaths have increased by 50% and that's just one year not a decade big problems demand big Solutions it demands a green New Deal a green New Deal that is a vision for our future in Phoenix and it's a plan that has already been incorporated into the Phoenix climate action plan a plan that has made great progress for Phoenix indeed with weather assistance programs Green transit and 100% renewable energy that we are on track to meet we are already facing the crisis headon the mayor the vice mayor the council as a whole has made great progress on climate change and all of the issues that we've talked about but it's only addressed the first step of a green New Deal guaranteeing Net Zero Energy it hasn't yet guaranted guaranteed fighting climate Justice one of the key and big problems of the heat crisis here in Phoenix we've taken a bold step forward but we have not adequately yet addressed climate Justice and that's exactly why we're launching a campaign for the new year to push this Council to become more Progressive on these key climate justice issues because it's no longer about fighting climate change but it's about fighting for climate Justice when we still have hundreds of people dying on our streets every single year we need bold climate Justice that takes the opportunity to rebuild our economy that also breaks the chains of inequality and we want Phoenix to do a couple of things first is we want a declaration of a heat emergency something Tucson has already done and something this Council has the power to do as well we want to make sure that we have a guarantee shelter for those that are suffering from houselessness during the Summers we want guaranteed job training for fossil fuel workers that lose their jobs when we rip out fil fuels from the economy we want a committed goal goal that a a majority of green jobs in Green transit will be built in low-income areas in South Phoenix we want City Council Members to draft a letter to President Biden asking him to use the world's wealthiest institution to fight the world's worst crisis and declare a climate emergency once and for all if we're always on the front page of newspapers from the New York Times to The Washington Post Phoenix should be also on those newspapers with it bold Solutions too we need to push forward to President Biden and the federal government and our local governments as well to declare that we need actual emergency relief from the federal government because it's no longer a problem that just a local government can solve and we aren't blindly demanding change we've been working with the government we've been working with the vice mayor we've been working we've all sent you all emails we've been working with different sustainability offices in Phoenix and both Scottsdale and Phoenix and we're committed to making sure that we will pass more bold climate action in the coming year and we hope to look forward and work with you all on that thank you thank you we are adjourned we appreciate your support today and always and we really want to go back and thank all of you many of you aren't here today but those of you that were able to be with us thank you for the role you played