City Council | Regular Meeting - October 22, 2024

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I call the October
22nd
2024 city council regular meeting to
order city clerk Ben Lane please conduct
the roll call thank you mayor mayor
David Ortega present vice mayor Barry
Graham pres Council memb Tammy caputi
here Tom Durham here Betty Janet here
Kathy Littlefield here and Salange
Whitehead here city manager Jim Thompson
here City attorney Sher Scott here City
treasur Sony Andrews here acting city
audit L cluff here and the clerk is is
present thank you mayor excellent uh we
have Scottdale Sergeant uh Sean Ryan as
well as detective Dustin Patrick and
firefighter Bobby Conan if anyone
requires assistance I also saw the
police chief here so that's even Extra
Protection uh let's begin with the
Pledge of Allegiance cwan uh Kathy
Littlefield
flag
States at at this time I wish to draw
our attention to the ongoing Wars uh
where in foreign countries where um
they are fighting for their freedom and
democracy also keep in mind our military
uh who are deployed in these uh
dangerous areas and so uh with a
Reflections on their safety let's let's
pause
thank
you moving on applications are being
accepted until November 1st for openings
in various Scottdale boards and
commissions in including historic
preservation commission lost trust fund
board uh neighborhood advisory
commission and a recently vacated
position on the library board residents
who may be interested in volunteering uh
May inquire for more information uh
please see the complete list and you can
apply online at
scottsdaleaz.gov
boards um and um search there uh or
under boards and
commissions um next we have a um a team
of um well-respected city
employees and uh they have an amazing uh
role uh in our city uh Scottdale has
very high
expectations and uh we try to make sure
that uh uh all properties comply to uh
keep Scottdale beautiful we have a
proclamation uh um regarding the U uh
the code officers and code enforcement
uh in our city so I'll read it here and
then they'll come forward whereas the
American Association of Code Enforcement
was established in 1988 for the purpose
of providing ongoing support for code
enforcement Professionals in the United
States and whereas Scottsdale's code
enforcement inspectors and code
assistants are dedicated highly
qualified professionals who share the
goals of preventing neighborhood
deterioration enhancing and ensuring
safety and preserving property values
through knowledge and application of
Municipal zoning codes and
ordinances whereas code enforcement
often have challenging and demanding
roles and should be recognized for the
job they do in improving living and
working conditions for residents and
businesses in Scottdale and whereas code
enforcement is called to provide quality
customer service and Excellence because
they care about the communities in which
they live and where they serve therefore
I David D Ortega 12th mayor of Scottdale
do Proclaim October
2024 as code enforcement appreciation
month in Scot scotdale I encourage all
Scottsdale residents to recognize and
appreciate the hard work and dedication
of the Scottsdale code enforcement team
and if you need them dial
480312
2500 and you will get a a courteous
referral why don't you gu why don't you
come forward now thank you
SC
[Applause]
so moving on uh during tonight's meeting
the council may make a motion to recess
into executive session to obtain legal
advice on any applicable item on the
agenda if authorized by the council the
executive session will be held
immediately and would not be open to the
public the public meeting will resume
following executive session also per our
our own Council rules of procedure
citizens attending City Council meetings
shall observe the same Rules of Order
and de Quorum applicable to members of
this the council ourselves and City
staff um any demonstrations and even
Applause Just would interrupt the flow
of the meeting uh additionally the
council recently updated our Council
rules counc ILS um shall not use
electronic communications while
attending Council meetings and we do
have approved devices for use to access
our files and so forth
digitally at this point we will move on
to public comment public comment is the
opportunity for any member in the in the
public to come forward H advocacy for or
against a ballot measure during a
council meeting is not allowed uh the
purpose of public comment is to allow
the public to um speak their mind about
any non agendized item however it it uh
would have to be within the jurisdiction
of the city council no official action
can be taken on any public comment and
speakers are limited to three minutes to
address us if you wish to speak of
course you could have U registered with
our clerk we have one request so um
asking Stephen Allan Sutton how are you
sir and please come forward State your
address and um no see your timer
there mayor Ortega vice mayor gram and
council members my name is Steve
Sutton my address is 6637 North 81st
Street in
Scottdale I'm a native
Arizona I graduate of Scottsdale High
School I've lived most of my life in
Scottdale last time I formally spoke to
all of you was three months
ago I informally spoke to three of you
three weeks
ago before I say anything
more like the
mayor I want to thank the many Scottdale
public servants who've been very
professional and helpful during the
preceding three months
people in Parks and
Recreation records planning risk
management the city manager's
office the city clerk's office the City
Attorney office the city council office
and the police officers who sit above
and behind us here my thanks to all of
you I am here to
mention that we now have the largest
longest in duration and still continuing
Act of civil disobedience in the city of
Scottdale
occurring I know it sounds incredible
doesn't
it right now as I speak people are
engaged in this act of Civil
Disobedience hundreds of people are
doing this every
week it is beyond doubt the largest
longest continuing Act of civil dis
obedience in the city of Scottsdale's
history fortunately several hundred Scot
aliens are organized to end this Civil
Disobedience with the dedication and
Acumen of the public and that of
Scottsdale's public servants this
Behavior should end near the end of
November it will take the cooperation of
the public and public servants most
importantly it will require City public
servants to accept and agree to provide
what so many of the people are asking
asking them to
accomplish since I have a minute left
I'd also like to
add I've been fortunate to observe over
the last six decades that Scottdale
consistently has good
leadership and I'm very proud of my city
I'm a strong supporter of strong
government and when I say strong
government I mean government that
operates with an
efficiency in a system that is
inherently inefficient and we all need
to remember that
I believe it was Otto bismar that once
said that
politics is like making sausage it's
