Golfland Sunsplash is adding an 80-foot-tall water slide and stair tower east of Country Club Drive and south of Southern Avenue in Mesa.
The Mesa Design Review Board voted 5-0 at a meeting June 13 to approve a height exception as the general industrial district requires it be no higher than 50 feet. Absent were Chairman Paul Johnson and board member Jeanette Knudsen.
The Mesa zoning ordinance allows the design review board to approve exceptions to height limits provided that they meet certain criteria, Planner Cassidy Welch said at the meeting.
“Those criteria include that it does not exceed the maximum number of stories in the zoning district in which the project is located; that there are increased setbacks, enhanced landscaping or other screening measures to mitigate the impact of the height; and that the exception is necessary to accommodate the proposed use or activities,” she said.
Steve Carlston of Mesa Golfland Properties Associates LTD is the applicant and owner.
“Excited to build a new water slide,” Carlston said at the meeting.
No portions of the new attraction will be against an Arizona Department of Transportation easement, according to a written project narrative.
“This new attraction will be installed in the open grass area located to the southeast of the ‘Thunder Bay’ wave pool in-between the whitewater slides and the double dare run out that is adjacent to the Motel 6,” it states. “Landscaping around the new attraction will match that of the rest of the park.”
The all-volunteer Mesa Design Review Board is unique in that its composition is set by the zoning ordinance to include two architects; two from other design professions such as landscape architecture, engineering, urban planning, interior design or other design-related background; one contractor or developer; and two residents, according to the city’s website.
Richard H. Dyer can be reached at rdyer@iniusa.org, or on Twitter @rhdyer. To voice your opinion on this story, connect with us at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.
Richard Dyer Managing Editor | East Valley @RHDyer
Meet Richard Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.
Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions.
Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.
Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.
Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.
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