Chandler planning board recommends OK of downtown plan
Courtesy of City of Chandler
The Chandler Planning & Zoning Commission voted unanimously Sept. 3 to recommend City Council approve the exhaustive new downtown regional area plan for the parts of Chandler shown on this map.
At its brief Sept. 3 regular meeting, the Chandler Planning and Zoning Commission approved one of the more wide-ranging, infrequently revised area plans it touches.
After a study session, the board needed only a few minutes at its regular meeting to unanimously recommend the Chandler City Council approve a Downtown Region Area Plan update.
The downtown plan, known in city documents as DRAP, will incorporate the Redevelopment Area Plan, the South Arizona Avenue Entry Corridor Study, and the South Arizona Avenue Design Guidelines.
After the 6-0 vote on the update, which was the only action item on the board’s Sept. 3 regular agenda, Commissioner Tom Bilsten praised staff and others for diligent work in incorporating many types of feedback from a vast group of stakeholders into the plan.
“Any time you have 1,100 touch points on the presentation staff gave us, to have zero in opposition or contacting the city about it, that means you guys listen to people,” Bilsten said. “And it means you took the time to contact them.”
Board vice chair Sherri Koshiol, who ran the Sept. 3 meeting in chair Rick Huemann’s absence, said she echoed Bilsten’s praise.
The purpose of a lengthy set of studies, staff and public meetings and final plans is to establish future land uses, conceptual design guidelines and other goals and policies for Chandler’s downtown “region,” according to a staff report.
That region is generally bounded by Ray Road, McQueen Road, the Santan (Loop) 202 Freeway and Alma School Road.
The DRAP will replace what the city calls the Downtown-South Arizona Avenue Corridor Area Plan, which has guided city development in that part of town for the past 38 years, the report states.
The Redevelopment Area Plan was originally adopted in 1987 and updated in 1995; that plan is bound on the west by the Hartford Road alignment. It was established to address blighted neighborhood conditions and promote revitalization of the surrounding neighborhoods, the report states.
The South Arizona Avenue Entry Corridor Study is also known as SAZACAP. It was originally adopted in 2006 in response to the opening of the new SanTan 202 Freeway, with a goal of transforming the downtown corridor into an attractive gateway to the city, and was updated in 2008.
The South Arizona Avenue Design Guidelines, adopted in 2010, provide design direction for new office, retail and residential buildings and streetscape design principles for downtown.
The staff report states that the main policy changes in the update include more integrated and mixed uses in existing industrial-designated areas, defining a process to create character area guidelines for established downtown neighborhoods and to identify industrial commerce routes to provide existing downtown industrial users with more efficient roadways for business operations.
“Middle housing” will continue to be a priority, the report states.
The update process began in May 2024 when Chandler’s Historic Preservation Commission directed staff to “safeguard historic areas, maintain the character of the existing downtown and encourage historic preservation.”
Online questionnaires, a Downtown Chandler Community Partnership meeting, workshops, perspective from the Mayor’s Youth Council and other input and meetings followed.
Jason W. Brooks News Editor | Chandler Independent
Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.
Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.
Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.
Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.
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