messy it's difficult and there's a lot
of
waste I want to thank the council the
mayor vice mayor for allowing me to
speak tonight and I thank you all for
your
consideration thank you sir um next we
have Barney
Gonzalez please come forward
uh thank you um my name is Barney
Gonzalez my address is 6349 North cattle
Track Road Scots Arizona
85250 the reason why I'm here U tonight
is on behalf of the president of the
greater uh Phoenix Chinese
Association um uh her name is Helen zong
she's not able to meet uh and come
tonight but what we were doing is just
notifying the city our intent to have a
uh what we call a fall festival uh all
Asian Festival this is all inclusive and
this will not only be for the Chinese
Community but all the different Asian
communities throughout uh the
Metropolitan Valley of the Sun uh we we
tend to to be use as many um vendors as
possible from the city of
Scottdale um we we plan to uh do a a net
scheme of of uh of value whereas you
know after costs and infrastructure
costs and everything for the festival
that we will be doing uh donations to uh
City uh 501c corporations with in the
city uh
limits the the point that I guess the
notification I'm trying to do is say
that we're going to make application to
this we are actually looking to maybe
try and do the Fall Festival during uh
between sandwich it between the TPC and
the and and the before that would be the
uh the Barrett Jackson and we're trying
to do that or maybe the first week of
February or whatever venue we can
establish at the time that you know
works with everybody you know the
Chinese festival and everything they
they themselves take about two and a
half weeks to celebrate in China the
festival so they don't have a real
strong uh date you know date start and
date end it's more on the L lunar
calendar how they uh look at it and it
changes from year to year this will be
the year of the snake in
2025 so therefore uh we just like to let
the city know that we are moving forward
with these plans and that we hope uh
that we can meet everybody's
expectations and this be a total
cultural event for all of the uh Asian
uh groups including the Taiwanese
Chinese uh Islanders and things of that
nature so anyway my time's up and uh
thank you very much and if you have any
questions feel free to ask me
anything well thank you uh at this point
I would um and and although you
mentioned Fall Festival where it may be
spring or midwinter yes I'm sorry yes it
is a Spring Festival sure thank you very
much and at this point I would uh close
public comment next we have agenda item
to approve the minutes and I request a
motion to approve the following a
regular meeting minutes of September 17
2024 special meeting minutes of
September 24th
2024 regular meeting minutes of
September 24th 2024 I have a motion so
moved second second good we have Motion
in a second uh also note that um the
councilwoman um Whitehead is remote so
please record your
vote
yes very good we are unanimous and the
motion carries uh next we have a consent
agenda items 1 through
21 there are accompanying files on all
of these cases and at I do wish to point
out that item number nine would be moved
from the uh consent agenda to regular
agenda also there there was a
clarification on item number 16 that was
duly posted so uh I would
um uh for that item we it will be
considered with the um re revision at
this
time uh is there anyone else have have a
question about any consent agenda items
seeing none oh vice mayor Graham go
ahead thank you mayor I had qu I had
questions on item
10 car holes text Amendment Aaron
peral and item 13 mayor sure so we have
a staff representative to come forward
and um
speak to
those so um describe the the uh uh
excuse me at this point these are just
questions from staff and we'll take a
motion later go ahead thank you mayor oh
please you want to begin yes go ahead I
noticed the in the packet the uh
Planning Commission had a divided vote
could you just to share with the council
the nature of the division
mayor Ortega and vice mayor Graham uh I
think there was just some hesitation
because there was uh a letter submitted
by an attorney at the time with several
suggestions on what changes could be
made to that particular text
Amendment uh and staff you know was
aware of the letter and we informed the
person who wrote the letter that it was
beyond the scope of what we were
proposing as a part of the text
Amendment and they just I think the
Planning Commission was a little bit
uncertain because of that letter they
thought there was some legal issue
involved thank
you okay uh carrying forward with the uh
next
item and just please mention just a
brief description of the item itself
that yes thank you that was about the
home home uh Care Home text Amendment
and this item item 13 mayor is
conjection uh conjection congestion
mitigation and air quality improvement
grant for the Goldwater Boulevard
pedestrian and bicycle underpass at
Scottdale Road
Project hi Mr Milenko good evening now
do you I guess you don't have
any PowerPoint or slides for us tonight
I just can't the in the packet I can't
seem to tell where this is going to be
an under a pedestrian underpass
underneath gold water is that correct we
we do have a short presentation if that
would help with some visuals that might
be satisfactory if you don't if you
would uh oblige
us and what I'd like to start off with
is this is a really exciting much needed
project it
connects um the areas that were that was
bisected by the Goldwater underpass or
overpass uh between Rancho Visto and
chapparel so we have a disconnected
sidewalk in the middle of downtown and
probably our one of our most uh active
areas in the city
yeah see the lo you can see the location
here uh at the
corner um and it's adjacent it's on the
on the west side of Scottdale Road very
good here's a another view of an aerial
of its
location and then also a rendering of
what we look to
accomplish with with uh this underpass
it connects both uh disconnected
sidewalks and it it it provides the
amenities that are required um in this
area and then
um I think we could kind of go back to
that but if there are any questions uh
regarding no I'm thank you Mr Milenko
I'm very excited about this program
because that spot for you know it's such
a high traffic area especially for
tourism because you have so many resorts
in that area I just if you can go back
to that aial or if you have an AAL I
can't tell from the aerial under where
under the road it will be burrowed where
it will be carved
out um where's the entrance it's hard to
tell on this aial but it is a a short
ways in you can kind of see Scottdale
Road in this rendering so it's a it's a
short ways in but we are will be
creating a a box underneath uh The
Underpass we'll also put in lighting art
Landscaping and all to make it a
completed project so is it going to go
un strictly under Goldwater Boulevard
pardon me is it going to be strictly
underneath uh Goldwater Boulevard
Goldwater
okay um 2.5 million is that the original
