By Terrance Thornton
Twitter: @ININEWSMAN

The Town of Paradise Valley is embarking upon first steps toward placing a General Plan update before voters in August 2022.

In early December, Paradise Valley Town Council discussed the timeline and potential scenarios for public outreach amongst a growing chorus among local policymakers certain provisions within the community’s guiding document ought to be left on the cutting room floor.

“We are ahead of the game on this,” said Paradise Valley Community Development Director Jeremy Knapp during the last study session of 2019. “In January, we will come back and talk about some specific questions. There are specific state statutes you have to follow when you do this in terms of timing and elements we need to include in the plan.”

What first began as House Bill 2294 in the late 1990s at the Arizona Legislature is now known as the Growing Smarter Act, which requires cities and towns to adopt a General Plan. Provisions of the original Arizona legislation defines an effort “to assist communities in developing strategies for dealing with population growth.”

Mr. Knapp describes the document as a guiding force in how the land within Paradise Valley town limits is ultimately developed.

“It is required by state statute and is a public document that is approved by the planning body, the council and the voters of a municipality,” he said in terms of broad strokes. “It is the foundation for all of the planning rules. It includes goals and policies to guide future community decisions.”

In 2012, Paradise Valley voters --- by an overwhelming margin --- approved the current General Plan on record at Town Hall, 6401 E. Lincoln Drive.

The current guiding planning document includes seven elements:

• Land Use and Growth Areas;
• Community Character and Housing;
• Mobility;
• Open Space and Recreation;
• Environmental Planning and Water Resources;
• Sustainability and Public Facilities/Services; and
• Cost of Development.

Fittingly, Mr. Knapp explains, the ratified General Plan at Town Hall came from an effort coined, “Vision 2020.”

“We are only a month away from that vision,” he quipped.

“The first General Plan was in place from 1980 to 1997. In the current General Plan, there is talk about preserving low-density residential, preserving the mountain view’s and hillsides, the undergrounding of utility lines, which the town has been doing since the original plan of 1980. The General Plan is not a zoning map. It is a program on its own --- it is not detailed policy to a zoning area, it provides guidance for those areas.”

Mr. Knapp points out Town Council has already approved a budget line item for an outside consultant to begin public outreach efforts.

“At the same time we put in the budget this year, we included $35,000 for an outside consulting firm,” he explained. “We need some outside assistance mainly for graphics, updating and putting together some materials for outreach and those types of things.”

Mr. Knapp envisions an August 2022 ballot question presented to Paradise Valley voters.

“There is a lot to be done before now and adoption,” he said. “If our update is not approved by voters our current plan stays in place until another plan is brought forward and put on the ballot.”

The curse of unintended consequences

For two members of Paradise Valley Town Council, this update process offers an opportunity to fix the effect of some unintended consequences of the current General Plan.

In particular: Bicycle and pedestrian provisions within the mobility chapter of the document.

“Thinking about how to do it in this town: I have seen it go down in different ways,” said Councilwoman Julie Pace recalling her time working with the City of Mesa in the early 2000s.

“When you think about cross-sections. There is just a lot of stuff in the General Plan --- I mean people voted for this as they trusted us --- but they didn’t really understand a lot the things in there that nobody wanted. We wasted a lot time on things like bike paths...”

But for Ms. Pace, she says she is focused on how to bring local stakeholders together as the update process unfolds in the new year.

“There are things that need to be looked at and taken out,” she said. “But the question becomes: How do you pull the people together? I don’t want people with an agenda. We need to get a balance of people that have their heart in the right place to do the right things. We need to get a balanced General Plan that can protect the town for some time.”

--- Julie Pace, councilwoman

Paradise Valley Councilman Dembow says while the adopted General Plan is a lauded political document, in hindsight he says, everything changes for residents when those guidelines encroach upon established neighborhoods.

“I agree with you completely,” he said in response to Ms. Pace.

“You had people pushing their agendas and they were in charge of groups leading it and, so things got in. If the General Plan was bible, we would have bike (and) pedestrian plans everywhere, every street would have medians ... we would have single-hauler trash --- there are a lot of things. Less is more on this one.”

While Mr. Dembow rests on the idea of less is more in this vein, he also admits every council will have their own spin on how to maintain Paradise Valley community values in the overview document.

“Every new council will look at things with fresh eyes, but when the reality of it comes into their neighborhood then it becomes an issue,” he said.

Paradise Valley Town Attorney, Andrew Miller, agrees with the notion politics can play a role in adopting policy-guiding documents like a General Plan.

“There were things changed at the council level the last time that we’re taken out and there were more, maybe aggressive, measures a little controversial in terms of growth issues,” he said. “There are opportunities for things to change along the way.”