Split Council Rejects Apartment Rezoning as Commercial Land Pressure Mounts; Parks Expansion Passes on Narrower Vote Than Expected

If I could get everybody to take a seat, we'll get started here in just a minute. too much. Okay. Not okay. Thank you for being here this evening. I'd like to call to order the regular council meeting of September 15, 2026. We'll begin with an invocation and be offered by Pastor Thor Stanhold of Valor Christian Center. Pastor. Oh, the lights on. I must be good. Well, good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of the council, and everybody that's here this evening.

Um, what a what an awesome few days we've had with all the remembrances that have been going on. And uh, I'd like to reflect for just a moment uh, before I pray. And this is the did you know section. After General George Washington was sworn in as the first president of the United States, also known as the father of our country, he was sworn in on April 30th, 1789 at the federal building in New York.

He knelt down, kissed his Bible, and said, "So help me, God." He then took all of his elected officials and marched to St. Paul's Chapel just a few blocks away. They took time to worship God for the positions that God has assigned them to. He then proclaimed that all men are created equal. When the 911 attack caused the collapse of the Twin Towers, it also caused destruction to the surrounding buildings. But the St. Paul's Chapel did not get destroyed and still stands today.

Did you also know that the Pentagon broke ground on 911 1941? In 2 Chronicles 7:14, it tells us that if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will heal of heal heal their land. Let's pray. Father, tonight I pray for our town council and I thank you Lord that you give them your wisdom, your discernment and making all the decisions that concern our great town.

And Lord, I thank you for it. And it's in Jesus name I pray. And everyone agreed by saying amen and amen. Thank you. Thank you, pastor. Our pledge this evening will be led by Council Member Buckley. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Roll call. Mayor Scott Anderson here. Vice Mayor Chuck Bonjiovani, I am here. Council member Bobby Buckley here.

Council member Kenny Buckland here. Council member Young Capowski here. Council member Monty Lions here. Council member Jim Toreson here. Aquarium is present. Thank you. We have a presentation and a couple of proclamations tonight. Our presentation will be on the valley benchmark communities fiscal year 2425 trend report. Thank you Amy. Thank you. Good evening, council members and mayor. I am Amy Ashworth.

I'm the core performance manager uh in the emerging technology division uh where I oversee the performance management program. I'm glad to be here today to walk you through Gilbert's fiscal year 2024 2025 valley benchmark communities trend report. It's a look at how we're performing against our peer communities across the valley. VBC is one of the oldest and largest performance management consortia in the US, serving over 4.6 million residents across the uh Phoenix metro area.

VBC's eight member communities, Aenddale, Chandler Gilbert Glendale Phoenix Queen Creek, Scottsdale, and Surprise, collect data, analyze trends, and share best practices with support from ASU, MAG, and MMA. Today's presentation highlights some of the key points. The full report has more detail, and department leadership can follow answer follow-up questions. Before we get started, I just want to take a note about the um the charts that you're about to see.

The gray shaded area is the min max range across VBC communities. The dark gray line is the median and Gilbert is shown in orange. The projector on the screen may wash out some of this color uh but it's been verified uh uh to come through clearly on all of your monitors and the monitors in the chamber. So let's start with community growth insights. Population data comes from uh MAG annual estimates. Median household income and poverty rates come from ACS uh one-year estimates.

And Gilbert's growth rate has slowed now mid to lower in the peer group. Median household income has uh risen steadily placing Gilbert near the top. Moving on to fire and medical response insights. Fire response time definitions changed in fiscal year 2021 to 22 from average time to arrive to time to arrive for 90% of code three calls. So it excludes dispatch time. Gilbert is currently in the middle of the pack on response times. Calls per resident remain the lowest among peers.

Moving on to a police response and workload overview. Police response times are calculated from when a call is received. Gilbert has one of the fastest response time among peer communities. High officer initiated call volumes reflects proactive community policing. For police and crime rates, violent and property crime totals are sourced from the FBI. Gilbert has one of the lowest violent crime rates in its peer group. Property crime is steady year-over-year and remains below the median.

Property clearance rates or sorry police crime clearance rates uh cover cases cleared by arrest submitted to prosecutor or cleared exceptionally per FBI standards. Violent crime clearance improved from 39% to 51.2% since 2022. Property CL crime clearance rose to 29.5% the highest among its peers. Parks and trails park acre acreage per resident increased but trail mileage decreased putting Gilbert in lower the lower to middle tier.

Natural preserve acreage uh was removed from the fiscal year 24 measure but not applied retroactively. Gilbert has consistently maintained one of the lowest staff to resident uh ratios in its peer group. And our permit processing time for the average permit turnaround time for a single family standard plan is three business days, the lowest among peers since the measure began in fiscal year 202021. And finally, water and sewer rates. Rates are set independently by community.

The charts reflect a standardized bill for a given meter size and usage level, not an average customer. For the higher use bill category, a 1-in meter or 16,000 gallons, the uh bill rose by $55.74 per month, moving from below to above the median. And for the lower use bill category or uh 3/4 inch meter, 10,000 gallons rose by $51.96 per month. Also moving from below to above the median. This is the final uh VBC trend report.

VBC has relaunched as the statewide Arizona collaborative cities initiative. This extends collaboration and knowledge uh beyond the valley to municipalities across Arizona and gives Gilbert the opportunity to help shape benchmarking practices that align with our community priorities.

The VBC the Gilbert VBC trend report will remain available on our websites and residents can also visit ASU's Center for Local Government Education and Innovation for more information on the valley benchmark communities. Any questions can be directed to core performance atgilbertaz.gov and the full Gilbert Valley benchmark report will be posted online at the URL you see here. Thank you Amy. Thank you. Any uh questions Amy? Thank you.

Next up we have a proclamation declaring September 2026 as National Preparedness Month. Council member Buckland will be making this presentation. Do we have anyone from our emergency management team here? Anyone? Anyone? hardworking team right here. So, I'm uh honored to get to do this just with all my time in law enforcement working around uh this very very important team and topic.

So um delighted to to do this uh national preparedness month whereas national preparedness month is observed each September to encourage individuals, families, businesses and communities to prepare for emergencies and disasters before they occur. Whereas the town of Gilbert recognizes that prepared and informed community is uh better able to respond to emergencies, protect lives, property, recover more quickly when disasters occur.

Whereas Gilbert residents may face hazards including extreme heat, flash flooding, dust storms, power outages, severe weather, and other emergencies that can disrupt normal services and require individuals and families to take immediate action.

Whereas residents can strengthen their preparedness by developing a household emergency plan, establishing family communication, meeting locations, understanding evacuation, shelter procedures, and knowing what actions to take during floods, dust storms, power outages, and other emergencies.

Whereas, every household is encouraged to maintain an emergency supply kit containing at least 72 hours of essential supplies, including water, non-p perishable food, medication, and other personal necessities. a battery powered battery powered or hand crank radio, flashlights, batteries, and first aid supplies. Whereas staying informed is an essential part of emergency preparedness.

And Gilbert residents are encouraged to sign up for local emergency alerts, monitor information from Maricopa County Emergency Management and the National Weather Service Phoenix office, and follow official Town of Gilbert communications during emergencies.

Whereas, the Town of Gilbert emergency management team works throughout the year with town departments, public safety agencies, community partners, businesses, and residents to strengthen preparedness, coordinate emergency response, promote community resilience, and help Gilbert, or I'm sorry, help ensure Gilbert is ready for emergencies of all sizes.

Now therefore, I, Kenny Buckland, on behalf of Scott Anderson, mayor of the town of Gilbert, Arizona, do hereby proclaim the month of September 2026 as National Preparedness Month in the Town of Gilbert and encourage all residents, businesses, schools, community organizations, and families to take practical steps to prepare for emergencies, understand the hazards that may affect our community, stay informed, and help make Gilbert a safer and more resilient community.

You guys want to say anything? Anyone? will say something. Hi, my name is Craig Katr. I am the emergency management coordinator and we appreciate you giving us the time tonight to uh declare the preparedness month. Uh we do encourage everyone to uh do the things that were declared in that proclamation to be prepared. Uh make your families resilient, help us to help you in the event of an emergency.

And uh it's timely since we are looking at some storms tonight to uh to uh be prepared for flooding and other emergencies. And uh we thank you for your time. For those that don't know, this is the emergency management team and they sit behind the scenes most of the time. You don't see from them. You don't see them. You don't hear from them and that's a good thing. um they are constantly working and staying on top of what's going on nationally, in the state, regionally, locally.

Um threats, hazards, anything that they can foresee coming down the pipe, uh they work to mitigate impacts to our community and they do it every single day. August was emergency management month. Um but this month is about you, the community. So, in kind of combining those two, I'd just like to take a moment to recognize the hard work of Tracy, Paul, and Craig um every single day um with the support of Dawn and the manager's office um and our town council to keep our community prepared.

So, thank you guys. Thank you, Alina. I will say I'll put an exclamation point on that that this is a hardworking, really dedicated quality team. Thank you, guys. It's a picture. All right. Welcome everyone. Uh, tonight we'd like to make a proclamation related to the America 250 and the Daughters of the American Revolution. I'd like you guys to come up if you would, please. I got to get my glasses here since I've voted for Washington. Kind of aging. Thank you ladies very much.

Uh, as a father of four veterans, myself an Air Force veteran, and my family has served uh in the US military in every conflict that this nation has fought, I really appreciate you guys keeping this memory alive and the sacrifices that people make related to it and the importance of our nation. And this proclamation is uh related to that. So, thank you. Whereas on July 4th, 2026, our nation commemorated the semiquincential anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Whereas the journey toward this historic milestone is an opportunity to reflect on our nation's past, honor the contributions of all Americans, and look ahead to the future generations who carry forward the ideals of democracy and individual liberty that make the United States a unique nation in the world community. And whereas the great state of Arizona was part of the treaty of New Mexico and split off from the territory of New Mexico in 1863 and became known as the Arizona territory.

On February 14th, 1912, President William Howard Taft signed a proclamation making Arizona the 48th state in the union. And whereas the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution or D is a non-political women's service organization established in 1890 whose members are literally descended from patriots of the American Revolution.

And whereas through the president's general leadership, all daughters are spending the next three years illuminating our nation's legacy by celebrating our nation's rich history and diversity. promoting belonging through membership and dedicated service to God, home, and country, and by completing projects in unique, local, and impactful ways.

Whereas from the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party in 2023 until the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 2033, the Daughters of the Revolution will continue to celebrate our nation's history and diversity of experience by honoring all men and women who received American independence. These patriots, believing in the noble cause of liberty, fought valiantly to establish a new nation.

And I, Monty Lions, representing Mayor Scott Anderson, the mayor of the town of Gilbert, do hereby commend the commemoration of America 250 to all Town of Gilbert residents and encourage our community to reflect upon the celebration the 250th anniversary of the founding of our nation. Would any of you guys like to say anything please? Um, hi, my name is Anne Fischer and I'm the regent of our chapter, Governor George Hunt.

And uh we are a woman's service organization like was said uh our objectives are historical preservation, patriotism and education. Well, thank you very much. I present this. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. special mic again. Thank you. We'll uh continue with communications from citizens. Vice Mayor, thank you, Mayor. All right. So, we participate the participation of our community members and robust exchange of ideas.

However, it's essential that this discourse remain discourse remains respectful and constructive reflecting the professionalism expected in such forums. Misinformation and personal attacks undermine our collective efforts and do not contribute to the productive dialogue necessary for our town's progress. Uh this is an opportunity for the public to address the town council directly about issues impacting the town.

Accordingly, the town council will not allow for moments of silence or playing of music or any other recorded um material which could distract from the meeting decorum and violate copyrights. While we understand and appro the and appreciate the passion our community members bring to the session, we remind everyone that clapping during this meeting is is not acceptable.

This practice can disrupt excuse me the flow of uh uh discussion uh potentially intimidate others and distract from the respectful atmosphere we strive to maintain. In accordance to state law, we are unable to respond to issues that have not been properly addressed. Therefore, the town council may only listen to citizens who wish to address them and at the conclusion of the open call to the public.

Response is limited to individuals of the council responding to criticism made by those uh who may address the public body, asking staff to review a matter or asking that the matter be put on a future agenda. However, please be assured that your concerns and input are heard and valued. In accordance to town code, speakers may not use this form to advocate for or against any candidate for public office.

Uh town resources, including this public meeting, may not be used for campaign or election purposes. Each speaker is limited to three minutes. Priority will be given to Gilbert residents, business owners, and property owners. Public comments will be limited to 30 minutes total at the beginning of the meeting. The town clerk will notify the council once 30 minutes uh limit has been reached.

Uh if additional comments remain, they will be heard after the conclusion of the uh public hearing items with the same three minute um limit per speaker. When you come up to the podium, please turn on the microphone, state your name and city of residents and council. We have eight people today, so we will not go over the 30 minutes. I want to start with Lishi. Hope I said that right. How bad did I kill it? Your name. Was that right? Um, my name is Lakshmi. I was close. Nice to meet you, Luxie.