budget has that budget been
revised the the total budget which is in
the CIP 2425
is 3 milon
34,600 so this this takes a large
portion of that Project funding okay so
the the amount the the lower amount you
just showed on the screen that's because
that's only a component of the whole
project that that is the uh the total
with the local match from the the uh
Transportation tax
142,000 and the Federal grant but there
are also other things that are included
some right of way purchase and that type
of thing that are not part of this cost
okay when do we have do you have to come
back and get those approved from Council
we we may need at some point in time to
do that but right now I think with the
funding that we have we're hoping to
move
forward how long uh how long is
construction on this project you think
is going to take
if if you compare it to let's say uh the
underpass being done at chaperel correct
that that is an area where we shut the
road down that was what that was my next
question and gave them full access to
the area um during three months in the
de of Summer this is in the middle of
downtown so I think the logistics are
more difficult so it's um I think we
would I'd have to work more with CPM on
the exact timing of that okay so you're
not sure at this point yes um how long
do you think this project will
take
um I would I would definitely say we
would' be doing the work in the off seon
we always try to do it um to stay away
from the events and the the high
activity season but I would say four to
five months um are you going to have to
shut down goldw we we were just kind of
make uh talking about that or any of the
streets uh I'm not quite sure exactly on
the utility uh impacts as part of this
project there are some but we're working
with water and and other utilities uh in
coordination kind of a tight space do
you have do you have enough space for
staging
storage that will be part of uh part of
the the plan submitted by the contractor
is to put together a staging area we
call it a marshalling yard so that will
be part of the project but you think
it's not going to disrupt uh High season
we're going to try not to we try to do
that in all respects on all of our
projects to schedule them to minimize
disruption for the public and our
visitors very good now last thing you
know we uh we do a lot of underpasses in
Scottdale most of them are successful
sometimes they're not successful like
the one on Shay we have one at Indian
Ben that connects uh Seville to the uh
mccormic Ranch Park are you familiar
with that underpass on Indian Bend
yes I'm I know of it well that one's
widely considered unsuccessful would you
agree with
that um you know this subject is not
what we're talking about right now you
know but I just I'll allow it but please
we can talk about other projects and
other parts of the I don't have the
recent numbers on on the use of that so
I couldn't answer that question well
it's widely considered unsuccessful
because people don't know what's there
and it's you know it's uncomfortable
experience I was wondering if you'd
studied sort of the demerits of that
project to make sure we don't repeat
that for the cold water part of our um
way of improving our whole network is we
have a new
wayfinding uh signage program that we're
implementing we've done it on a portion
of our of our Network thus far and that
would also be part of say the new uh
underpass on
goldw are you talking about people using
Tech technology to find the underpass no
they they would be wayfinding signs
showing Direction showing uh the types
of uses that are ahead and what what how
this uh facility can
connect thank you thank you mayor you're
welcome well thank you I you can stay
there I really appreciate that this
project is coming forward uh it is
94% funded by the federal ederal
government and the other portion is our
own transportation tax so when you look
at the value of um for safety and the
Aesthetics that are proposed it's very
outstanding we pay billions of dollars
in in funds for state and federal taxes
so I commend the the group to get the
funding and uh have this done sometimes
you know projects are measured they
aren't really measured uh as months of
construction there this is measured in
decades of service for for this area and
we have plenty of access to Fashion
Square there's no concern about that
because there's next Road over has a
light so there's there's uh some
inconvenience but in the end people uh
will have safety and that's what we're
looking forward to thank you with that I
would uh I see no other councel uh
people to uh speak or uh have a question
I would uh at this time time um I move
to approve consent agenda items
1-8 and 10 through 21 with item number
16 16 pertains to the Scottdale artwalk
pallet event funding there was a slight
tweak on that and uh it is was posted
and it's available so that uh my motion
for consent agenda items would include
the revision of item 16
um I'm also making note that item number
nine again is moved to the regular
agenda so I move for the approval of
consent agenda items 1-8 and 10 through
21 as I just stated second thank you
have motion a second anyone wishing uh I
see no one else wishing to speak again
councilman councilwoman Whitehead is
remote please record your vote
and we'll follow up with councilwoman
Whitehead councilwoman Whitehead could I
please get your vote on the consent
agenda oh sorry I was on mute sorry
yes thank you we have uh unanimous uh
moving forward we will uh go to a full
presentation for um item uh regular
agenda item and now number nine and then
we have item uh 22 also on our regular
agenda we have uh Greg Bloomberg
representing um staff and on item number
uh nine proceed yes thank you mayor uh
Ortega and vice mayor Graham and and
council members I'm here to give you a
very brief presentation for case 19 ZN
2002 number 12 the Crossroads East
Zoning for legacy North
project site is located at the northwest
corner
of actually 76th Street ultimately but
this is 76th Street or Andor Miller
depending on what your recollection is
and this is Legacy here uh the greyhawk
community is directly north and there is
a wellsite to the west and the rest of
the property around that area is owned
by the
state uh just a close close up look of
the location for
you so the request tonight is for
affirmation and finalization of the
zoning District boundary for the subject
site and if it's approved the zoning
would be uh plan Community District
p-c multifam residential
R5 there is no zoning change requested
with this application it simply fulfills
the zoning adoption required for the
zoning District that was assigned to
this site by the state at auction the
auction notice includes uh the zoning
that's been designated for this site so
this is simply administrative action to
get that zoning in place and the project
uh in question did receive drb approval
Dev review board approval on January
18th of this year 18dr
2023 again if this if this application
is uh approved the zoning on the site
