The Mesa City Council voted 5-2 to approve a rezoning that will pave the way for a planned apartment complex on North Beverly during the Aug. 18 meeting.
Councilmember Rich Adams and Mayor Mark Freeman voted no.
The development is called Beverly Apartments, a planned three-story, 36-unit development at 120 N. Beverly.
The applicant is Tristam Kesti of Perlman Architects-AZ. The site owner is COPA Health.
The applicant requested the site be rezoned from multiple residence-2 and multiple residence-3 to multiple residence-4 with a planned-area development overlay. The basic site plan for the proposed project includes a three-story building with 18 one-bedroom units, 10 two-bedroom units and eight three-bedroom units. Primary access will be on the project’s north side.
Some residents spoke during the meeting to express concerns about possible traffic impact and increased population as a result of the development.
“When I step out of my front door with my kids to walk or ride bikes, every single car on Beverly is a danger,” said Madison Reynolds, a nearby resident. “There’s no such thing as a safe moving car. When it comes to children, disabled neighbors, or our elderly, every car, every additional car is a risk.”
Land-use attorney Taylor Earl spoke on community concerns at the meeting and said he believes the development will do the best job possible to accommodate concerns about traffic and density. Earl said COPA undertook a traffic study on the site area and saw an increase of 86 vehicle trips per day.
“If you take that over to the 22-hour day that our traffic study analyzed it over, you’d be looking at about one extra car every 20 minutes or so,” Earl said.
Ultimately, that assurance was not enough to get a yes vote from Adams, who said he liked the project’s intentions but didn’t approve of the added population density.
“I don’t think we can consider anything in its own little bubble because there are other proposals in the area that we are aware of,” Adams said. “I think this is a well-intentioned project. I think it has a number of positives to it. The primary concern I have with it, as others have expressed, is the density issue. I think that three stories is a bit much out of character for the area.”
Freeman said he believes a three-story building went against the surrounding area’s character.
“I’ve said this for the last year or so. Infill development will be our Achilles’ heel as a council as we look at how we collaborate and integrate these neighborhoods,” Freeman said. “What I see (is) a legacy, heritage neighborhood fighting for their life, trying to maintain their quality of life.”
However, the majority of the council was in favor of the development. Councilmember Jen Duff, whose district would include the project, expressed support for the development and professed the nearby downtown area would be revitalized thanks to the increased population density.
“To suppress any density is suppressing the possibility of Main Street developing into a viable business community,” Duff said. “We have car repair, car sale, car lots everywhere. The Fry’s, I think, is about to close. Staying as is really isn’t a viable option.”
Duff said keeping the area near downtown as purely single-family housing is an unrealistic expectation.
“Even before light rail, can you really live within less than two blocks in Main Street and expect single-family housing?” Duff said. “I don’t think it’s a reality — not if you want a successful downtown, a successful Main Street.”
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