Go ahead. You too. Um, good evening, Mayor Anderson and council members. My name is Luxi Patel, and I'm proud to be a Gilbert resident and a student at Gilbert Classical Academy High School. I'm here to speak in support of item 16 and 17 which will expand recreation opportunities in Gilbert. These projects will add new places for people of all ages and I wanted to share why I think that matters for Gilbert teens.

What excites me most about these projects is the variety they bring to our community. Not every teen connects with the same activity and that's exactly why spaces like these matter. Whether it's basketball, volleyball, pickle ball, skateboarding, sports fields, or trails, having real options gives more young people a reason to show up, get active, and feel included. Being stuck at home all day isn't healthy for us. Feeling unheard, isolated, or overwhelmed isn't healthy either.

These parks give us something we don't always have. A place to breathe, a place to reset, and to feel understood without having to say a word. To us, these aren't just playgrounds or courts. There are places where we can express ourselves, where we can grow, and where we can feel free, healthy, and supported. There, where friendships start, where confidence builds, and where we learn who we are.

Thank you for listening, and thank you for investing in spaces that help us become better and stronger versions of oursel. I hope you all have a wonderful evening. Thank you, ma'am. Avery Hello, Mayor Anderson and council members. My name is Avery Thompson and I am proud to be a Gilbert resident. Um, I go to Williamsfield High School and I am currently a junior.

I wanted to um speak tonight in support of items 16 and 17, the parks and recreation project, and specifically the opportunities they will create for Gilbert youth and teens. As I um have been in my junior year, um we just want teenagers just want a place where we can um de decompress and hang out and have fun. Um we constant constantly feel the pressure of um jobs and homework and clubs.

And while all of those things grow, we really um want a place where we can feel safe um and a place where we can just hang out and have fun. Um we don't ask for places where we are not supervised. We ask for places that um are monitored and open to the public. Um, I know me and my friends, we try and go and hang out um at different places, whether it's the mall um or sometimes it's in and out after a football game.

Um, but as we've seen over the past couple years, sometimes those have just gotten into spaces where um we don't feel as comfortable and safe. Um and so while our um police off police and law enforcement um and you guys had done a wonderful job at creating a safe community for Gilbert, um I truly feel that um the de development of these parks would allow us to continue to feel um safe in a place where we can just have fun um and not also not disturb adults.

Um we love having adults in our lives, but sometimes we need those private places um where we can just hang out um talk about life um and have some fun. So, I'm really excited for the plans of these parks and I really hope that we can gain your support um because I know how much it will mean to me um and my whole community. Um we know that Gilbert cares and so we just want um to see that put in action and put in forth so that students um and teenagers can feel like they um have the support.

Gilbert's a young community and we love that you guys want to continue to support us and so with um the additional spaces to these parks and wrecks, we would love that very much. So, thank you so much for your time and all that you do for Gilbert. Thank you, Avery Lois. Good evening, Mr. Mayor Anderson and council members. My name is Lois Bordo Valdez and I am a proud Gilbert resident and I also am an attendee at Gilbert Classical Academy.

I'm here tonight to speak specifically in favor of item 17, the continue um development of Gilbert Regional Parks phase two. My family and I, we have regularly gone to Gilbert Regional Parks for the past four years since we moved to Arizona.

And um as an avid biker myself, the plan to add um skate parks, pump tracks, and additional spaces is definitely a way that I believe that Gilbert can support the growing biking community, which um and allow for safer spaces for our teens to bike rather than those dangerous roads. Um, seeing this issue, I am reminded of the the parable in Matthew 25 where um the master leaves talents to three servants.

And I hope that as a town we invest our talents into our park's development because our youth need our spaces. We need places to relieve our stress. Me personally, every day I try to bike at least 10 miles and I will head down to this park and I will see all the development there. And I don't see the point in stopping our park's development. I believe that it should be grown.

I believe that our youth's outdoor activities should continue to be um supported so that rather than keeping ourselves locked up, isolating ourselves and going online, we are able to go outside, make new friends, and enjoy our community. Thank you. I really hope that you would consider this. Thank you, Lois. It's great to hear from our teenagers. Uh Alan Taylor. Hello, my name is Alan Taylor. Um been a Gilbert resident for 31 years. I've had it run a business in Gilbert for 27 years.

I have 10 sons, so I appreciate the places we have to play. and my kids have been in all five high schools and been in about 10 different schools and junior highs. And so I do take this very seriously. My big concern is not that we don't have these amenities. My concern is how we finance them because my dad was a finance uh worked in a bank and was their executive officer and watched the money.

And the problem that we have is if we get too much debt, too high, then the parents are the ones that suffer. The parents are the ones that have the high bills that are higher than we can handle. And right now, out of my 10 boys, most of them have moved out of Gilbert because they can't afford to live here. Per resident, it's $8,000. We're in Phoenix. Per resident is $2,500. And right now, we have a water treatment plant that we started at $270 million and now it's at $737 million.

And now it's saying it's going to take another two years to finish. Which means are we going to add another 250 million hitting close to a billion dollars. That's a lot of debt and that's a lot of money to be spent and I know we need the resource. But my question is are we going to sink in the process of trying to provide all these things? I'm not against them. I'm just saying are we doing it frugally? Are we doing it at the pace that we can handle?

Just because we got a charge card doesn't mean we go use it. We do what we can handle. And I'm nervous, really nervous that this has pushed really far. The water bills have been out of control. I have an $1,100 a month water bill and I have cut down and cut back, lost 10 trees on my property. But I moved to Gilbert because it was a farm community and had large property.

A lot of my friends live in Circle G's and they have $1,100 to $2,000 a month bill and now they're deciding they want to move out here because they can't afford to retire here. So, we build a life here and then we're going to have to leave because we can't afford to stay here. I work a construction job. I'm not made of money. But when I have an $1,100 water bill that takes up a huge portion of my bill, we have a problem. I have sons I want to take care of.

And when all my money goes to the water district, I'm not very happy about that. So, I have done a lot of cutbacks. So, I am for the parks, but I'm also for taking it pushing the brakes a little bit and let's get a vote on how we're going to fund this first from the public, not just do it behind closed doors and just fund it and then try to figure out a way for us to pay for it. And I appreciate all the developers, but we shouldn't be giving them deals on the backs of the residents.

We gave a $70 million credit to them, but yet the residents aren't getting any credits and we're having to pay for it. So, I appreciate the parks. Hope we can do better. Thank you, Al Gail. Good evening, Mayor Anderson and town council. My name is Gail Schmidt and I am a business owner across the street with Buffalo Wild Wings and I've been a Gilbert resident for 24 years and I'm here uh to support the headwaters project that is um projected for across the street behind my restaurant.

I had concerns early on primarily about the parking, but I'd like to see this property developed and I believe it bringing new residents into the Gilberttown Square will be good for our restaurants and our businesses. I have one issue I need to ensure is clearly addressed. The parking lot being removed provides spaces for our businesses they depend they depend on. Buffalo, Wildings need seven of those spaces to meet our parking requirement for the town. I appreciate the headwaters and town.

They've recognized this by the including 28 guest parking spaces and a crosswalk connecting the properties. So, it's been addressed. My request is simple. I need the approved project documentation to confirm that at least seven of those spaces will remain available for Buffalo Wild Wings overflow parking with appropriate signage directing our guests to them. I just want documentation saying that it's available for us. They are doing everything possible to make that happen.

I'm not trying to hold up the project because I really want it. I support it highly. I simply need to do my due diligence and make sure that now and in the future when I go to sell that there's clear documentation that those seven replacement spaces are available to our business and our the person that I sell my business to. With that assurance, I'm very happy to support Headarters and welcome them as our new neighbor. Thank you. Thanks, Gail. Noah, is Noah here? Oh, there you are. Aloha.

Uh, mayor and to the rest of the city council. My name is Noah James Markham and it's great to be back in Gilbert, my hometown. Um, where I was raised up. Um, I live in Tempe though. This different story. Um, so congratulations to the new members of the city council and sorry to the people that have to leave. But it makes so much sense in Gilbert that they more than actually listen listen to the people up here up here. They don't listen to them.

Apparently right now on the council people are still complaining about the water. And you're right. How many times did they explain this stuff to you? More than enough times. There's even videos on YouTube about this and you're still complaining. It's a joke. It's a joke. You know, it's just like this saying saying like people that are Christians and read the Bible just like me still can't even understand the Bible and continue to be and they continue to be the same person.

Just like these people that are complaining about the water bill. Hello. What do you not understand? Governor Katie has even said there's something wrong. There's a drought. Most of the water doesn't even come from our houses and the businesses. They come from the crops that we grow. That is the highest thing you guys. What do you not understand? And you know the pre-chief should care about disabilities because if he did, this wouldn't happen to me. the license plate reader.

I guess I got, you know, uh, pulled over. But think about this government. I've been filing disabilities since 2024 and still haven't got approved as a person with a disability my whole life. That's pretty crazy for a government like this. Also, we need to extend the light rail. We need more bus routes here. And please keep it safe here. We need flock. Yes, I love our law enforcement. Yes, we need it.

Please, please do not be dumb about this flock stuff because I know people are perves and they will do it. Um, and also please bring a beach park here. Um, and yeah, thank you so much. Thanks, Noah. Barbara. My name is Barbara and I live in Gilbert. I was originally had a different topic, but I switched back to this one because it's important tonight. It's on items 15, 16, and 17.

And yes, I agree with the young ladies that got up and spoke in favor of it, but there's a lot of things to consider for that. I had sent several emails to the council and this um item was one of them and town manager Mario replied to the one on item 15 for the $6 million for the urban lakes renovation and irrigation replacement said it was mostly related to maintenance and periodic renovation planned and funded funded through a repair and replacement fund.

So, does that mean the funds are there? There's money for that project? That's my question for that. And will the funds stay in that account to pay for that project? Item 16 and 17 kind of get lumped together and they total $99 million, over $99 million. So, yes, it would be nice to have and finish and complete the amenities on these two parks, but are the funds there? Uh, town manager Mario explained that the phase one of these two have been completed.

If declining to proceed with phase two would not only pause the projects, it would likely trigger restoration obligations under our agreements with Maricopa County Flood Control District. So stopping now could mean spending additional funds to undo work the town has already paid to complete while also losing the community benefit.

He also stated the town manager that these items are proposed to be funded with capital 1 half cent sales tax funds that were set aside and planned for these and other important projects. So is there no guarantee that these funds are there and how many other important projects have a claim to these funds? What is the total for these? So having other project other important projects allocated, how do we know that the funds are going to be there to pay for those two projects?

Do we pull back and wait to put this on the calendar until full funding is available and stays available or do we put the town in an enormous debt to have amenities? I understand that they are nice to have. Yes, it is. But if you don't have the money, you can't pay for it. I learned that lesson. My daughter learned that lesson. Because we want it doesn't mean we can buy it because we don't have the money to pay for it. So, that's my comments on that. Thank you, Barbara.

All right, time for our consent calendar. I'm going to turn it over to Mario uh Penny Aqua. Thank you, Vice Mayor, and great job with the pronunciation. Thank you. Appreciate that. All right. So, I'm going to go over uh the the several consent items that we have on the agenda tonight and give a a very very brief overview for for each of these. Um item three is a video license agreement with Hotwire Infrastructure Group uh for right-of-way construction of a video service network.

There's no cost to the town for this agreement and there's actually generation of revenue uh for the town at 3.5% of Hotwire's gross revenue. Item four is a consulting contract with Brown and Caldwell for uh services for the supervisory control and data acquisition and communications master plan uh for the town's water and wastewater treatment plants and remote sites for an amount of 723,25 supported by the water and wastewater funds.

Item five is a cooperative purchasing agreement with Solar Traffic Controls LLC for traffic signal poles and components not to exceed $80,000 over the next two fiscal years funded by the uh streets transportation division traffic operation center budgets and CIP project budget. Item six is a cooperative purchase contract for water treatment for the necessary chemicals for the treatment of water.

Uh the annual amounts are for Hill Brothers Chemical Company 1,332,000, Polyine Incorporated, 681,000, Brent Tag Pacific LLC 300,000 and PVS DX Incorporated 710,000 uh supported through the North and Santan Vista Water Treatment Plants, wastewater collections, wastewater reuse, and wells funds.

Item seven is an agreement with the Gilbert Advocacy Center Foundation uh to formalize the relationship between the town and the foundation to support victims of crime and there is no financial impact to the town. Item eight is a purchase agreement with Prep and Pastry LLC for uh to accept a bid of ser for of 2.7 million for surplus land located near Greenfield Road and Ray Road in the um in the amount of 2,715,000.

Item nine is a task order with Talis construction for miscellaneous concrete ADA upgrades and asphalt repairs throughout the town for an amount of $1 million uh via the street's concrete repair budget.

Item 10 is in is a job order construction uh contract with Arch order with Archer Western Construction and PMCM services with Burgess and Nip Niple uh for the replacement and rehabilitation of sanitary sewer mound manholes through the wastewater gravity sewer collection system as part of a multi-year project. The amount for Archer Western is 2,139,997 Burgess and NIPLE not to exceed 188,23 funded by the wastewater replacement fund.