will be p-c
R5 that concludes staff's brief
presentation I'm happy to answer any
questions you may have and I know the
owner is also here and may want to speak
to you as well sure so we will proceed
to hear from the applicant and then I
will go into public comment and then any
questions or motion from the
council thank you council members my
name is Jessica celado I'm with the
applicant the dinner scene companies um
and I want to start off by apologizing
upfront to the community and the
residents there was no intention to
deceive the residents of in the
surrounding area so we sincerely
apologize if there was perception around
that uh and and also to be clear um we
don't feel that we
misrepresented
um what's going on the subject in
question is essentially what what's
going on between the buildings that are
on the north side of the property and
the property line um that um is adjacent
to the Village of greyhawk that that
Greg just shared with us um there's
nuances between you know what's an ease
easement and what's a setback and um
understand that for someone who's not in
the development world or planning world
that that might be a bit of a gray area
and so I think there was some
misunderstanding there in um when we
were responding some to some questions
that um came through from residents
during the the process um so to be clear
the required setback per the zoning is
10 ft and um we're actually proposing an
enhanced 25 ft um easement that provides
for pedestrian and bike access that
connects into this future Regional Trail
system um so I want to be clear there
and I also want to be super clear that
we want to work with the community and
residents we do not want to um we're not
a developer that doesn't work in areas
where they're wanted um it's very
important to us to have good
relationships
with with our residents and the
stakeholders in the community um and we
feel that we've addressed that through
the appropriate forums which going
through the design review board process
was you know our community engagement
and Community meetings um as well as um
you know going through the design review
board process and getting those
approvals um so you know through the
design review board process we responded
to neighbors um you know we placed the
buildings um further away from the
property lines than were required under
the zone as I've I've already pointed
out um we proposed lower density than
what the zoning allows um and we even
responded to com M from the residents
about you know headlights facing um into
the Villages of greyhawk community and
planned um three-foot decorative seat
walls to address those comments and so
you know we feel that we're you know one
Rover we're overall we're fully
complying with the Zone um and the
development regulations under that zone
and to we worked with the community you
know in the process that's outlined um
through the design review board and I
think very importantly we relied on the
design review board process um and the
um design review board's decision on on
the project and the due process that
went along with that um and so you know
respectfully we don't we do not feel
that this zoning allocation and adoption
um process is the Forum to address
design related um items
because that was the design review board
process and that due process has has
passed the appeal periods expired um and
so we are requesting that the allocation
of the zoning is is processed tonight um
but all that to be said we are happy to
work with the residents that have
specific concerns related to this um and
come to a private understanding of what
exactly will be programmed between the
building
and the property line along the Villages
at greyhawk um and I'm I'm happy
personally I will sit down with um those
residents review our landscape plans and
we're happy to come to a private um
understanding on any landscape screening
that they would like um if they want to
rework the kind of lineage for any of
those trails to kind of create a better
environment from their perspective we
are we're absolutely happy to do that um
but we do not feel that that is
necessarily the the um jurisdiction or
you know what's in play for the decision
tonight thank you well good stand by you
have another five minutes so we uh
appreciate um your presentation uh at at
this point I'm going to O open public
comment then we'll go on to any
questions by our Council we have um
uh Richard suzara uh here to speak on
this
uh from the public please come
forward say yes and uh State thank you
state your uh your place of residents
and uh you'll see a three minute timer
there
okay um my name is Richard
suora I'm at um 1
19700 North 76 Street unit number
2037 Scottdale I am directly adjacent to
the property in
question uh I first of all I want to ask
did all of the and and thank you I want
to start out with thanking the mayor and
vice mayor and all of the uh council
members for the opportunity to uh
provide this comment did all of you get
the document that I submitted anybody
not get that okay I'm just going to kind
of summarize then
I appreciate that the developer doesn't
believe there's been deception but it
all started with the letter we received
that was uh dated June 28th 1920
2023 which said you're providing a 25t
easement as a lay person that's not
familiar with all of the details with
all of this the assumption is that there
would be that 25t easement and no part
of the development would be in that
easement to include patios so there was
no reason to provide public comment or
public input because the developer had
been forthright with saying we giving
you 25 ft in addition um there were uh
representations made at the d uh RB
meeting uh uh and where you commented
that there would be that 25 foot
easement no mention of patios
encroaching so what I'm asking is that
the council the city of Scottsdale
enforc the
stipulations there are stipulations that
were made for this development that
there would be a 25 foot
easement I'm just asking for
that and um
I realize that um you have a very a
variance of opinion about
what
is happened here but the public has been
deceived if the public would have known
that we
had the patios encroaching that easement
there would have been much more
comment we didn't know it was there we
didn't find that out until
June and then the commun and then the
information was communicated to the city
of
Scottdale
um I'll answer any questions that you
might
have thank you sir um are there any
questions yes uh councilwoman Janik
thank you mayor so in your
estimation had it been disclosed that
there would be ptio encroachment into
this 25 easement you feel that there
would be participation from your condo
owners at the drb meeting is that
accurate yes okay and I believe some of
those provided uh uh comment through
electronically today unfortunately there
was a short window to do this so sure
but yes I believe there would have been
significant public comment you have to
remember that easement is there for I
