By Renata Clo | Arizona Republic (Image by DiannaHelm)
Scottsdale voters this fall are expected to decide on a plan for the city’s growth, from how people travel around the city to how tall and close together buildings can be.
The City Council has discussed the plan in seven meetings so far this year, including taking up:
- a vision statement for Scottsdale.
- maintaining more rural areas.
- protecting shorter, less dense building in parts of Old Town.
- protecting the McDowell Sonoran Preserve.
- transportation needs.
- how the city can support education.
The council is set to vote on a final draft of the plan in June but before then, residents can give input by participating in a virtual self-guided open house, submitting written comments or speaking at any public meeting.
Arizona requires cities to create voter-approved general plans to guide growth.
Voters rejected the last plan the city put forward in 2012 by a 2% margin. Scottsdale Principal Planner Adam Yaron attributed its defeat to a community divide at the time regarding the city’s vision and values.
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City Council members are spending a lot of time discussing the vision and values section of the plan this time around to broadly represent the entire community instead of focusing on the vision of one part of the city, Yaron said.