Item 11 is a contract with CS Construction Incorporated for PMCM contract with Dibble CM and contingency for design inst and installation of a traffic signal at Higgley Road and Morrison Ranch Parkway for CS construction. The amount is for 1,280,756 and with dibble cm not to exceed 142, $18 and the amount of the contingency is $448,000 from roadway and maintenance funds.

Item 12 is in a contract with AE services uh or architectural and engineering services with HR green for wastewater system fiber optic connectivity uh for the amount of 457,679 via the wastewater fund. Item 13 is a cooperative contract with DH Pace Company Incorporated for repair, replacement, and preventive maintenance of doors within the 1.3 million square feet of town and owned facilities uh not to exceed $500,000 over a 5-year term funded by the various operating budgets of the town.

Item 14 is a contract with Aquafit Chlorination Systems LLC for chemicals used through water distribution and well system for $500,000 annually for a 5-year term via the wells fund. Item 15 is a a contract for services with Hunter Contracting Company for lake infrastructure replacements at Freestone Park as part of the urban lakes renovation project. uh an amount of 6,200,740 via the general replacement fund. Uh and this uh the funds are available in that fund for this project.

Item uh 16 is for services with Hunter Contracting Company for uh multi multi-use sports and ball fields, adaptive playground, game courts, and park amenities at Desert Sky Park for phase two of that project. The amount is 43,458,997 via the uh general fund. Uh and this uh this also designates 2027 PFMPC bonds. Uh we there is a presentation on this item and the next item that staff has plans.

So, we suggest uh holding items 16 and 17 uh from the consent agenda vote so that we can provide a presentation with more detail and get into those funds. Uh item 17 is uh GMP number two for Semar services with Hayden Companies LLC for 107 acres of ball fields and recreation of amenities, parking and a maintenance yard and park connection to Okato Road at Gilbert Regional Park for the amount of 55,657,97.

Item 18 is a change order with first term public safety for the purchase of drone sense drone as a first responder software to be utilized by both Gilbert PD and Gilbert Fire Department not to exceed 52,40 annually over a 5-year term through the general fund. Item 19 is a change order uh with Axon um for the purchase of additional bodywn cameras, licenses, fleet hardware and components and taser devices uh to uh supply new full-time police employees and and cost escalations.

Uh revises the existing agreement to an amount not to exceed $758,279 and provides $105,280 via the contingency general fund. Item 20 is a contract change order with precision concrete concrete cutting increasing existing concrete amount by 60,000 to facilitate structural and foundation repair work at the Southeast Regional Library. Uh the funds to support this project are already allocated in the fiscal year 27 uh facilities department budget.

Item 21 is the general fund contingency for uh for nine hiring of nine LTA or temporary detention transport officers and two detention service supervisors to support operations at the Gilbert PD detention facility as a result of Chandler's termination of the inter intergovernmental agreement for the Gilbert Chandler Unified Holding Facility. This um this is funded through the general fund in the amount of 1.2 $.2 million.

Item 22 is a changing of the funding for the streets project Aato Road to Greenfield um Okato Road Greenfield to Higgley from 2022 GEO bonds to outside sources revolving funds providing contingency of up to $11 million. Um, this prevents the early sale of 2027 GEO bonds and utilizes land sales uh pro proceeds for project funding. There is no increase to the overall budget of the project.

Item 23 is a workers compensation fund increasing the workers compensation fund internal loan by $1 million from the general fund to post the incurred but not reported entry for fiscal year 26. Item 24 is authorization for acceptance of 2024 Arizona appropriations for law enforcement data sharing pilot grant uh that enhances interoperability, data exchange, and potential cyber security capabilities among law enforcement entities in Arizona.

The grant allocation to Gilbert's in the amount of $102,000. Uh items 25 and 26 are me membership changes to boards Industrial Development Authority Board to accept the resignation of a board member effective September 15, 2026 and for the self-insured trust board reappointing a board member to a new term beginning August 1st, 2026. And item 27 is an update to personnel policies 3.7 and 3.8 on leave balances pertaining to the implementation of a new time and attendance software.

there is no financial impact on this item and I want to thank you for your time on this on these items. Thank you, Mario. Uh council, besides um items 16 and 17, are there any that we want to discuss further individually? Jim has a couple. Which ones? 21 and 22. So, we have staff uh come up to discuss uh 21 first. Chief Baggley is making his way up to the podium. Mayor, Council Member Torson, do you have a specific question about this or I could give you a quick overview of the contingency ask?

Well, it it's a temporary expenditure. I understand that. Yes, sir. The uh what will be happening in the future? So, is it going to be recurring expense? Yeah, I realize Chandler's left this agreement. So, how are we handling that going on from this point? Uh Mayor, Council Member Torson, this is a $1.2 million request to get us uh to the next budget year, and we will be putting in our budget request for the next year for uh FTEEs for these positions.

uh if they couldn't be funded as FTEEs, we would then ask for them to be funded as LTAs for another year until we could possibly get them as as FTEEs uh ongoing. In essence though, the budget will be increased by 1.2 million in the future. Is some is are there plans to do anything to partner with another community or is this something as part of our growth that we're just going to need to absorb at some point? This is definitely a part of our growth.

Uh, as Chandler's exiting GCUF, it's um it's going to be more uh economical actually to have our own staff in there. If we were to take prisoners straight from uh our our facility to uh Maricopa County and have to pay the fees there would be in essence about $3 million extra. So to have our staffing here to house them here and to process them here is going to be more economical in the long run, but it will be an increased ask in the budget in future years to keep it ongoing.

And uh 22 Jib, can we have someone? Oh, thank you, Kelly. Yes. Item 22 is switching funding source on part of the Oatio Bridge project for $1 million and using the land sale money um from the parcels, the big and little parcels over off Ray Road by transferring this money to the GO bond. and it refers later to not having to go to a 2027 bond. Are we delaying a 2027 bond? Are you anticipating one?

I'm all for making funds ready for roads because I think that's the most important thing we can do right now. But I'd like to know the impact of this and please explain what is what it's going to demand of people in the future. Certainly, um, we will still need the bonds in 2027. It will be additional issuance from those that were approved by voters in 2021. So, it's the transportation bonds. We're issuing only in smaller chunks.

So, we don't have to pay interest on the full amount for the full full time. Um, so we still will issue those 2027 bonds for transportation projects and that money will be available for those other projects in this. So, it's not a new bond that's being asked. It's not a new bond that we're approving or the voters are approving. It's something that's already voter approved. Correct. It is already voter approved. It will be a new issuance on those bonds.

We'll we'll have that money available to spend. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Kelly. Okay. Uh Mario, who's doing the presentation for 16? Mr. Mike. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Uh Mr. Michael Elliott, our parks and recreation director, will kick off the presentation on items 16 and 17. Uh, good evening, Mayor Council. Uh, my name is Michael Elliot and I serve as the parks and recreation director for the town of Gilbert.

Tonight, I'll be updating you on the second phases of two of our flagship parks, Gilbert Regional Park and Desert Sky Park. Before I begin, I do want to acknowledge that approval for these two projects was delayed from their original schedule uh per direction from mayor and council. Uh staff held these items for an additional month to complete further financial and risk analysis before bringing them to you for decision.

But given the potential consequences of a continued delay, we felt it prudent to present these projects to you tonight for consideration. I'll walk through why these parks matter to Gilbert's quality of life, how each project got to where it is today, the current status of construction on both, and what further delay would cost us in dollars, in community impact, and in time. I'll start by talking a bit about why these parks matter. Parks are where Gilbert becomes a community.

A park is where a new parent meets other new parents. It's where a parent takes their child to learn how to fish or where a group of teens come to play sand volleyball. It's where someone walks off a hard day and where neighbors become friends over nothing more than a shared bench in a good afternoon. Parks hold the moments that make a place feel like home. And the everyday well-being that comes from having somewhere to breathe, move, and belong.

For a town like ours, that quality of life is the foundation that everything else is built on. And that's the aspiration behind tonight's ask. And it's also what we risk if we don't keep pace. The numbers you see before you reflect what residents tell us directly. 84% of respondents to our parks and recreation program and event survey say our programs improve their overall wellness. And 90 93% of those same respondents say highquality parks and paths matter to their quality of life.

With more than 80,000 school age children living in Gilbert today, these numbers are a direct measure of how well we're serving the next generation of this town. The Trust for Public Land is a national nonprofit dedicated to creating parks and protecting land so that communities have access to the outdoors close to home. Their 2026 parks analysis scored our parkland acreage at a 23 out of 100, equating to an F minus, well below average for a community our size.

Our per capita spending on parks and recreation at $133 earned us an F as well. And our sports field deficit is real. Our field needs assessment found that we are short by 10 baseball and softball fields and by 14 multi-use fields relative to our community's needs. The NRPA gold medal is the highest national honor that a parks and recreation department can earn and I'm proud to say that we have been a finalist two years running.

We are one of only four parks and recreation agencies in the country in our population class that have received this prestigious honor. Our investment in Gilbert Regional Park phase 2 and Desert Sky Park phase 2 were specifically called out as a highlight in our gold medal application. We believe that this is national recognition that Gilbert is doing this right. What makes this recognition especially meaningful is the context behind it.

Even with the below average Parkland acreage and per capita spending scores that you saw a moment ago, this team has still earned back-to-back gold medal finalist status. I believe that that speaks well of how efficiently this department turns the resources it has into results that our community is proud of and it's part of why we're excited about what the next phases of these two parks will do to let us continue to build on that foundation. These two parks in particular see a lot of use.

Gilbert Regional Park receives over a million visits a year while Desert Sky Park sees close to half a million annually. Nowhere is that more evident than at our town's annual Fourth of July celebration held each year at Gilbert Regional Park. This year's event drew 30,000 people, making it the highest attended Fourth of July celebration anywhere in the valley. Our data also shows that people stay at the parks once they are there.

Dwell time for Gilbert Regional Park averaged 88 minutes in FY26, while Desert Sky Park averaged 71 minutes. This is well-loved, well visited, and wellused infrastructure. Foot traffic data also shows that both parks consistently send visitors into our commercial corridors to include Santan Village and the Gilbert Gateway Town Center along with the surrounding restaurants and shops. This pattern has held steady across the past three fiscal years.

These parks support both our residents and the businesses around them. Anticipated revenue plays a crucial role in this discussion. Improving these amenities presents the town with greater opportunities to generate income such as hosting tournaments and promoter sponsored sporting events. Sponsorship of amenities is also a potential revenue source and the department is currently exploring this option.

Additionally, public private partnerships for food service operations are under consideration and rentals like Ramadas are expected to increase as usage grows. An independent analysis that was prepared for our office of economic development by the Huddleup Group projects that the added multi-use fields and ball fields could support roughly 16 new tournaments a year, drawing approximately 19,300 attendees.

At full buildout, both parks together are projected to generate approximately $5.7 million in annual visitor spending and roughly 11,000 room nights. The skate park and bike park are part of phase 2 and once they're built, they'll serve our residents day-to-day while also positioning us to host real competition. On the skate side, we're talking mini ramp competitions, bowl competitions, even exame caliber events.

On the bike side, we're designing our pump track to a standard that can support UCI pump track world championships and qualifiers, national championships, and regional races. Depending on the level of competition, these events can draw anywhere from 300 to a,000 spectators. That's meaningful foot traffic for our restaurants and hotels, and it's the kind of program that puts Gilbert on the map for something beyond our neighborhoods. There are also two additional opportunities worth highlighting.

First, Gilbert Regional Parks layout allows for concurrent large-scale events, meaning we can host more than one event at a time without closing the whole park or limiting ourselves to a single event on the calendar. Second, building a food service opportunity at the ball fields would allow the town to explore a private public private partnerships for its operation, letting us bring in concessions without the town carrying that operational load ourselves.

Both of these expand what these parks can generate for Gilbert without asking town taxpayers to fund that operation directly. With regard to our fields, the reservations have grown steadily from just under 32,000 in fiscal year 24 to over 30,000 this year. And when we talk about prime time field hours, we mean the windows when the demand is the highest and reservations happen. Weekdays from 4 to 10 and weekends from 8:00 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Phase 2 would add roughly 33,000 more prime time hours a year, a 58 in 58% increase in what we're able to offer families and leagues during the hours they want to play. This is the exact gap that phase 2 is meant to close. In 2024, the council established a community engagement task force aimed at tackling teen violence in Gilbert. Their final recommendations, which were delivered in December of 2024, urged this department specifically to help close a gap that they identified.

Teens need safe, accessible places to spend their time, whether immediately after school or later in the evening. Specifically, the task force advised expanding programming for residents aed 13 through 17 and forming stronger partnerships with local schools. You'll be pleased to know that we've already begun. Currently, our department offers 39 teen focused programs and seven free engagement events reaching nearly 500 teens. And the feedback has been clear.

There's a genuine interest in safe, accessible, social, and active recreation spaces. Phase 2 allows us to meet this demand by adding more spaces for teen programming alongside the skate park, bike park, and play areas for all ages that are in development. More space at both parks means increased capacity for teen activities and greater opportunities for outreach, which was a directive given to us by the task force. This work also benefits public safety.

Structured recreation provides our teens with supervised positive environments during after school and evening hours when unsupervised time can pose risks. Every program we implement and every acre of teen friendly space that we develop is an investment in reducing safety incidents, strengthening community bonds, and fostering a town where young people are supported and have meaningful options to socialize and to recreate.