think from from the uh uh uh from the uh
neighbors point of view
to provide a buffer for noise for light
pollution for
plants uh
trees and and I appreciate what the
developer said but the the uh patios
appear to be encroaching 10 ft and then
you have a path that's 8 ft and then you
have a trail that's 6 feet that totals
24 ft that only leaves one foot for uh
um the U uh
vegetation okay then um when did you
start communicating with planning
department concerning these issues
and why do you feel or how do you feel
that this issue was not maybe properly
defined um over
time well I didn't find out about it
until June okay uh when the developer uh
finally disclosed
that okay would you say
that
um the city maybe could have done a
little bit more to clarify all these
issues well yes in hindsight I mean I
wish the development review board would
have uh really looked more closely that
uh unfortunately that didn't happen okay
and I guess I would kind of summarize it
in that you can't object to something if
the something isn't disclosed and I
think that probably is the biggest
problem with with what we see going on
here so thank you thank you for your
presentation
okay okay um councilman uh
Durham thank you Mr
Mayor um
once we sort of have the outside edge of
the 25
ft um how close would that be to your
residence or other residences my
residence is uh 22 ft from the property
line so there' be and do you have a is
that the back of your property or the
front of your property that's to my back
uh uh balcony
patio right below me is the lower unit
I'm in the upper unit okay these are
condos how big is that patio oh I'd have
to estimate maybe about 8 ft by 8
ft so maybe 10
uh so that could
be 20 feet from their patio something
like
that uh I'm not I'm not sure following
your question
well I'm I'm just thinking if they have
a uh a 10-ft patio that leaves 15 feet
to the property line and then I'm
thinking of the property line from the
back of your units to the property line
yes it would but we have to remember
there is an 8ot uh path and a six- foot
Trail right but I'm I'm counting that as
part of the yes but there's no there's
no that only leaves one foot for veget
vation trees right but but uh possibly
uh the other the other party could reach
an agreement where they would put
vegetation on your side of the property
I don't know if that's what's being
suggested or
not um not aware of that right Mr
Bloomberg can I ask a question of
Greg
um we had a similar case I think
where a year or two ago where the there
was a complaint about patios into an
easement and I think the conclusion that
was reached in that case was that patios
were permissible in an easement I sorry
I can't remember the details of that
case um but perhaps you can remember
what it was um attorney Scott please
um mayor and council member Durham I
don't know of the specific case that
you're mentioning maybe Greg does but my
understanding of this easement is it's a
non-exclusive easement that's part of
the this Project's property so it's a
non-exclusive easement um meaning it's
it's very different from City you know
just standard city right away
um and and that's why in this instance
um it was determined that the patio
could legally encroach into the
non-exclusive
easement so the issue I don't know if
other cases would be Apples to Apples um
but the city's legal department did look
at that issue and did determine that it
would be okay for these patios to
encroach into a non-exclusive easement
so I do think that it's important for
the public to understand and for this
citizen um to understand that there is a
difference between a setback for the
property um a setting back from the
property
line and uh a non-exclusive
easement so if the patios are allowed
into a non-exclusive e easement
the presentations before the drb
[Music]
were not necessarily
misrepresentation because if if that
were allowed it's more just a
misunderstanding I I I feel badly if
this this citizen didn't understand it
clearly it impacts his property more
than others um I feel very badly about
that I certainly wasn't at the drb so I
can't comment on what was represented to
the drb but it's my understanding that
the patio placement was approved as part
of the drb process um whether or not
that was understood by everybody at the
hearing I understand that there's some
debate about that um but that's my
understanding and I wasn't there so I'd
like Greg to correct me if that's
incorrect in any
way I would concur with uh the city
attorney's summary of that I think she's
right
on could I make a comment about that and
there is oh I'm sorry well um you have
the floor still so I I think I'm I think
I'm done okay you're done um you know at
at this point I would like the um app I
have I have one question and and it is
for you so um is there
any Trail easement on the on your on the
U uh where these condos are so the the
Outer Perimeter
wall that you have is right at your
property line is that generally speaking
yes there's no Trail on sometime our
property from time to time there may be
a trail in between you know and a
request for both sides to at the time of
purchase to provide that so thank you
very much we will close public testimony
and uh if you could respond to any
question and oh councilwoman Janet
excuse me go ahead is it thank thank you
um I think the problem is
that there was somewhat of a lack of
disclosure on this type of
easement and when questions were asked
it became very
murky so I would like to make a motion
to continue this to the first meeting in
November so that the two parties can get
together and work out their differences
Jessica seemed very willing to
talk to the people involved so that we
can clear the air um for I would just
say
misunderstanding um and hopefully come
up with a resolution so again I would
like to make a motion for continuation I
second that however for a continuous
motion uh you you may sit down sir you
may sit down uh the applicant has an
opportunity to speak because we haven't
moot voted on the continuance yet but
please come forward to speak about the
continuance unfortunately I'm under we
are under a contractual
obligation that requires this zoning
adoption occur at this meeting before a
financial closing um that's scheduled to
happen next week and so I don't have the
opportunity unfortunately to be
continued so I respectfully request that
we make or we come to a decision tonight
but I'm on the record committed and
willing to meet with with you Richard to
to talk through this so that we can come
to a a solution we and no way want the
community and the residents around us to
be
unhappy um well I will I will withdraw
my second to the motion and we can take
as much time as is necessary if someone
else wants to second the motion for
continuance in light of what was being
said may I ask another question sure
okay what day is your closing on this
October 31st
okay
2024 um do you feel it would be possible
to have a
meeting with the representative from uh
greyhawk prior to October 31st
