Tempe Development Review Commission voted to recommend that city council approve a zoning map amendment and planned development overlay for a new 20-story development, despite some commissioners being against the approval.
Nova Tempe, located at 835 S Rural Road, aims to create 950 dwelling units and 13,260 square feet of commercial space. A variety of commercial uses already exist at the site including a gas station, retail and restaurants.
The applicant for the project Nick Wood of Snell & Wilmer and senior planner at the city Karen Stovall gave brief presentations at the Nov. 12 meeting, going over the scope of the project and the public outreach done in developing the proposed project.
Stovall said in her presentation that there are two unique conditions of approval since the applicant had not processed the development plan review for the project.
Firstly, the development plan review must be made within two years of city council approving the requests; and secondly, the traffic impact study must be submitted with the forthcoming development plan review.
Vice Chair Michelle Schwartz asked during the commission’s discussion why the DPR was being processed separately when that is something that is usually reserved for city-led projects.
Stovall explained that council actually allowed for a policy for the community development department to allow applicants to process them separately. But for this project, she said it was more of a timing issue with trying to get all of the property owners to agree on the development.
“(They are) hoping that this could be approved by the end of the year, or it was possible that they wouldn’t all be able to work together if it was not approved by then,” Stovall said.
Schwartz also asked about the anticipated traffic study and how it differs from the initial work done in that area, and Stovall said that because of a change in the location of a driveway, the applicant needs to conduct a new study.
Commissioner Linda Spears had questions about why the applicant doesn’t have control of all the properties and what would happen if a property fell out after the rezoning was approved.
Wood explained that there are multiple sellers involved, and one of them was adamant that they wanted the property to be purchased before the end of the year because of tax planning, hence the rezoning taking priority.
“They made real clear, and contractually, we have to have the zoning in place, not the DPR, just the zoning in place, and then we have to close and acquire the property before the end of the year,” Wood said.
Spears said that she has reservations about this and does not like processing any zoning changes without having a DPR with that.
She explained her position, saying that they have other large parcels in Tempe that have been trying to be redeveloped for years, and just when there seems to be the right deal, it falls apart despite their best efforts.
“I’d rather see this come back as one request,” Spears said. “Understanding the nature of the problem, I’m not comfortable processing a zoning change when we don’t know what the building is really going to look like.”
The commission ultimately voted in favor of recommending approval to city council, passing in a 5:2 vote with Spears and Schwartz in opposition.
Reporter Caroline Yu can be reached at cyu@iniusa.org. To voice your opinion on this story, connect with us at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.
Meet Caroline Caroline Yu joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2020 as a summer intern covering Scottsdale. As an intern, she continued her coverage of Scottsdale, Paradise Valley and Tempe. After graduating in 2022, Caroline became a full-time reporter for Scottsdale and Paradise Valley. She is currently reporting for the Tempe market.
Community: She is a supporter of the environment and tries to get involved with related community events.
Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications, with a minor in French.
Random Fact: She used to be a ballet dancer for 10 years.
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