Next, I'd like to walk through where things stand today along with a bit of the history and the decisions that brought us here. But before we discuss budgets and timelines, I do want to take a moment to highlight the town's outreach efforts. These initiatives were to develop during our town events, at our libraries, food truck rallies, and other venues, other venues, excuse me, where other residents already gather.

Our outreach for Gilbert Regional Park started in February 2024 between events like Let's Talk Taco about Gilbert Parks, Beat the Heat at H2O Fest, Skate and Bike with the Pros, our Fourth of July celebration, Truck of Palooa, and Sound Bites, which are all cool names for events, by the way. We engaged over a thousand attendees and collected more than 350 comments. And the feedback was consistent.

Residents kept asking for more outdoor recreation like skate and bike, more nature play, more ball fields, more space for toddler and water play, and more shade and rest areas throughout the park. You'll see each of those priorities reflected directly in the phase 2 design of the respective parks.

I also want to note that this project specific outreach for Gilbert Regional Park and the outreach that you'll hear about shortly for Desert Sky Park were each their own effort, separate from and not to be confused with the 2024 parks and recreation master plan process. Here's a sampling of some of the comments left by residents during the Gilbert Regional Park outreach, which was focused on expanding play areas and adding those teens ccentric amenities such as the bike park.

Outreach for Desert Sky Park phase 2, affectionately called What's Blooming at Desert Sky Park, began in February 2024 through town events, neighborhood events, and meetings, an inclusive parent group, door hangers, a scavenger hunt, social media, and our social pinpoint campaign, which ran from July through August of that year, and drew 2,000 visits, over 400 surveys, and over 150 comments.

Residents told us that splash pads and playgrounds were top priorities and those elements are reflected directly in the design. Here again in residents own words, comment cards on the Desert Sky phase 2 plan came back overwhelmingly positive with residents specifically calling out the added fields, the playground, and asking us to keep this pace of investment going. We also brought the design process directly to our kids.

Our build your dream park workshop, which we held at the Southeast Regional Library, invited kids to sketch and build their ideal park through hands-on activities. And those design ideas genuinely help shape the plans for phases two and three of Desert Sky Park. Let's turn to Gilbert Regional Park specifically and walk through how we got from master plan to where construction stands today. Gilbert Regional Park doesn't just serve this generation of Gilbert. Uh it's built to outlast it.

Today's toddler taking their first steps on the splash pad becomes tomorrow's parent teaching their own kid how to ride a bike on those same paths. Today's kid dropping into the new skate park becomes tomorrow's grandparent. Walking under trees that finally had the decades to grow in and mature. Phase two is what makes that whole arc possible. So, this park works for you at two, at 22, and at 82. And it'll still be working for Gilbert long after we're gone.

Before I delve into the news uh the nuances, I think it's important to talk about our CIP processing or process and some of the sequencing and terminology involved. These parks are constructed in phases due to their scale and costs with each phase funded at a different point in our 10-year capital improvement plan. Within each of those phases, we use what's known as guaranteed maximum price contracts, which are structured into indiv individual GMP packages.

A better way of thinking of it is as a hierarchy. A project can have several phases and each of those phases in turn can have multiple GMPS associated with it. This approach allows us to begin begin construction before final design is complete, adjust the scope as the project evolves, and avoid the inflated contingency pricing associated with long-term uncertainty.

Gilbert Regional Park has moved through a multi-year sequence of procurement and design approvals since phase one opened in 2019 and council to their credit has been engaged at every stage both through formal actions and through multiple council retreats since 2023. Tonight's GMP2 approval is the next step in that ongoing process.

On the design side, pre-esign, design, and community outreach alone have spanned over two years from December 2023 to March 2026 with multiple rounds of board review built in along the way to include the 30, 60, 90% design milestones before the project reached a construction ready status. But here's where things stand overall. Phase one opened in 2019 and spans 50 acres. That part is complete, open to the public, and is being used religiously.

Design for both phase two and phase three is fully complete running from October 23 to 26 and phase two is currently under construction. GMP contract one was approved by council in June 2026. GMP contract 2 is what is in front of you tonight and GMP contract 3 would be scheduled to follow. Phase three of Yber Regional Park, while fully designed, remains unfunded at this time.

Phase 2 delivers a six field youth softball complex, a bike park, a skate park, STEM play features, additional play amenities, event lawn, dog park, a royal zone, disc golf, and connections to the Aatoio Bridge and Higgley Road. This is a substantial expansion of what this park can offer Gilbert families. GMP1 covered the mass grading of the basin, the foundational earthwork that has to happen before any of the amenities I just mentioned can be built.

Between the committed contract cost of $21.5 million and the committed GMP1 cost of $23.4 million, this phase totals $44.9 million and was already approved by council in June 2026 and is currently underway. These photos show where things stand on the ground right now. Mass grading is actively underway. Crews are working the basin and you can see the connection points taking shape near Okato Road and the Maricopa floodway. This is real active construction.

GMP2 advances the six-pack softball fields and the connection to Okato Road. That includes field lighting poles, shade structures and ramadas, a restroom building, playground equipment, a parking lot, and the purchase of long lead items to have materials secured well ahead of when we'll need them.

Looking ahead, GMP3 would complete phase 2 with the skate park, the bike park, the social play area, dog park, the maintenance facility, Hegley Road connection, and MDF room all coming in that guaranteed maximum price phase. Gilbert Regional Park phase 2 is strategically organized into those three separate GMPS, each defining a distinct phase of construction. But it is important to note that these GMPS are interdependent and not mutually exclusive.

GMP2 builds on the grading and site work that GMP1 already put in the ground and GMP3 in turn depends on GMP2 being complete. I know it's a lot of letters and numbers I'm throwing at you. Uh sequential phasing this way maintains progress, limits that cost escalation I mentioned, and accelerates the schedule by letting us start construction. So tonight's ask is construction GMP contract number two in the amount of 55,651,97.

Want to do a quick summary again of Gilbert Regional Park uh of the phases uh GMP1 which was approved in June of 2026 initiated construction with mass grading and foundational site work that includes earthwork, utilities, retaining walls and concrete.

GMP2, which is pending your approval tonight, advances the softball complex and Okato Road connection along with landscaping, utilities lighting sidewalks parking pavement, shade structures, restrooms, romadas, and the playground equipment inside of the softball complex. GMP3, which will come later, finalizes phase two with the maintenance facility, operations building, essential infrastructure, and all of the other amenities mentioned.

It is worth noting that over $90 million of the total budget goes towards the infrastructure needs alone. Water, sewer, electrical, earthwork, the unlamorous work that has to happen before any of these amenities can go in. Right now, we are 10% complete on this phase. Now, we'll turn our attention to Desert Sky Park. Desert Sky Park was built around a simple problem. Demand for places to play had outgrown what we had. Leagues waiting for a Saturday slot.

kids who just wanted space to kick a ball around after school. Families of every age and ability needing room to play. So, the community and the town sat down together and designed the answer field by field, voice by voice, so the park that came out of it actually reflects the people that it's for. More fields, more space, more ways to play.

From a splash pad on hot Gilbert afternoons to a playground that was built for kids of every ability to open fields for a weekend league or a lifelong athlete. Whether it's a full game underway, a toddler cooling off in a splash pad, or a kid finding their footing in an all-inclusive playground, Desert Sky Park was made to fit however you like to play because it was made with the people who'd use it. I do want to highlight this specifically.

Desert Sky is home to the town's only all-inclusive playground designed so that a child using a mobility device and a child without one could play side by side using tools like the communication board that you'll see in the following video. Uh we believe that this is central to what makes Desert Sky different about all of our kids and creating inclusive spaces.

Uh the inclusive parks and inclusive events allow her to u make friends out of people she normally wouldn't meet and really be a part of her community. We're also really excited to be a part of the process. Um being asked about our expertise and things we know so we can share with them. It makes us feel seen and heard and really a part of the community. There's an important distinction between accessible and inclusive and Desert Sky was designed around the latter.

Research has shown that outdoor play, water interaction, open space, and fresh air, and sensory zone exploration are genuinely therapeutic for autistic children and individuals. We designed specific zones, namely the splash pad, play structures, and open lawn directly around those four principles, going well beyond code. That's what makes this playground genuinely inclusive. Desert Sky has followed the same multi-year approval path since phase one open in 2019.

uh PMCM and architectural engineer services, CM at risk pre uh precon and GMP1 in December 2025 with council engaged at every stage both through formal actions and retreats. On the design side, pre-esign uh design and community outreach in this instance spanned over two years with multiple review milestones along the way from 30 to 100% design completion before reaching the point where we're ready for construction.

Phase one of Desert Sky Park opened in 2019 and spans 30 acres uh complete and open today. Designs for phase two and phase three are fully complete and phase 2 is currently under construction. GMP1 GMP contract one was approved by council in December 2025 and we broke ground the following month. GMP contract 2 is what is in front of you tonight. As with Gilbert Regional Park, phase three of Desert Sky Park is fully designed but is unfunded at this time.

Phase two of Desert Sky Park would deliver an inclusive playground, inclusive splash pad, multi-use fields, a west playground, pickle ball courts, a tennis court, basketball court, sand volleyball courts, shaded areas, ramada, a brand new park entrance, and a zone split station to improve water quality. This is the complete transformation of what Desert Sky can offer.

In January, we celebrated breaking ground on this phase with our project partners and more importantly with members of our inclusive community, the residents that this playground is built for. Uh I made the critical mistake of wearing a short sleeve shirt in January and if anybody came to the groundbreaking, I was shaking like a leaf. That's all right. I'll know to go long sleeve for the next time.

But during that groundbreaking, Tara Cobalt, which is the woman that was in the video, and her daughter Georgia participated in the groundbreaking, and Tara spoke, praising the town's intentional desire to be inclusive and how we sol solicited the community directly for feedback on how to make these future amenities available for everyone to use. It was a meaningful moment and it was the moment that this construction phase started for us.

GMP1 covers the mass grading, utility work, and the procurement of long lead materials. Again, the foundational work that has to happen first. With committed costs of$ 18.5 million and a committed GMP1 cost of 40 million, this phase totals 58.5 million is already improved and underway. Here's what it looks like on the ground today. Grading is underway across the site.

Utility trenching is in progress and you can even see the site taking shape near the public training public safety training facility and power road. Lighting poles have already been installed and road infrastructure in is in excuse me and road infrastructure is in as well. This is active funded construction. GMP2 which is tonight's ask advances the amenities and structures themselves.

the fields, the inclusive playground and splash pad, courts and supporting site work with committed costs of 58.5 million and this $43.5 million GMP total phase 2 investment to 102 million. It is worth noting that this is the final GMP for Desert Sky phase 2 where Gilbert Regional Park phase 2 is split into three GMPS. Again, tonight's ask is for construction GMP contract number two in the amount of 43,458,997,000.

Your approval tonight would advance the development of those new recreational amenities to include the five multi-use fields, inclusive playgrounds and splash pads, and enhanced connectivity to Power Road. For this project particularly, over $40 million of the total budget for Desert Sky phase 2 is allocated to infrastructure such as water, sewer, electrical, and earthwork. It is also important to note that we're currently 25% complete with this phase of the park.

I want to close by walking through what a continued pause or delay would actually mean for both of these parks. When approvals are postponed, construction vendors have to make difficult decisions about how they allocate their resources and schedules. and that can translate into longer lead times before work can begin.

We're also operating in an environment where construction costs continue to rise and additional delay creates uncertainty around our ability to deliver these projects at the cost that we worked hard to secure. There's also a broader community impact to consider. Every month that these projects don't move forward is a month of unrealized economic activity, visitor spending, and tax revenue.

And perhaps most importantly, it's a delay in delivering the kind of spaces, safe, active, wellprogrammed parks that strengthen neighborhoods and bring people together. There's a public safety dimension, too. An unfinished, ungraded site sitting idle longer than planned means ongoing dust mitigation and site maintenance that the town has to manage. Either way, we do recognize that decisions of this magnitude deserves careful consideration and appreciate the council's diligence in that regard.

At the same time, we do want to make sure you have a clear picture of the timeline sensitivities involved so that whichever direction council chooses, it's made with full information. We remain committed to being good partners in that process and are confident that moving forward serves the long-term interest of Gilbert residents.

Currently, both projects remain on budget and on schedule today, and we've actually saved over $4 million through extensive value engineering, but that status depends on moving forward without interrupting.

Uh, a specific example on the desert sky side, uh, should the town defer construction of phase two, the Maricopa County flood control district may require the site to be repered and regraded to their current requirements, which also may require us to remove the existing underground infrastructure. The town would also need to assume ongoing maintenance responsibility for the entire site in the meantime.

To put a number on what's already been committed, Desert Sky Park has $58.5 million committed to date through council approved actions, and Gilbert Regional Park has $44.9 million committed to date. Combined, that's over $103 million committed to both parks. It's also worth putting a number on the cost of waiting even a single month. A month delay past tonight carries an anticipated cost increase of approximately $3.2 million on Desert Sky Park.

given the progress that it's made in its construction phase and approximately $670,000 for Gilbert Regional Park, which is a combined cost delay of approximately $3.9 million for just one month across both of those packages. I mentioned this earlier, but beyond that direct project cost, that delay carries several other consequences.