to hopefully come to a better
agreement on this I'm committed to
meeting prior to October
31st and preferably this week okay okay
then um I will change my
motion uh
to uh a continuance to October 3 30th
not a continuance then just a well
stipulation have to make a a motion to
approve with a stipulation that the
parties uh which we we have no control
over that actually correct to that they
should meet we we can control that um
Let me let me so at this point I'm just
going to uh call on uh city manager uh
tell us what the score is here and and
you know whether it's my understanding
they are in either permit process on
this or very close to being you know uh
issued based on the Dr board uh approval
so uh please brief us on this thank you
Mr Mayor members of council um couple
couple items if I may what what we're
here before you this evening is to
really look at the community planning
district which was approved uh for
Crossroads East back in
2018 during that time when when that was
approved it it gave an allotment of
different zoning rights and so this area
here is kind of the last piece of the
puzzle where we have to define the map
of the area um for the zoning class that
they desire to have which in this case
is the um PC and the multifam the
pcr5 the other portion of this is it's
not a request for zoning change it's not
a request to review the drb because that
was already approved as well it is
limited to approving the map and and so
that's the specific request in front of
council associated with the approvals
that were actually granted in 2018 and
then uh the drb case which then approved
the design which was on January 18th of
this year so really what we're we're
here for is like in many of the state
land pieces that we have um along the
101 and and in north scotdale where they
were approved um this case in Cross Road
East they were approved a an overlay of
certain zoning and then each parcel as
it comes forward gets assign that
portion of it and so this is the last
piece of that crossroads East that needs
to be assigned um so again all we're
doing is approving the zoning District
boundary which finalizes the current
zoning and acreage identified in the
original land use budget that was
approved in
2018 and so it's not relevant to per se
the project now to to address a question
on when we go through our um approval
process at staff level we certainly will
take into consideration everything we
heard this evening the commitments by um
the applicant as well as the concerns of
the resident um to see if we could find
a a a good landing spot for all
concerned associated with that but but I
wanted to just reiterate that we're
somewhat limited this evening on what
additional things we can and can't do
because it's really assignment of a map
and not the Project Specific and not the
drb approval and not the zoning which
are already all occurred so thank
you well thank you very much for for
clarifying that I um uh is anyone else
wish to speak councilwoman
Littlefield and vice mayor grah thank
you um well we're very limited tonight
on what we can and cannot do it sounds
like but I would like to make a request
and hopefully the C my fellow council
members would uh agree with me on this
that you meet with this gentleman and
his uh neighbors and work out some sort
of uh hopeful com
uh chance of making everybody a little
happier compromise of some sort and um
see that uh if that can happen before
construction actually starts and before
you actually get going on that I think
it would be easier to do that before you
start rather than during so if you could
meet with this gentleman and some of his
neighbors who might also be interested
in talking with you that would be very
helpful we're committed to doing so
thank you okay vice mayor Graham thank
you mayor I want to agree with council
member Janik and council member
Littlefield this um it's a big project I
think this this episode has kind of
disappointed us at least I I speak for
myself but I'm I'm surmising that that
feeling is um is widespread and so um
really hope that conversations
meaningful conversations can happen with
the resident and that something
meaningful you know beyond what we want
to we hope we didn't want people to feel
that way a little bit more beyond
that would be the desire of this Council
thank you okay with that I would move to
adopt ordinance number 4655 affirming
the zoning classification approved as
part of case 19 ZN uh 2002 number six
and finalizing the zoning District
boundary for approximately a 20 um 20
acre property located at 7550 East
Legacy Boulevard as planed Community
district with PC compatible multif
family District dist uh that's
p-c
R5 second okay we have a motion in
second the the discussion has been
pretty well completed and we really
appreciate uh uh all the input we have
tonight please record your
vote
yes thank you the motion carries 6 to1
with councilwoman Janik uh opposing next
we will move on to item number 22 the
national forest Foundation agreement uh
Gretchen bumgardner will uh is our water
policy manager and um we also have an
opportunity for public comment uh but at
this point proceed uh Gretchen thank you
very
much thank you mayor and Council it's
good to be here tonight yes my name is
Gretchen bomgardner I'm the water policy
manager for Scottdale water and ton I
have with me uh Rebecca Davidson who is
the senior director for conservation
programs for the national forest
foundation so tonight we're going to be
talking about our water supply as it
pertains to Watershed
health and you know I I commonly come
here and talk about the Colorado River
with you folks every four to six months
we talk about conservation programs and
what's happening with the other portions
of our supply and so tonight we're
actually going to talk about an instate
Supply the salt and verie Supply not
very far from us but a really important
component of our diverse
portfolio it's a different uh Water
Resource The Watershed that is above us
um gives us about 20% of our surface
water supply
um but there are components that we have
partnered with the nff through the noris
northern Arizona Foundation to make sure
that that supply and that Forest is
healthy so one of the things that have
been affecting the supply and the forest
and the Watershed in general is larger
forest fires um and Rebecca will talk
about that in a second over the last
couple decades the pattern that we've
seen in the forest and fires and what it
does to our water supply in the forest
themselves uh you'll see that water
quality is affected by a reoccurrence of
bigger and more more fires um it it
affects our our treatment processes it
affects our chemical necessaries it
affects our budget but it also affects
our water supply itself um there have
been vast number of studies that talk
about the Forest Health and how that
that really affects the water supply
that comes down the stream um that
fourth bullet there talks about the
sedimentation that happens up on the
