Staff Report
(Disclosure: Jordan Rose, Court Rich, Nick Labadie and Jennifer Hall handled the case for Rose Law Group whom represents BASIS.)
The Scottsdale City Council Tuesday night approved an agreement 6-1 to permit BASIS Scottsdale to construct its newest 4-12-grade campus at the southeast corner of 128th Street and Shea. Nearly 500 people attended in support of BASIS, while and three people spoke in opposition.
Jordan Rose, founder and president of Rose Law Group and the zoning attorney for BASIS, drew applause when she announced after much negotiation an agreement with the neighbors living closest to the site had been reached and the opponents had formally withdrawn their opposition.
Rose said BASIS is grateful for the work of the Scottsdale Transportation and Planning staff, the city attorney’s office, the nearby neighbors and mayor and council. Rose noted Jim Mayor Lane, Councilwomen Linda Milhaven, Suzanne Klapp and Virginia Korte spent countless hours talking and meeting with both sides to come to consensus.
One of the leaders of the nearby neighbor group, Chip Beck, stood to confirm his group’s vote for non-opposition and praised Lane’s leadership in bringing the sides together, saying that when the negotiations began he “never would have thought we would make a deal.” The other neighborhood leader, Matt Berens, testified the group included more than 100 residents, and they voted to support the development agreement.
Dr. Peter Bezanson, CEO of BASIS.ed, the company that manages all BASIS.ed schools across the world:
“We are excited to be building a new campus for BASIS Scottsdale, the top ranked charter school in the United States, and we are grateful that we do so in the great city of Scottsdale where our national headquarters has been located for many years.
“As I looked out into the audience at the City Council hearing last night and saw our 450 plus supporters, it was hard not to be moved by the passion for great education that exists in Scottsdale. We are all very fortunate to live and do business in a city where the mayor and council care enough about excellence that they are willing to devote thousands of hours to bring differing opinions to consensus.
“In the case of BASIS Scottsdale, we greatly benefitted from the diplomacy of Mayor Jim Lane, for he brought together those living closest to our site and our team, to patiently work through the issues until we found solutions. Councilmembers Virginia Korte, Linda Milhaven and Suzanne Klapp also spent countless hours helping to bridge what once appeared to be irreconcilable differences. And we appreciate the support of Councilmember Kathy Littlefield and Vice Mayor David Smith. I also want to thank Matthew Berens and Chip Beck, our new neighbors who live closest to our site. Put simply, their input helped make our project even better than it was as originally proposed.
“We are quite excited to become a great neighbor in our new location, and to continue our commitment to educational excellence in Scottsdale.”
Lane praised the neighbors and BASIS for being willing to work together to come up with a plan to continue to “keep Scottsdale great.” Milhaven said the discussions resulted in a “positive night” for Scottsdale. Korte said she would be standing behind “educational excellence.” Klapp who lives across the street from the current BASIS Scottsdale said BASIS manages its school and traffic well.
Councilwoman Kathy Littlefield talked about the importance of the sides reaching an agreement and Vice Mayor David Smith indicated the school site would be safer and better managed with the development agreement.
Councilman Guy Phillips vote against the plan indicating he did not believe the site would be safe. All of the engineers who reviewed the plans, however, determined the site was appropriate and safe for a school,
Phillip Carhuff is the architect and Jamie Blakeman with J2 Engineering provided the traffic analysis.