The flood control district would require us to restore those sites to their permitted condition and the town would be required to maintain that undeveloped site in the meantime to ensure pro public safety. Any construction schedule delay or unapproved gap in our work also means that those crews get reallocated elsewhere and redesign efforts can become cumbersome and necessary if enough time passes.

Altogether, we estimate a 5 to 15% cost escalation increase on the pending packages if they are continued to be delayed. If council approves tonight for Gilbert Regional Park, that means advancing GMP2, the softball complex, Okato Road connection, and supporting site amenities. For Desert Sky Park, that means advancing the new fields, inclusive playground, and splash pad, the courts, site amenities, and that connectivity to Power Road.

Both projects continue moving forward on the schedule and budget that we've presented tonight. With approval, we're projecting that Desert Sky Parks remaining amenities would be open by March 2028, while Gerber Regional Parks remaining amenities would be open by July 2028. Our parks and recreation advisory board took this issue up directly.

Uh during our August meeting, the board voted unanimously to recommend proceeding with both phases of construction for Gilbert Regional Park and Desert Sky Park. Our board chair, Brian Cannon, offered this recommendation on the board's behalf.

Approving the next steps of construction for Gilbert Regional Park and Desert Sky Park protects the significant taxpayer investment already made, prevents avoidable cost escalation, and ensures we deliver the parks, fields, and inclusive amenities our community has asked for and continues to rely on. These projects are essential to meeting Gilbert's growing recreational needs and maintaining the high quality of life our residents deserve.

Staff's recommendation this evening is to approve GMP number two for both Gilbert Regional Park and Desert Sky Park phases 2. Every community makes choices about what it's willing to invest in. Roads get built because people need to get to where they're going. Public safety gets funded because people need to be protected. And parks get built because people need somewhere to become a community in the first place.

That is essential infrastructure for a town that wants its residents to actually know each other. I want to be clear about what that recommendation represents. It is a request a request grounded in years of council direction and public process. This is these are two projects that council has discussed and directed at multiple retreats. It is a project that our advisory board which are residents who serve as an extension of this community's voice has reviewed in detail and unanimously supported.

It is a project residents themselves have helped shape through two years of community outreach and engagement. And it is a project that based on all of the direction and support are already under construction. We are at a critical point. Splash pads are packed. Our fields are booked solid. And we're waiting programs that we simply don't have room for. Approving both GMP2s tonight is the continuation of a commitment this council has already made.

One this community has already asked for and one our residents are already relying on. A pause or delay at this stage cost us money in escalation, cost us time our families are already waiting on, and cost us the field access, tournament opportunities, and economic opportunities that these parks would uh possess. Our staff's recommendation is to keep moving forward because that is exactly what the council board and community have asked us to do.

And with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have. Mayor, members of the council, I also would like to just add that I know there were questions about the funding and whether funds are available for these uh these contracts and to move forward with these and funding is available through the quality of life 1 halfsent sales tax funds to cover the cost of these items and that's without the need to to bond for the the to pay for these contracts.

That's for that's for the specific actions that are on the agenda tonight. Uh I want to be clear though that um there there was a a GMP3 that was mentioned that's not on the agenda tonight that's planned for the future um that would require bonding to to move forward with that step of the project. So the funding is available to to cover those bonds uh if the council so chooses to move forward with that.

But I just want to make that clear that the actions tonight don't necessitate by themselves the the need to bond in the future. Um and so the I would also say that there are other future projects that are planned in the quality of life program. So expansion of the public safety building, the completion of the Santan substation, uh a a very much needed fleet maintenance facility, the renovation of a of a fire station.

Those are very important projects for our public safety departments that are needed um to move forward. Those would also require bonding in the future to pay for those. And so I just want to make that clear that even though what we're talking about tonight uh there is adequate funds to cover those costs, if we look at the program as a whole, there is still the need to to uh look at bond for those.

And I I just while we're on that subject, I just want to mention that bonding is a very responsible way to construct needed facilities and infrastructure. And Gilbert has a very long track record of managing its debt very well and uh paying off debt relatively early. We are are also um very low compared to to other valley cities uh in terms of our total debt and our per capita debt.

So, uh, it's it's something that we take very seriously and we we're able to maintain AAA bond ratings with all three rating agencies. There are very very few cities that can say that. Um, but having said that, uh, that's more of a sidebar because the funding is available there to cover the projects that we're talking about. uh the specific GMP2 for Desert Sky and Gilbert Regional both uh the funding is available to cover those costs.

So, I just wanted to make that clarification uh as you consider this item these items tonight. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mario. Um anyone and we we did talk about um 21 and 22. Do we want a separate vote on that? Yeah, I think we need to. Okay. So I will put in a motion to approve number three, four, five, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 11 12 13 14 15 18 19 20 uh 23 24 uh, 25, 26. Scott 20. Okay. 25 26 27 and 28. Can I get a second on that? Second. Seconded by Council Member Kapowski. Please vote.

Vote passes seven to zero. Okay. Um let's go to item 21. Um, is there any discussion on item 21? Any discussion? No. 21. Just a separate vote. Okay. Yeah. Uh, can I have a motion? I'll make a motion to approve item 21. Okay. Second. Okay. All right. Uh, vote, please. Vote passes seven to zero. Okay. Um, item 22 discussion. Nope. Can I have a motion, please? Motion by Council Member Torus. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Council Member Kowski. Please vote. Vote passes seven to zero. Okay.

Um, do we want to discuss 16 and 17 separately or do or Chris, can we do both of them together if wanted or Mayor Anderson, Vice Mayor Bonjivani? Yes, you could do separately or both, whatever the council would prefer. I'd like to do them separately. Okay. Discussion for 16. Yes, please. Council member Lions. Okay. I have a couple questions. Um, this is for phase two of the Gilbert region. I mean, this is Desert Sky, correct? 16. Yep.

um when we had the retreat in um the fall and or in the winter and December and then later in the year in March. Uh this one as a council I believe that we decided that this should probably be something we complete but there was some dirt work that needed to be done and that dirt was going to be removed and dropped off at Gilbert Regional Park. Is that correct, Mayor and Council Member Lions? You're correct.

I believe that there was some efficiencies gained by having those projects be simultaneous. I do have a crack team of people behind me who can answer questions more succinctly than I can. So, I'll just look back to Ryan for confirmation to make me feel better. And Yep, that's right. Okay. So, that was done to save us money on that particular project, correct? That's correct. Okay.

But I don't remember a conversation about the uh impact to um the plug canal by us moving it over there that would drive us to have to do anything more than depositing there. Did I miss something there? This this one I will bring Ryan up. All right. I think you probably answer a little bit better than I can. Mayor, Council, uh Ryan Blur, CIP Manager.

Um to answer your question is at the time that we were going through these different GMPS and the dirt removal, um it was always anticipated that we were doing one um GMP or one phase after another. And so it was a preparatory of the next phase. And so at the time there was not anticipation of stopping a project or stopping a phase moving forward. We were just having conversations on what that phase looked like, the dollar amount of that, and then continuing phases moving forward.

Um it's not until probably the last six months or so where we really started having deep conversations on um our agreements with the flood control and what that may look like.

And in those conversations with the flood control and um possibly postponing or delaying projects, that's where the understanding came to the project team that it would be required for us to make sure that those whatever work we do if we don't continue forward that we would have to uh make that up to the standards that prior to us coming in for construction.

My concern about that is this is that I remember us discussing getting the design work completed at Gilbert Regional and that doing this for the um first park here um at Desert Sky would help us. So, but it would not impact our ability to pause at Gilbert Regional. That's the way I walked away and understood that in December. And then we talked again in March about rep prioritizing things and you brought up public safety.

Michael, I think that we were wanting to look at that to see what was the best path to move forward. That was going to be one of our discussions this fall. And if I'm misunderstanding that, please correct me guys, but I think that's the way I understood it. So I'm a I'm a little concerned in the sense that I know I'm talking across two here, but I think it's important. I just I need to grasp this. So for this particular park, Desert Sky, we had no issue as a council completing it.

That was something we felt we could move forward with, but we were pausing putting the brakes on phase two. Under the understanding, my understanding was we could complete the design work, which was already started. There was a groundbreaking scheduled for April that we pushed out till we got our hands around this. So, what I'm hearing now is by us moving that dirt down there, it committed us to complete phase two of Gilbert Regional unless we suffer a penalty and have to do some other work.

Am I hearing that correctly? Mayor, councel, not 100%. So, that dirt that was over there is going to be utilized for the construction, but in a in conjunction with that, we did have a GMP uh one on the on Gilbert Regional that did mass grading on the entire site. That's the piece that I'm referring to that we would have to um re undo all the mass grading any utilities that were within that area possibly up to um the flood control standards pre prior to us going in there.

So the GMP that was approved in June I believe it was um that's part of that mass grading um effort that we have to now come back in. If we pause that we would have to come back in and redo that. Uh but we would be utilizing that additional dirt that came in as part of GMP2 um so that we can not have to import so much dirt. So we would be utilizing that um but to answer your question with that then yes we would have to find a home to that as well um that adjacent dirt.

Um in regards to your pausing um I'm not 100% certain about the conversation related to pushing the conversation till the retreat. Um but we did pause the project from approximately April to I believe it was June or July um to take that. So we we re-evaluated. We broke some pieces up into the appropriate phases to make sure that we were being financially uh responsible on what that looked like on cash flows and different things.

So there was a pause on that um until we got some information that we needed and then we kind of move forward with with the design. And so currently we're at I think we're pushing 100% design on Gilda Regional. Okay, I'm going to hold my other questions till we get to number 17, but thank you. You're welcome. Thank you, M. Any other questions? Councilman Torson, I just I I want to just reiterate it because it was it's a big sticking point for me.

The half cent quality of life sales tax was meant to be instead of bonding for some of these quality of life things, it was meant to really be a self self-sufficient. We would spend what we had. Are we going beyond that? Are we forcing ourselves? We're taking a half cent and then we're going to go ahead and do this again with something else and it won't in two years or whenever it's a 99.1 million ask. We get $53 million in from the half cent and 25. I don't know what 26 will be.

It should cover all that. Are we saying that 2027 we're going to be asking for a bond because we're not going to be using this half cent that was meant to be self-sufficient? So we don't have to bond for it. Uh mayor and council member Toruson, I believe that uh it would be a bit presumptive to speak to GMP3. To that point, the issuance of bonds would probably be necessary depending on the timing, but for GMP2's sake, uh GMP2's sake, we wouldn't need to do that.

I can bring Kelly up here for some more exposition on the funding and the forecasting. I definitely don't want to misspeak. Uh so, yep, there she is. right on time. Thank you, Mayor and Council. Um, when we did give the options uh for all of how we could do quality of life, we talked about the sales tax um that we could cash and bond fund from that. If we did property tax, we are only secondary property tax, we are only allowed to bond. Um, so this does give us more of the options.

there is not the possibility to fund to do all of the projects upfront um in the timing that's needed and to cash fund because the cash will come in slowly over the years. So we um we cash fund as much as possible uh and then we would need to bond fund for some of that cash flow. It will be repaid with that sales tax money over time. Um but in order to not bond, we would have to move the projects out over the full 20-year period.

Um which could delay necessary projects to what's needed to provide services over that time. And and mayor and council Kelly said something that I would just want to reiterate um to to help see if we can clarify. She said that the the bonds for these projects would be paid for by that half cent sales tax, that quality of life funding. So when we talk about bonds in this context, we're not talking about general obligation bonds. We're not talking about other kinds of bonds.

It's specifically uses the revenue that uh is allocated for the halfsent sales tax. So in that sense, it is intended to be self-sufficient. We're not talking about bringing other other dollars into the program to pay for those bonds. It's still within that same program, the same one half cent sales tax that we would issue those bonds. It's just more a matter of the timing of the projects and and being able to get those done um like Kelly said without stretching it out over decades. Jamie D.

Council member Kapowski, I wanted to um make a comment on what council member Lions had mentioned regarding the spring retreat and our discussion of the quality of life funds. Our quality of life funds that we discussed um are in buckets buckets A, B, and C. And it was my understanding that bucket A were our high priority projects including Desert Sky Park and Gilbert Regional Park, including the phase we're talking about tonight.

And those would be left alone untouched because of their importance. They're already been prioritized. They're already in this group A. is my understanding that um in terms of re-evaluating funding was only going to apply to groups B and C. And I believe in terms of our updates we've been getting on that that we've seen that group C is pretty much kind of unfunded at risk need to like totally up for consideration as well as group B which were trail projects and fire station projects.

So just wanted to clarify that was my understanding is that group A was kind of our protected projects which included these two projects and phases specifically. I I don't disagree with you. I think that's correct. But I thought as it related to Gilbert Regional Park, what we authorized or nodded to was to complete design and hold off groundbreaking till we could review it. That's the way I understood it.