verie side uh I came and presented to
the council many times about the Bartlet
Dam stakeholder group and how SRP and
the bureau and other 22 other
stakeholders are looking at that supply
and how we can find additional ways to
utilize it and find more
supplies one of the reasons that we're
here tonight is also to be good
stakeholders to Showcase to other
stakeholders Upstream how we're stewards
of that Supply as it comes down to
us so us and many other providers um
including City of Phoenix another big
provider and SRP uh the national forest
APS uh and 30 other corporate sponsors
are in collaboration to find ways to
continue with Forest Health as we walk
through an uncertain
future so since 2016 scottd still has
been a good partner in this and some of
the the risk mitigation that the um the
nff look to uh to really do on the
forest is to minimize the erosion and
the sedimentation um to minimize the
damage that happens with these forest
fires the risk the post risk and then
just the general habitat and so Rebecca
is going to talk about a little bit more
in detail of some of the really ins and
outs of some of the projects that our
money and other stakeholders funds can
really bring to the to the to the
Watershed so before I turn it over to
Rebecca and we talk about water supply
31% of the the West is forested and 65%
of that public drinking water comes from
so when we talk about Scottsdale and we
talk about the Phoenix metropolitan area
our water supplies come from the forest
so it's important to be good stewards of
upstream and with that I'll turn it over
to
Rebecca thank you Gretchen um mayor City
Council Members I'm really happy to be
here tonight to talk to you about our
long and enduring partnership with the
city of Scottsdale so as Gretchen
indicated there's a lot at risk with um
Water Supplies across the west and
that's really the same here in Arizona
and specifically when we're looking at
these watersheds that serve um the city
of Scottsdale and all of the other um
Valley Cities as well and so over the
the last few decades what you see here
in this slide is the the rate of fire
that has increased in scale and scope
over the last couple of decades and I
want to mention that fire is an
important and natural part of ponderosa
pine ecosystems these places where our
Watershed and our water supplies come
from however that scale and scope is
increasing and creating more and more
damage and more impact which also
impacts the Water Supplies as we move
Downstream um and so again this is
something that we're dealing with across
the west and certainly here in Arizona
and in um the watersheds that serve
us so there is a ray of hope we're not
all doom and gloom we've been working
under what we call the northern Arizona
forest fund for almost 10 years now it
started just as a baby idea and we've
grown and we're really proud of the
impact that we're having across Ross the
watersheds and really grateful to
Partners including the city of
Scottsdale that believe in what we can
do and believe in helping support the
green infrastructure that really
supplies the water here and so we are
working under um this fund which is
essentially um a a fund aggregator so
through um the city of Scottdale and
through other partners were able to
leverage every non-federal dollar with
Federal sources of funding and other
Partners to do even more on the
Watershed and so we're really excited to
say that this again has been successful
though there's always work to do um and
over the last 10 years we've um funded
um a number of projects with a hundred
donors over five national forests
investing more than $20
million um and with the city of
Scottsdale we've completed 11 projects
so between 2016 and current the city of
Scotts has invested
$480,000 which with we have leveraged
almost $4 million so every non-federal
fund is so important non-federal dollar
is so important for the work that we're
doing here which is almost a quarter of
the total investment so the Scottdale
funding leverages other funding which
does even more on the
landscape so I just wanted to point out
a couple really key cumulative impacts
that the work we're doing on the ground
supports so first and foremost are the
Acres of treatment for those High fuel
Landscapes where there's a high risk of
fire so by doing this work we're
reducing risk of fire not down to zero
because fire is natural but certainly to
mitigate the impacts of these severe
system the the severe systems that fires
bring to us we are as Gretchen said also
really focusing on sediment reduction in
our system and so working on projects
specifically to reduce Downstream
sedimentation and downstream erosion and
we're really thrilled with the benefits
of that work I'll talk a few in in a
couple slides a little bit more about
that and we're also working to replenish
water to systems that have been
degradated over time by millions and
millions of gallons
annually so as an example we report and
track our work every year so in 201 23
we invested um about $10 million we've
reduced Wildfire risk in the areas that
we treated between 30 and 60% again not
down to zero but enough to really
mitigate that severe risk and we've uh
reduced sediment transport by 40 tons in
the project areas that we work and so to
give you a sense of the 40 tons of
sediment that's about the weight of a um
a humpback whale so imagine a humpback
oil coming Downstream um that's what
we're trying to do here is reduce that
sediment coming down and um keep it
Upstream keep the water where it's
supposed to be the other thing that I
really want um to to give a shout out
and that we're really grateful for is
Scott the city of Scottdale helping to
catalyze a program that we call wood for
life and this is a program where we have
our forest restoration projects we are
required to remove that wood from the
forest for to reduce Wildfire risk but
in many times and places there's not a
lot of market value for that wood and we
have to find other ways to use the wood
so now we're able to move that wood from
the forest to tribal communities who are
in need of heating supplies so we're
moving wood from the forest to tribes
across Northern Arizona to help support
their Community needs and to support the
needs on the forest so it's really been
a win-win um program of work and the
City of scotdale helped us leverage that
and catalyze that program and we're
really proud of that work that we're
doing
there this gives you a bit of a snapshot
about the projects that we're doing
across the Watershed we are founded and
committed and we are really excited
about our work on the salt and verie um
Gretchen mentioned some of the
conversations that you're having on the
Colorado River supplies through our
growth and through our work we're also
starting to work in areas that are
adjacent to the salt and verie so
helping to reduce fire risk across
entire Landscapes which then flow and
benefit the work on the salt and verie
so the kinds of projects that we're
working on include um invasive species
