City reports outline Scottsdale’s growth needs

City reports outline Scottsdale’s growth needs

By Michael Clancy  | The Arizona Republic

Scottsdale officials say the city is well-positioned to handle projected growth over the next 20 years.

Most of the growth will be concentrat­ed in the central and northern parts of the city. The central section of Scottsdale is between Indian Bend and Deer Valley roads, with the less heavily developed northern section extending to the north­ern city limits.

City officials are in the midst of a process, required under a state law passed in 2011, of assessing its infra­structure and the cost of development­impact fees. Developers pay those fees to hook up to Scottsdale’s water and sew­er systems.

The majority of fees will go down, says Gina Kirklin, finance manager for the city’s enterprise funds, specifically the water system. That is based on the five-year planning period under the state law, which will have the effect of minimizing the number of improve­ments that need to be done in that time frame, and the fact that the city already is mostly built.

“The city is no longer expansion­minded,” she said. Published thus far are the first two parts of the process — a land-use as­sumptions report and the infrastruc­ture- improvement plan. Both were writ­ten by water planner Chris Hassert us­ing data from two consultants’ reports.

Continued: azcentral.com