And I had asked the question, if we did that and we did pause, would there be any impact costwise to to push that out? And the answer I got was no. And the the design was approved to go forward that if we completed that and we sat on the design, we could actually execute it at another date. That's the way I understood it. So if I misunderstood that, that's fine. But no, well, I I I think you're correct in that as well. But for phase three versus we're talking about phase two right now.

Phase three was that kind of area. I mean there's hundreds of acres in that park. Um and that was my understanding was it was phase three that was kind of up for discussion. Okay. Was there not also a discussion about doing something public private partnerships and things along I guess Higgley Road? uh commercially.

Mayor, Council Member Torus, I think you may be referring to the the vacant parcels on the on the northeast corner or the north um excuse me, the southwest corner of Queen Creek and Higgley. There's 25 acres um at one point that was planned for a surf park that we we could that is now available for us to to do a request for proposals to see what other kind of public private partnerships or other development we could we could get at that site if that is that what you're referring to. Yeah.

And there's there's additional there's an additional 10 acre parcel and a 5acre parcel. So all those together present a great opportunity for us to do further development that's outside of these projects but that could complement those and provide us an economic development opportunity. Council had discussion. Okay. I'll put a motion in to approve item 16. Can I get a second? Second. Seconded by council member Buckland. Please vote. Motion passes 52. All right.

Um questions for Mike on phase or on number 17. Discussion on 17. Oh, I'm sorry. What's that? We covered both. We covered both. I thought we just did 16. Okay, we were doing 16, but there was so much overflow between the two. The questions that I would have had for 17 have been answered, I believe, and the rest of them are are for the most part uh mo mood at this point.

So, uh I think that the the only comment I would I would say I remember when we looked at the data the parks that the number of parks we had in Gilbert versus some of the uh benchmark cities we looked at those benchmark cities were in more uh green u more climates that had natural green fields. I was curious what the comparison would be to the cities here in Phoenix because I think it would be on par for the most part, not just a comment and a opinion.

But with that said, I I just make a motion that we uh No, I'm I'm hold. Okay. Thank you. May I really quick, Vice Mayor, uh Mayor and Council Member Lions, uh I actually have that data for the parks relative to its sister municipalities here. We're actually uh the lowest out of the valley benchmarks as far as total acreage, but we are seventh out of the 12 municipalities as far as acreage per thousand residents.

So, we do have some amenities and but we could always use more, I think, to service the population more effectively. Thank you, Mike. Okay, at this point, I'll turn it over to mayor for a public hearing. I'll make a motion to approve item 17. Oh, so now we're going back to 17. Okay. Well, then I want to talk I want to talk about something for a second. Um, 28% of our residents are under 18 years old. 28%. And a lot of our residents don't use our parks because their kids are older.

And a lot of people that I've spoken to said, "Why should I be paying for parks? My my kids don't use parks." To me, that's that's very I'm gonna say selfish. It's not community thinking. Um, you build a community over generations, not just when you can use services and being part of the team subcommittee.

I was very proud to do that with Mayor Anderson and and Council Member Toruson which turned into the task force which turned into some of these recommendations and now I'm the liazison for parks and wreck. Very proud of that. Very proud of what we are offering our our our community. Now, I think when I look over the last two weeks of comments from residents, see, there's an advantage of being not reelected. Let me tell you what the advantage is. It's too late to recall me.

It's too late to get me out of this seat. And I get to have the freedom to say what I want to. And trust me, I'll say even more in January. But I gotta be honest. In the last two weeks, Gilbert has been lied to. It's been lied to by people online and their troll farm who want to create organized outrage and saying that we're going into debt by providing these these two things that we voted on tonight, which we found out we aren't. And that's very disturbing to me that people can believe that.

And um the other thing I always want to bring up is we don't have a $2.5 billion budget. It's a budget. We we don't spend anywhere near that. There's disinformation out there about that. We that we're eight mil $8,000 in debt for every resident. That's not true. And I can tell you that I will do everything in my power between now and January and even more after January to stop this misinformation that we're getting out there. People need to be happy that they're part of a great community.

If you don't believe me, go move somewhere else. Come back and tell me you don't Gilbert isn't the best community to live in. Couple years ago, I wrote a ninefigure check to taxes. one of the proudest days of my life because I knew that it was going towards kids and programs and services. In two years, I'll be writing a 10 figure check probably another great day of my life because I'm participating as part as part of the community.

And I can say that the people up here I'm I'm sitting up here with very proud to serve with knowing that not only did we give Gilbert a water future, but we're going to give him a quality of life future. And not too many councils can leave after four years and say that. So I just want to say that I'm very proud to be part of this community. I think the general majority of people are proud to be part of this community.

And don't let the small majority filling you with misinformation make you think for a second that we're not a great community. We are. The silent majority just needs to get out there and be more vocal and shut them down. So I was very very proud to support this for the last four years. Very proud to be part of the liaison team for parks and very proud to be part of the team the team programs that we did. And now that I'm done, I forgot where we were at. Were we voting on something?

You had a motion and I had a motion. Thank you. And a second. And I got a second. Uh no, I have a motion on number 17. We need a a second and we need to vote. Kenny gave a second. Thank you. Can we vote please? Vote passes 5 to two. Thank you, mayor. Can I give my two cents worth on this? Sure. I am surprised with this vote.

We went through a process of three years working with the public, working with staff, giving direction several times and I am surprised that we're not unanimously supporting this. There may be some reasons why that are technical in nature or whatever, but we gave direction and as far as I can tell, the staff followed that direction and I'm surprised we voted the way we did, but that's my two cents. Thank you. We'll move on to uh the public hearings.

Um, I have comment cards on item 30, 31, 32, and 33. So, we know we'll have to have those heard. Uh, we could take a motion on items 29 and 34. If council is so inclined, so moved. Is there a second? Second. Move by vice mayor. Seconded by council member Kapowski. Please vote. Didn't mind vote. Motion carries unanimously. Um what? We need a bio break. Been a request for a five minute bio break. Let's go ahead and take that at this point. We'll come back at 8:27 8:30.

Okay, if we could have everybody have a seat, we'll continue. We'll continue on to our public hearing portion of the agenda. Um, did we did we vote on 29 and 34? Yes. Yes. Okay. We'll go on to item number 30, general plan GP25-05, zoning Z2514, residences at the reserve. Do we need to do the public hearing first? Mhm. We didn't do the public hearing. That's before that, correct? Before we talk about item number 30, we did it. We did it before we took the break. Okay. All right. Yeah.

So, we'll start with staff presentation. Thank you, Mayor Anderson, members of the town council, Nicole Russell, senior planner, town of Gilbert. Tonight we will be discussing GP25 and Z2514 for residences at the reserve. The applicant is seeking a general plan amendment and reszoning with a planned area development overlay on an approximate 4.9 gross acre site in order to develop 121 unit multifamily complex.

The minor general plan amendment proposes a change to the general plan classification from general office to residential 14 to 25 dwelling units per acre as well as a reszone from business park to multif family medium with a p a overlay. The development proposes two deviations to modify landscape setbacks and reduce the overall open space percentage.

The effect will be to reduce the landscaping setback along the west property line and a 5% reduction in open open space percentage for a tall home or multiome multi-family home development. Here is a vicinity map showing u the residences of the reserve parcel as well as the reserve at Santan. uh 47 acre site was approved for a business park back in 2008. This included four parcels shown in purple on the map, three of which have been developed.

Since the original proposal, no development has occurred or been requested on the approximate 4.9 acre site. In the time since the original approval, two parcels to the east along the northern border with the residential neighborhood to the south have come in for reszones and general plan amendments from business park and office to multifamily. The first, the curve at Gilbert, formerly LIIV, an approximate 19 acre site on the east side of Mustang, was approved for a bit over 350 units in 2018.

The second town of Germaine, an approximate 14.5 acre site in between the curve at Gilbert and the canal, was approved in 2021 for about 200 town homes. Since the original approval, the original overall approval, the applicant indicates that the subject parcel site has been unable to generate interest from the employment users despite the success of nearby general office and light industrial projects.

The applicant believes the proposed multif family project is in is a more compatible use and provides a buffer to the existing single family homes from the business park uses along Germaine. The site itself is constrained by a variety of factors sorry uh by a variety of factors that make the development of the general office uses challenging.

These constraints include the lack of visibility from Germaine Road, the proximity to single family uses to the south and ultimately the size of the parcel being a bit less than 5 acres. The multif family developments to the east of the subject site have worked with the neighbors to the south to come to concessions with proposed development.

One of these concessions included a larger buffer between the homes and the apartment buildings themselves by way of increased landscaping setbacks to help create not only a visual buffer but a sound buffer as well. staff has been working with the applicant for the past almost two and a half years and has watched the applicant work diligently to alter the design of the site to address the neighbors concerns. Are there outstanding concerns from the neighbors? Yes, there are.

And I believe that several neighbors will be speaking this evening about their concerns. Some of these concerns include traffic, crime, home values are the outstanding concerns from the neighbors. These concerns are valid concerns and are similar concerns voiced for any new development within the town.

With Gilbert looking at buildout here in less than a decade, staff has to evaluate the land we have left under more scrutiny, taking into account the patterns of development in the surrounding area and how development coincides with the town's long-term vision. So the slide that I'm showing right now is the original plan that went to uh the neighbors in 2024 and the plan that went to the planning commission in June for 2026. With this development plan, the applicant is proposing two deviations.

the reduction of the rear landscaping which is the west side of the site from the two feet or two to allow for two feet of landscaping where 20 feet is required and a reduction in the common open space percentage from 40% to 35. Um as previously stated this site does have some constraints and those include the north side of the site and the west side of the site are actually private access drives.

So that's where uh the deviation comes in on the west side because we can't require them to put landscaping in an access easement. The purpose and intent of a planned area development overlay is to provide a tool to modify regulations and standards in order to achieve outstanding development that provides a unique product and a benefit to the community through the use of creative design. The applicant had their first neighborhood meeting in 2024, which where the the 2024 plan came from.

And working with the neighbors, the applicant brought forth a second plan and had their neighborhood meeting in August. The applicant did extend their notification area from 300 ft to 1,000 ft to ensure that they included all the neighbors to the south that came to some of the neighborhood meetings.

Staff has received two letters from the neighbors of the community prior to the planning commission meeting and nine letters of opposition to the applications being on the agenda prior to the August town council meeting. Staff has also received three letters from two neighbors after the September 1st town council meeting.

At the beginning of this, staff also received a letter from the city of Chandler encouraging the town of Gilbert to listen and include the Chandler residents in the public engagement process. The application did go to the planning commission in June where the planning commission did uh vote to deny the send a recommendation of denial to the town council and as staff understands their reasoning was there were too many deviations requested for the development.

So that is why the applicant did request a continuation from the first meeting in or for the meeting in August so that they could reduce the amount of deviations to the two that you see today. A legal protest was filed with the clerk's office on May 18th, 2026. The ownership of the properties listed in the protest was verified through the Maricopa County Assessor's Office. The protest contains signatures from 16 property owners including HOA owned tracks.

Under state law, the zoning area includes first off all the property owner properties within 100 ft of the area proposed for amendment including rights of way and two the property subject to proposed amendment. Using this definition, the zoning area comprises 17 lots and tracks totaling 531,257.46 square acres.

Per per the land development code 6.7.3 I a valid legal protest requires signatures from owners representing at least 20% of both the number of lots and the total area square footage within the zoning area. Both thresholds are if both thresholds are met, approval by the amendment requires three4s vote of the town council subject to conflict of interest adjustments. The lot count analysis for the protest includes 13 of the 17 property owners which represent 76% of the lots or tracks.

Therefore, the protest meets the 20% requirement based on the number of properties. The area analysis of the total zoning area excluding government-owned properties is five 531,257. Forgive me, let me start over with that. Uh 531,257.46 square ft. The properties in the protest total 90,584.46 46 square ft which represents 17.05% of the total area. The area analysis of the protest does not meet the requirement for the 20% area requirement.

Per the zoning administrator's determination, all the sub submitted materials, the applicable statutes, and the land development code, the zoning administrator has determined that the protest is insufficient under ARS 9-462-04H because it does not satisfy both requirement thresholds. Accordingly, a supermajority vote vote requirement has not been triggered and as a result, the application will be proceed under standard approval procedures.

One of the main reasons for Gilbert's continued prosperity is due to the town's history of being a wellplanned community with high quality development. As Gilbert's growth continues, we must effectively utilize our land supply and manage our development patterns while maintaining our community character. The proposed development complies with the community goals that encourage balanced land use framework coupled with the diverse and highquality housing on an infill property.

The property site, the project site is located in the Gilbert and the 202 growth area. This area is characterized by adequate infrastructure multimodal transportation off options planned for a variety of land use types. These areas are focused on economic sustainability by a mixture of land use types and designations.

A proposed multif family development on the subject site would also provide a more cohesive residential component to the Gilbert 202 growth area with the curve at Gilbert Crossroads and the town homes adjacent to the canal to the east. Staff can support the proposed change because it meets the goals and policies detailed in the staff report in depth and on the current slide.

