The Tempe Development Review Commission recently voted to deny an appeal of a prior administrator’s decision that denied a local business’s request for landscape modifications to allow for artificial turf at the property.
The commission heard this appeal during its Jan. 14 meeting, ultimately voting to deny the appeal in a 5-2 vote, with Commissioners Joe Forte and Robert Miller voting in support of the appeal.
Desert Designers, the appellant, is a landscaping design and installation firm located on the west side of South Hardy Drive at 3222 S. Hardy Drive. The company took ownership of the property in early 2022, according to a city staff report by senior planner Chris Jasper.
When Desert Designers acquired the site, the property owner and business operator replaced the natural turf area along the property’s Hardy Drive frontage with artificial turf without proper city authorization.
A code compliance correction notice was issued in July 2023, according to Jasper, to which the appellant responded to by submitting an application for a minor development plan review in August to allow for the artificial turf.
“The application was deemed incomplete, and a notice was provided to the applicant requesting additional information,” Jasper stated.
From there, the appellant met with staff in September and November of 2023 to discuss the application process, requirements for this change and the appellant’s desire to maintain the artificial turf going forward.
Revised application materials were submitted in July 2024, and city staff reviewed and provided comments and required revisions on the plans received.
Jasper explained that Desert Designers declined to make the revisions and requested that staff make a decision based on the originally submitted material. A letter of denial was then issued on Oct. 25, 2024.
Desert Designers appealed this decision at the commission’s Jan. 14 meeting, where its representative Bill Kozub explained the case and why they are seeking the ability to maintain its artificial turf.
“The purpose of our appeal is to try to get permission to leave the artificial turf in place instead of reinstalling grass, which the aerial photos of this property show has always had a hard time growing,” Kozub said.
He said that his client and other previous owners have had difficulty keeping natural grass in that front area of the property, and it makes more sense to keep the artificial turf. Kozub also took issue with the city’s requirement to add four trees along Hardy Road.
One of Tempe’s requirements held that Desert Designers have four trees at the front of the property, which Kozub said his client felt could be a safety concern with drivers pulling out of the property being unable to see oncoming cars.
In the following discussion, the commissioners discussed the property’s existing capabilities to have irrigation run to that part of the property and the surrounding properties’ uses of artificial turf.
While there are some properties that use artificial turf in the area, it was noted that some of those were city projects and that there are a lot of other properties that are able to maintain natural turf.
Commission Chair Andrew Johnson said that artificial turf has specific purposes where it works best, and along a road is not the best use for it. He noted that by requiring the natural turf and additional trees would do a lot to help beautify and encourage activity in the area.
“I don’t necessarily agree that it would be impossible to keep turf alive. I think they do it up and down the street. You can just drive the street and see it in many instances,” Johnson said.
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Meet Caroline Caroline Yu joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2020 as a summer intern covering Scottsdale. As an intern, she continued her coverage of Scottsdale, Paradise Valley and Tempe. After graduating in 2022, Caroline became a full-time reporter for Scottsdale and Paradise Valley. She is currently reporting for the Tempe market.
Community: She is a supporter of the environment and tries to get involved with related community events.
Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications, with a minor in French.
Random Fact: She used to be a ballet dancer for 10 years.
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