When campaigning to be your mayor, I promised to support only the highest quality development worthy of Scottsdale. Constructing a massive concrete parking structure in the heart of Old Town, across from our historic buildings, is wholly inappropriate.
Over the last few weeks, HonorHealth CEO Todd LaPorte demonstrated HonorHealth’s commitment to Old Town by his willingness to discuss alternative locations that may become available for the parking garage.
Mr. LaPorte deserves our special thanks – he has mine.
Prior to my City Council colleagues voting to spend $1.6 million to design the monstrosity, I met with the president of the Main Street Gallery Association to discuss finding an alternative site that would be easier for visitors to find, could be integrated with the downtown trolley system, minimize the construction impact on businesses, would not blight the historic area and, importantly, spare the Scottsdale Farmer’s Market.
He admitted that location was not his first choice and told of a restaurant owner who, some years ago, committed suicide, in-part, because of the construction of a garage next door that destroyed his business. He told me that he would not oppose a 30-day postponement to seek a better location/design.
However, he and another gallery owner spoke at the Tuesday, Feb. 11, City Council meeting, saying that they have waited 20-plus years for a taxpayer-funded garage and that 30-days was just too long to wait any further. They convinced my City Council colleagues to vote “no” on a 30-day pause to find the best location to produce the optimal return for taxpayers and merchants.
It calls to mind the proverb – For lack of a nail, the battle was lost and thus the war; all for the want of a nail.
I am hopeful downtown merchants and property owners can unify in favor of advancing revitalization of Old Town in the best way imaginable.
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