Although the loss of business park is regrettable, the proposed use will help to maintain the highquality design expectations in Gilbert and provide additional housing in the area near to commercial and retail uses. And staff believes that this application meets the findings of fact.

and staff respectfully requests adoption of resolution number 4686 approving a minor general plan amendment for residences at residences at the reserve and approval of the findings and the adoption of ordinance number 2991 for residences at the reserve for the reasonzoning of the approximately 4.9 acre parcel. And that concludes my presentation. I am happy to answer any questions and the applicant is also uh ready to provide you with a presentation. Thank you, Nicole. Thank you, council.

You have questions of Nicole. Go ahead and vice mayor. Um Nicole, sorry I I might have missed this, but when was this property originally zoned? Mayor Anderson, Council Member Bon Giovani. It was reszoned originally in 2003. Okay. Thank you. One question about um uh deviations and it sounds like the planning commission based their recommendation on deviations. Were any of the deviations corrected between the time they made that recommendation and this coming to us now?

Mayor Anderson, members of the town council, the applicant actually um eliminated three of the requested deviations and we're now down to the two that are requested for the reduction in the open space and the reduction of the landscape on the west side which is adjacent to a a BP property and a drive aisle. Would it be difficult to eliminate those last two? requires some design change. I would have to defer that to the applicant. Council member Torus, uh, a couple questions.

Not the, uh, the things that I'd seen in the package that, uh, the curve and town uh, town and Rivulon and Gilmore were all reszoned four, five, six up to eight years ago. Is that correct, Mayor Anderson? Council member Toruson, that is correct. Okay. And another question. There was seriously a letter from Chandler asking for Chandler residents to be heard after Okay, you're laughing. I got it. That was silly. All right.

Um, and then how many units could be built on the property without the requested deviations? Mayor Anderson, Council Member Torus, can you repeat your last question again? I'm sorry. How many units could be built on this property without the requested pad deviations? Mayor Anderson, Council Member Toruson, I would love to be able to provide you with an answer to that, but unfortunately I am not a designer.

So, uh, staff reviews the proposal as submitted and at this point I understand they propose 121 units. Other questions, comments? No. Thank you, Nicole. Thank you. I think I forgot to open the public hearing. So, I'll open the public hearing, invite the applicant up at this time. While the presentation's coming up, I'll introduce myself for your record. Taylor Earl at the law firm of Earl and Curly. We're at 3101 North Central Avenue. Perfect.

So, here on behalf of the reserve of Santan and Orset properties, as staff mentioned, this is something that we've been working on for a long time. Um, and really try to do things the right way. Um, and try to work with community members and address concerns.

We know that even if you address concerns and do the best you can, it doesn't mean that everybody will uh turn and support the project, but the best we can do is try to address those concerns and make changes, which which we have done throughout this process. We've also not tried to force this thing quickly um and jam it through.

We've tried to be thoughtful and take the time uh to make those changes, to address it, to listen, to um hold a second neighborhood meeting, um hold a second preop with staff. And so there's been a lot of work that's gone into that. Um, and I share that because um, it's important for this developer who's been here a long time. Um, they've been on this property.

This is Orset Properties who owns uh, the majority of that campus and their intention here is to develop this remaining parcel and continue to own and operate the rest of the campus um, the portion that they own and this parcel. And so this isn't something where they're looking to bring in an outside multif family developer or to pass that off. Um it's very important that they maintain the ownership um so that they can keep the entire center being vibrant um and productive.

So the the planning efforts really commenced on the reserve at Santan in 2007. Uh first deliveries in about 2008. Um and since that time they've really done a lot to invest in this property. It's a beautiful um office development. I think they're one of uh the Gilbert's great partners in terms of what they have brought. Um and the reason they're coming today is because even as a primarily office developer, that last parcel is um after so many years is evidence that it it's not moving.

They're not able to bring in um any type of the investment that would be needed for this is simply not justified. And part of that is because of this stat here. When you build new buildings, you are looking to get to 90% occupancy within 18 months. And here we sit after this entire time, not a single building is at that 90%. So for them to turn now and invest $20 million or so into a new building to sit and have it be vacant is simply not something nobody would invest in.

Um it's just not a practical reality. And again, they would do it if they could. Um but it's not viable. And so they have done the best they can to try to lease up these properties here. And let me just highlight a difference between sort of leasing versus building new. It's one thing to have a building that you've already invested in and try the best you can to fill that space. Try to get creative with tenants that come in.

Uh maybe take on tenants that maybe aren't the same credit of of some of the other bigger tenants because you just need to fill the space. It's very different to then build a brand new building with the prospect that it'll simply sit vacant. Um, and this is what there's a completely different level uh of risk that would be taken on. Let me talk a little bit about what's happening in the office market.

There's the the neighbors had made a sort of expressed a concern that maybe this was just a orset issue that this wasn't an issue across the the board. Um, but this is what's happened with the Phoenix metro office and you can see the total vacancy rate there in the red line.

um that obviously that has you know a major after COVID continued to increase but what this is not showing is that the class A vacancy is even higher um and that's the type of product that they have here the class A vacancy is more than 28.1% vacant this is a problem across the Phoenix metro area because of the effect that co had in having people u not need physical office space as much now the question is well have we gotten through that well this is from Axios Phoenix said the pandemic seems to have permanently changed the way many Americans work and companies don't need as much space as they once did.

This is the fundamental problem. Although some companies have put people back, they simply don't need as much as they did. Ker Matthew said no new office space was delivered to the Phoenix market in Q2 2026. Hybrid work continues to reshape office space needs across the valley as tenants trade traditional layouts for more collaborative open floor plans while reducing their overall footprint. This study was interesting as well.

These three universities got together and using billions of geoloccational pings we show that the pandemic induced shift in work patterns represents a durable structural change rather than a temporary disruption. They effectively found where people were going um and found that that was happening. If this is go to the back to work I think all of us have known people that were kind of fully remote and then they went back and the question is where are we at on those people returning?

What we've seen is that that has leveled off that over time from COVID moving forward there were people returning to work but you can see how that line has effectively leveled off um at this point and it's sort of settled into this new normal. So I want to highlight this as well. So what we would be developing here if we could would be professional spec office on private land right of that type. No permits for those types of office buildings have been pulled in metro Phoenix for six years.

The notion that this is somehow an ORST problem, it's unique to them, is simply not true. If it were, you wouldn't have this statistic. The only one that we could find is one that was on ASU Innovation Land, which was effectively a different deal because it had public property uh where they did a ground lease. Um but after years, that developer sold for pennies on the dollar dollar. No, all full vacancy.

No, nothing was filled in that building and they sold it to a new developer and transfer the grand lease and it's still vacant. Um and then again that was a different circumstance. And so this is more than just an orset thing. This is a fundamental uh property and therefore it will not have new office on this property. As Nicole mentioned, the general plan talks about suitable uh you know quality housing in suitable areas. Well, that that is in this area.

You have a lot of uh employment that is in the area already. Um and this supplements that it provides housing in areas. When uh HR folks come and look at relocating, they often look at housing as their available housing in the nearby area of all different types of housing, single family homes, rentals, different price points.

In the staff report, the staff noted the proposed use will help to maintain the high quality design expected in Gilbert to provide additional housing in the area near commercial and retail uses. You can just simply see here um how that plays out. in this area that has quite a bit. We're having a very small portion that's going towards residential. Also, the question may come up, well, what about maybe other BP uses on this site? Uh, what about those?

The challenge with this parcel is its size and its location. Um, the small size is from a net. It's only 4.5 acres, so it's very small. I mean, it has a lack of arterial frontage.

So things that might do well off of an arterial frontage um are not going to do well when they're buried back here like a a restaurant for example that can do well in a retail center where you have foot traffic from the anchor tenants but not here where you're buried behind nothing like that would survive and therefore nobody would actually build it. Um and frankly not all uses work well in an office campus setting like this.

Um we did have a broker at some point one point came and asked us about warehousing. We even looked at that. The problem with warehousing is you can't get a truck to turn all the way around. Um, and then you have bay doors that have restrictions under the code related to close to residential. And so this isn't a matter of not looking at stuff.

We even produced a couple of CDs back when office was viable, construction drawings, which was about $200,000 worth of investment to try to see if we can make office work again back in that sort of uh back when office was more viable. Um, and again, so if we could move forward on those, we we simply would. Uh, we just drop it and move it and move that direction. um but it simply doesn't work.

So staff reluded to this as sort of a case study across the street where the owner struggled to develop property and applied for reszoning to multifamily medium. And in that hearing, Mr. Bull, Ed B stated this was not just an academic exercise that the Rockefeller group had gone through over the last 10 years. The request for multif family was based on various attempts to develop the property under existing business park zoning.

So the same type of situation where they weren't able to move the property. Um, and that's simply not a good policy to have property that just sits not productive. Here then is the context with our property in the foreground and you have that in the background showing the context of this area. We would be asking for the same type of the same request from BP to MFM and the same general plan amendment here going to Ru uh 14 through 25 also then matching what is there next to us.

So again, you have this sort of same situation where market forces prevented it. We're the same. Business park zoning the same. The MFM the same. Um 19 acres, although we're much smaller at 4.0, we're only 11% of the campus and they were 356 whereas we're a small 121. So simply putting land to economically productive use is the fiscal responsible public policy. Not having that generate any revenue is not the what is good for the town. I'd like to have uh Scott Foyer come up for a moment.

He's the son of the founder. Um tell you just a little bit about the company, but I want to highlight one thing. Orset is primarily an office developer. If you go to their website and you look at current projects, what you'll see is not a lot of uh multifamily projects. They have done them. They have experience, but primarily they're an office developer.

So, this isn't a multif family developer coming and saying, "Hey, this is a good multif family site." It's primarily an office developer telling you if we could, we would. It's not viable. We need a way to finish out our campus and be able to help lease up the rest of us. With that, I'll ask Scott to come up for just a moment. Um share a little bit about uh Morset. Good evening, council members and uh mayor. Thank you for having me.

Um so, yes, Taylor, I think uh put better than than I uh been involved in the site since I moved here in 2005. So, it's been uh 20 plus years or started looking at the site and we uh closed on in 2006. As Taylor alluded to, we are primarily office and industrial developers. I've done a couple of multif family developments in my career, but it's not it's not what we do.

Um, and certainly feel like as it relates to this uh campus and site specifically, we have exhausted um all the different options I feel that we that would be viable for this site and really this to me completing this campus is my ultimate goal. And I look at even this multif family site as a way to create and help the leasing in the office park as well. I have big tenants.

We have progressive automotive or insurance in the one the reserve at Sant building 4 building directly to the uh west of this site. Um and I have some engineering firms. All of them I think you know we could where I'm going with this is I think offering some corporate housing potentially is an option we have when we have control of the whole campus. Um, again, I think it allows us to get a little more creative.

Um, certainly, you know, we had to do that obviously with the the buildings up front. If you guys are familiar with the press coffee that sits between buildings five and six, um, I think, you know, that press was a real saving grace in terms of helping leasing during COVID in terms of, you know, breathing a semblance of life into the center um, and having people there. And, uh, but it hasn't been enough, frankly.

It's just been a been a challenging site um or park just the way people are using office space has really changed over the particularly since co and I think we're just trying to adapt to that and I think this would really be a a benefit to the overall campus and help us complete our park thank you so timeline of events um so site planning work was in 2023 you can see our first neighborhood meeting and the initial preop in 24 then we had the follow-up communications We had our second preapp and the reason we did that is we made such extensive changes to the site plan that staff rightly so recommended that we come back in because it was so different from the first one because of the changes we'd made to the neighbor before uh addressing the neighbor concerns.

Then we have the second neighborhood meeting in August of 2025. Um and then and only then did we actually file the application. So after all that time we didn't actually file the application until August of 25. We then the planning commission in June we based on what consistent with what Nicole mentioned we did additional redesign work on the site um and got to the point we are today. So let me walk you through uh the changes.

So in 2024 um these were the plans big change we made was bring we completely eliminated the fourth story. We had a four and threetory design. That fourstory completely went away and we made an all threetory product. And of course as you bring down headroom elbow room becomes a little more difficult. Um, also I would simply note that under the height overlay, this site is allowed to have 90 feet or six stories at this type of setback. So this site has a lot of height allowance.

Obviously, we wouldn't build an office of that size for reasons we just stated, but it's simply a precursor to understanding what the existing zoning is on the property today. We then took this sort of unique approach where we took the windows of this southacing part of the building and we made these clear story windows. What that means is that they're above the ey line. Clear story means they let light into a room, but they're not at the 5 foot level where you're looking out.

So, a big privacy change that we made on the project. So, you can see here on the left uh where we sort of had those windows directly looking south and now under the 2025 plan now to 26 as well, you have those windows that are above that ey line. So, you completely eliminate those type of second and third story southacing windows. This is a huge huge uh privacy protection that frankly wouldn't be true if you were to develop it simply as office.

Even a two-story office at the regular setback would have much more privacy impacts than what we're proposing. We also then also eliminated the south facing balconies on the building portions closest to the neighbors. So now when you look at where's that first, second, and third story regular facing window, you're at about 240 feet from that property line until you get to that first window that's due facing south um of that sort of typical window.

So again, uh a huge setback until you get to that. We reduced the unit count. Uh we were at 134, we went to 121. We brought the uh zoning request down. Now it's about a 10% reduction on a normal call it 350 unit multif family project it' be you know three 35 units pretty significant um and so while it may be only a few here it's relative to the percentage which was pretty significant.

