To ratify or not to ratify the general plan? That is the question for Scottsdale voters

Fate of general plan update determined in Nov. 2 election

[Here’s] what you need to know with the General Plan: it is not a zoning document. It does not control taxes. It does not devalue property. It is a visionary statement of what the people expressed they want their city to be over the next decade and how they want to see it mature and remain as special as it is. It is not a document that says ‘you have to do this.’ It cannot be because the state gives us guidelines.”

Betty Janik, Scottsdale City Councilwoman

DROP YOUR BALLOT OFF

8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday Monday, Nov. 1; and 6 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2 at:

• Scottsdale City Hall, 3939 N. Drinkwater Blvd.;

• Indian Bend Wash Visitors Center, 4201 N. Hayden Road; and

• Cave Creek Unified School District Office, 33016 N. 60th St.:

Voters can also go to the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center, 510 S. Third Ave., Phoenix: 24 hours a day, seven days a week through 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2.

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Scottsdale’s general plan is outdated by 20 years, and on Tuesday, Nov. 2, voters will determine whether to accept the latest attempt at updating the municipal document.

The plan, if approved, would add or update elements of the current 2001 General Plan with community-created areas like character and design as well as tourism. With the vote now in the public’s hands, campaign signs and ads have run throughout the city for or against the proposition. Local social media is even more polarized.

Scottsdale is operating under general plan 2001, because previous attempts to get the plan approved have been unsuccessful. In 2009, the city began its first attempt at updating the plan, but was not approved by voters in the March 2012 election.

It failed with 51.98% of the vote, Independent archives show.

The next attempt was in the works between fall 2012 and December 2016; however during a Dec. 1, 2016 study session meeting, the City Council shelved the plan, ending its pursuit of voter-approval.

The latest efforts to draft and update Scottsdale’s general plan began in March 2020.

“I wish we could speak to each other with respect and pull out those common elements that we want instead of all the dissension that exists,” said City councilmember Betty Janik. “When I got involved in formulating this General Plan and updating it, it was my campaign pledge that I would get this done. We’re supposed to get this done every 10 years and we’re 10 years too late.”

What exactly is the plan all about, and why is it such a hot topic? Officials say a source of the controversy comes from mischaracterizing the plan as law.

“[Here’s] what you need to know with the General Plan: it is not a zoning document. It does not control taxes. It does not devalue property. It is a visionary statement of what the people expressed they want their city to be over the next decade and how they want to see it mature and remain as special as it is. It is not a document that says ‘you have to do this.’ It cannot be because the state gives us guidelines,” Janik explained.

While the vote itself determines the fate of community-created elements of the plan, state-mandated elements like housing and open space are constants.

“They tell us what has to be in there, and then we add our own because we know what the citizens want. One of them was tourism,” Janik said.

A couple good ways to track if an element of the plan is state-mandated or community-created is by looking at the glossary of the Scottsdale General Plan 2035, or by researching it through Ballotpedia. Counselor Janik also wrote a statement explaining the purpose of the plan on Sept. 29 where she differentiated the two types of elements.

One of the new elements was tourism. Tourism rates have dropped significantly since the pandemic, but have seen a recent rise. This puts historic areas like Old Town center-stage of the General Plan.

Retaining the character of Scottsdale and the areas within, like Old Town, are a big part of what brings tourists and snowbirds to Scottsdale, officials pointed out.

“We are a bedroom community with a heavy tourism emphasis,” said Counselor Kathy Littlefield, an opposer to the plan. “We need to take that into account when we do this plan. Scottsdale is a tourism destination, and rightfully so.”

A significant amount of financial contributions to oppose the General Plan come from the nonprofit organization Market Freedom Alliance. The organization has spent $39,610 throughout this election.

“This group did file a disclosure, but it didn’t identify who’s funding those resources,” said Jim Davis, treasurer of the Coalition of Greater Scottsdale.

The Nov. 2 election will determine the majority community’s decision on whether the current state of Scottsdale General Plan 2035 is right for Scottsdale.

If the plan fails, Scottsdale will continue with its current 2001 plan with the state-mandated elements until the next General Plan election. And if the plan passes, no official laws will be put in place, but the council will have a ratified guide at the ready for what lies in Scottsdale’s future.

Editor’s Note: Scott Daniels is a student reporter at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Lead News Editor Melissa Rosequist contributed to this article.