work and other land recovery activities
Community benefits projects water
restoration sediment elimination and
then of course those fire mitigation
projects so I'm going to give you just a
snapshot a quick snapshot of two
projects that were really really
thrilled that the city of Scottdale has
helped invest in this is um called The
Little Green Valley Fen it is a
relatively small high elevation Wetland
up on the Salt River Watershed on the
Tonto National Forest and though it's
small it really is a huge benefit for
the Watershed function as a whole it
acts as a sponge it helps ensure that we
have groundwater infiltration it
continues to allow water to flow
perennially and over the last many
decades this particular uh wet Meadow
has been impacted it's been head cut all
of that soil instead of staying on the
landscape is moving Downstream and we're
working with a number of Partners to
invest in protecting this Watershed and
this particular Meadow so that we can
support and regenerate that kind of
water restoration into the system we're
estimating that this work on this small
80 acres will um renew about 120 million
gallons of water into the system each
year and so this is just this small
system
alone another really important kind of
project um that helps support sediment
and erosion reduction is through our
work on Oak Creek um as you may know Oak
Creek is a very significant contributor
and tributary to uh the verie system and
so what happens in Oak Creek has a
direct connection to what happens
Downstream into our waterways and um
sediment across National Forest lands is
a largely contributed by roads and
trails so they're not super sexy
projects trails are fun because people
have access but what we're doing here is
minimizing sedimentation through
unauthorized Trails where people Park
along Oak Creek and just sort of jump
down into the creek and what they're
doing is creating sediment conduits
directly into the system so by um
restoring these unauthorized trails and
Rogue Trails um regenerating a natural
landscape we are improving water
resiliency so so sediment is not moving
Downstream into our reservoirs and we're
directly improving water quality um
because turbidity as you probably know
is a direct um source and conduit for
eoli so we're really looking at how we
can reduce um impacts to water quality
and improve um long-term water
sustainability through projects like
this so we're estimating that with the
program of work um we've conducted about
a 99% reduction um after we've hit all
of these Trails across this particular
project so we've hit 300 Trails we're
still gaining access through um
improving resiliency and sustainability
of trails that also exist so we're not
cutting access off but really trying to
create a system that works better for
everyone and reduces that sediment
loading
question so in summary you know I'm here
a lot talking about things that are
pretty scary and and trying to figure
out tools to to you know walk through
the future and and make sure that our
community is resilient so it's it's
really nice to be here tonight and talk
about one tool
um there's many that we're going to have
to approach into the future but this is
one tool how we keep the Watershed the
instate Watershed healthy and how we can
be partner with several corporations and
organizations and cities um as we reduce
so we split this fund between my budget
and water quality because it's this
marriage between conservation Supply and
water quality and many areas of water
intersect um and this is just a really
great project to move forward in that
marriage
so tonight I'm asking you to approve
resolution
13207 contract 20241 147 in this
agreement with
nff thank you very much um I would open
public comment saying there's no uh
request to speak for public comment you
know I do want to take an opportunity uh
I see so many uh benefits for uh up both
upstream and downstream so it's
wonderful I do want to call on
councilwoman White had uh in case she
may want to weigh in with a comment and
U thank you go ahead thank you um very
good presentation thank you mayor I
really appreciate this presentation and
the work that's being done so I am
supporting
this thank you uh council member
Durham thank you Mr Mayor and on page 12
and 13 we list some of the partners
and the only other city I can see is
Phoenix is listed are are the other
cities in the valley carrying their
share of
this so I'll also let Rebecca jump into
so many so this has been going we've
been partners with the nff since
2015 um and back 2015 there are other
NOS in the forest Watershed game um so
everyone chooses who who they
participate with um So currently it's Us
in Phoenix um I can't speak for some of
the other cities and who they're
participating with um I know we're
having conversations with other cities
and trying to get them on board um we
can talk to Rebecca do you have any
comment on that
one yeah thank you for that um we had
Partnerships with the city of Poria the
city of Mesa and the city of
Glendale um but as Gretchen indicated
for a while while there were a lot of
players in this field and some of those
Partners um with the other cities did go
to other partners to support their work
um that being said you know the city of
Scottsdale and the City of Phoenix are
longstanding enduring and really
important partners for our program of
work so while we are absolutely
continuing to work with um other
partners and we'd love to see the other
cities come back to the northern Arizona
forest fund um we're just starting to
kind of reboot those conversations and
working with the Salt River Project as
part of that
conversation all right thank you okay do
I hear a motion councilwoman Littlefield
thank you mayor yes this is uh something
I wholeheartedly can agree with and I
think it helps our entire State not just
Scottdale but all of us who live here
and need water so I would like to move
that we uh approve adopt resolution
number
13207 to authorize agreement number
2024-25
dcos with the national forest Foundation
to provide funds and support toward
improving the forest watersheds that are
critical to the city's water supply and
number two the water resolutions
executive director or designate to
execute any such documents and take any
such other actions as necessary to carry
out the intent of this
resolution
second we have motion a second I see uh
no further discussion please record your
vote
yes thank you we are unanimous thank
you please stand by for a picture with
our Council before you leave don't leave
too soon uh next we have an opportunity
for public comment second opportunity
for public to come forward seeing none I
would then close public comment um we
also have an opportunity for citizen
petition saying none um I would close
item number 23 we have no citizen
petition request at this point I request
a motion and a second to adjourn our
meeting so moved a motion a second
please second please record your
vote Yes
thank you we are unanimous and we are
adjourned