We came down from multif family high to multifamily medium which we again matched what was granted across the street. We took garages we relocated and we originally had them there as a properly a screening mechanisms. Neighbors said we appreciate that but we don't want them there. So, we moved those over to the east side of the site. Uh, we also relocated the main entrance per neighbors concern. We put that up on the north side and then also relocated the clubhouse to that side as well.

Uh, we eliminated there was a two-story building here for carriage units that was replaced with parking only. Um, and then on this side, we took those carriage units and moved them further north. We took the landscape set back on the south and we doubled that uh and put in a second row of trees so that they're staggered. So where you might have a regular kind of a a gap in the canopy, we stick another tree in that same spot to really protect the privacy.

Now, of course, that would be in addition to existing landscaping that's already on the southern. We're not relying upon this landscaping, but it does show that there's already good spots of sufficient, frankly, mature landscaping that we would be adding to. We then took and really enhanced the outdoor space. Now you have this courtyard which feels protected. You have eyes on it. It feels very usable uh within the courtyard of the building.

So that's an enhanced space where you have surrounded on three sides. So all of these changes were done and to address neighborhood concerns. You can see now why staff recommended that we go back in for a second pre-app. So at the planning commission, we did have a split vote. So it's important to recognize it was simply one vote difference uh between a positive recommendation or negative and among the NOS the major concern was the number of P A deviations.

The chair said I'm absolutely not against the use but expressed concern about a significant amount of deviations. Vice chair I'm not opposed to the use but I'm opposed to the deviations. Another one I was concerned about the deviations too. So in response we were in work with staff and we reduced the deviations from five to two and now we have only these minor deviations that I'll walk you through.

So after the planning commission, we eliminated completely the two storage carriage units and converted them to singlestory garages. By doing that, we were able to adjust storage areas to free up space within the building. We adjusted some of that storage space to come outside. Um the question may be how did we get the units from out there into the building? Did we have to shrink the units that we had? The answer is no.

We had storage space that was built into that which we some of which we were able to transfer outside. So we had some extra space in there. We were able to fit those units into. uh we were able to eliminate the eastern building setback deviation on the east. Um the western building setback also was eliminated and then we also clarified with staff uh an issue with the northern landscape setback and was able to get that eliminated as well. So ultimately then we went from five deviations to two.

And I'll leave you I'll show you which ones we have. So we have a western landscape setback. But what's interesting is that this landscape setback frankly wouldn't even be triggered if it wasn't for the fact that in that drive aisle you have a property line which is kind of an oddity in the middle of a campus.

You wouldn't normally have a property line but for reasons related to financing there's a property line there which triggers a sort of perimeter condition but it isn't a true perimeter condition. It's the middle of a campus. So you can see the way that that office building has been developed with its landscape. we would be fairly comparable in terms of what our landscaping would be on the other side of that drive aisle. Again, it would be more of an interior condition in practice.

But what's important is that we have still have a heavy heavy perimeter condition for planting. So, as it relates to somebody outside of the campus that we made sure that we had to be robust. What we're talking about here is very internal. And also, there's about a 60 foot space there in between the building and what would be our garages. But if you go from this building to our principal building, you're looking at about 140 ft. So there's no uses on top of each other.

There is sufficient separation between them. And we sort of match the condition more or less of what is to our west. Again, this is about the general plan supports unified mixeduse campuses. This would be unified by not trying to put up a perimeter condition where none should exist. Now the open space standard, I want to give context to this as well. So 40% of the developable area must be open space. That is the standard that the city has or the town has.

And again, you have an oddity here where we have a property line that goes to the middle of this drive aisle. And so you have private roadway that we obviously can't landscape. It has cross access easements on it. So that area and again under the town code, you wouldn't exclude public roadways. This happens to be a private roadway and therefore is not by virtue of that is not automatically excluded.

But the principle of the of the standard is that of the area you can actually develop, we want 40% of that to be open space. And with that understanding, our open space would in fact be 40%. If you were to exclude that private roadway, just like you would normally exclude public roadways, we would in fact be at 40%. So this adjustment is simply accounting for the fact that we have this odd sort of circumstance.

But as it relates to what you would look at and say, "Well, that's the developable area." We do in fact meet the 40% requirement. So on top of that, there's one thing about quantity and quality. A lot of times you can see you open space that is sort of scattered around. It's a dog park at the very corner. You put a bench over here. But we have a highly usable set of open space.

I really don't believe that anybody in this subdivision or in this project would feel that there was deficient open space. In fact, they will say this one of the great features of this is it is highly usable open space. And I I would also remind you that by bringing the headroom down right from four stories to three, we need a little bit of uh elbow room.

We could simply meet all of these, go back up tile, uh add the four story back and meet it, but in our mind, it's better to bring the project down to three stories. I would also highlight that the projects to our east, town of Germaine had three deviations. Their pad and live Gilbert had four deviations. So we actually have less deviations than the two projects east of us that were approved.

In terms of architecture, I would highlight here that what we're trying to do is make it have a unique feel of course, but also want it to be compatible with the rest of the campus. This indeed a campus development. And so we you can see here between what is built to what we are proposing, there's a compatible architectural design so that the campus feels united. I also want to highlight the support from staff there.

Nicole also mentioned this that we are within a growth area, the Gilbert and 202 growth area and the general plan encourages mixeduse developments within these growth areas. It says, quote, "The mixeduse designation is defined as an efficient integration of non-residential and residential uses that cultivates a sense of community in a live, work, play environment, which is what we're proposing here. In fact, it says destination mixeduse developments are encouraged within the growth areas.

So, we have here our existing office. As Scott mentioned, we already have retail with press coffee that me members of the community come and use. Uh and then also we would be bringing residential for a true mixed juice premier mixed juice campus. The general plan notes that these can be done mixed juice can be vertical in one building or it can be horizontal on a campus like we would be having. And it notes that Gilbert strongly supports mixeduse developments.

In fact, I believe if we brought in this entire campus as as dirt, it hadn't been developed at all and I said, I'm bringing in office and I'm bringing in a coffee shop and I'm bringing in residential, I think that would be wellreceived because it would be a good strong mixed juice campus. It's exactly what we're doing. We're simply doing it after the fact. Um, but it is the end result will still be that same mixeduse campus.

And of course, as staff noted, for these areas, for these reasons, staff can support the proposed changes aligns with the goals and policies detailed above. Um there was a concern from neighbors about trips. We had a comparison run on what if we were to were to do uh an office building here, how many trips would that produce versus what we're producing um in terms of our trips?

And there is, as you can see on the right side, the difference there um overall total trips um and total daily would be a little bit less, right? So we're comparable or less in terms of overall trips that were already uh understood that would be possible on this property. So in the end we have 73,000 square feet of vacant space. This is a problem not only because we're not leasing it up but because it doesn't revenue it does not revenue generating for the town.

So as Scott mentioned this will act as a catalyst for getting that existing office more vibrant and better leasing for the vacant office. This would create a premier campus amenity live work environment that you can offer then to tenants. It's a way to attract additional tenants to these existing buildings. It creates option for residential leasing as part of an office lease. You can do a deal with somebody.

Hey, we'll give you this office lease for this price and we can have this and this residential. So now you're attracting people because it's something that other campuses aren't able to provide. When you're trying to stand out and you're trying to say, "Hey, come into this campus. Here's what we can provide you. Let's work together." You want to attract uh a young employee who's coming in who's relocating. you have a place for them to stay until they relocate on a more permanent basis.

Um, there are ways that you can do that. Sometimes these amenities that you offer in campuses, frankly, somebody may never use. When you walk into a gym and it has a pool, you may say, "I will never touch my foot in that pool." But if it has a pool, it's a marker for a quality gym. And there are things in office campuses that are very similar. You go, "Wow, they have a botchi court. They may never ever play it, but it's something that says this is different. There's care here.

There's there's this is premier." And so we believe that that'll help us to lease out the rest of the office space. And frankly, premier office spaces, they don't have long-term vacant dirt properties in the middle of them. It's unsightly. It doesn't show confidence in the center. It doesn't show strong viability. Us being able to finish out the campus will really help lease up the rest of the center. Now, there's a a statement in the neighbors who made the planning commission.

Um, and I just want to highlight this is not a request to reszone from commercial land. And I just want to make this abundantly clear. Um, and I'm just going to highlight Gabriella Point. Um, in that case, that was a reszone from regional commercial. This is a resone from business park. These are fundamentally different zoning categories in terms of what they allow and in terms of what the the the intended uses come in in terms of tax revenue for the town. Um, they were zoned to meet multi high.

We're multif family medium. They were much larger in terms of the unit count. Um, that had staff opposition. We have staff support. Um, and a much bigger property as well. And so I highlight the staff support because I think it's very significant. Staff is simply not rolling over for developers. They're here to protect the town and the town's interests and they have shown that they are not going to simply support projects because somebody came in and put something that looked nice.

They are looking after the town's best interest and us achieving staff support I think is super significant. Um and I would recommend that the council follow the recommendation of staff. Um now Orura Santan was also a reszone from regional commercial. Again worked a business park much bigger project also had staff opposition and a much bigger piece of land. So again not a request from commercial.

Um, I'm going to have Danny uh Court come up here from Polloc Elliot Pollock & Company that we did some economic study because I want to I want to end with our economic analysis um and how this truly is the pro- fiscal responsible policies to move forward with this request for reasons that we'll explain. Danny, thank you. Good evening. My name is Danny Court. I'm a partner and an economist at Elliot Dolican Company.

Uh so we were requested to model the economic and fiscal impacts of the proposed development versus what it is as a vacant property today. Um currently it just produces a a small amount of secondary property tax um as a as a vacant property. So $1,600 goes to Gilbert secondary property tax about $9,000 to the school district after it's developed and operating. The estimated uh tax revenue to town of Gilbert specifically would increase to about $109,000 and $200 $109,200 per year.

And the local school district would also increase its uh property tax revenue to $75,500 per year. Um resident spending is really the driver um having residents and and resident spending. So these are the the separate tax categories that we model from for for the project itself. Um you see it aligns um very well. There's a lot of these uh revenue categories are the major tax revenue categories of the town of Gilbert.

Um so the secondary property tax, sales tax, utility tax, uh state shared revenue from the increase of population and then secondary impacts from employees that are being supported both by the project and by resident spending and their ripple effects and and spending throughout the town. Um there was a question asked um when we were giving some of these presentations about online sales tax. Um yes online sales tax is part of the sales tax category there.

Um uh it's it's a large as everyone knows a large and growing category is people that spend their money and and purchase online that is taxed at the place of resident. So um all of our residential homes are now uh tax revenue generating retail sales generating places. Um just last year, fiscal 2026, um Town of Gilbert received over $15 million in remote seller sales tax. So that equates to about $52 per person in the town.

So if you equate that to the new residents at this project, that's just over $9,900 of that $30,000 total. Um the rest of it, the net of it would be uh out physical shopping and brickandmortar retail stores. So our our initial model um assumed 33% leakage outside of the town 67% would be retained in the town um for their spending.

And another question was asked um or or wondered if we had higher leakage if if if the residents of this uh because it is close to uh city of Chandler um if more of their spending dollars were to happen outside of the town what would be the impact there. So we ran a few of these scenarios. So our initial model is the 33% leakage and that gets you to that number. The only number affected by that spending leakage is in that that sales tax category.

So if we were to see 50% leakage um 50% spent outside of the town um that reduces the total from 109,000 to 104,000. And if we were to get to 75% legal, so only 25% of these new residents um brickandmortar spending happening in the town of Gilbert, um it would be it would go down to 96,400. So that's that's kind of the range. I would caution that there's more upside to this. Town of Gilbert is a net importer of of tax revenue.

I'm a resident of Mesa and I'm in Gilbert every single weekend at at your at your restaurants and shopping. So the town of Gilbert has a lot of of retail amenities. That's why we chose our our leakage rate, but we wanted to show the full range of potential scenarios there. Finally, on the economic side, uh residents spend their money. They go out shopping uh on health services, personal services, things like that. So, these new residents uh would support 48 new jobs in the region.

That's $2.3 million in annual wages, $6.3 million annually in total economic activity. Um that's and that's again that's a combination of both the resident uh the operations of the apartment community itself and then the residents going out and spending their disposable income in the economy as I see it. Converting vacant land to revenue generation for the town is smart economic policy. That's what was done over here when this wasn't viable. this was done.

Um, and I again I think that's smart policy. This is what began this property went from we can't get it to generate revenue to being able to generate revenue for the town. Similarly at POS and Lindsay um this was another project that was creating a mixeduse campus um that the town reszoneed part of this office campus for multif family in 2022 went from BP to MFH and again this strengthens the office leasing of that existing office.

It provides for a mixeduse campus that is better for the leasing for the reasons that I mentioned. Approving this resoning is frankly the pro-economic option for the town. As as I mentioned, staff's job is to protect the town's interest and staff after that analysis is in support. It's not a request to reszone commercial zoning. The town is not frankly letting go of letting go of office development. It's only office zoning. It's office dirt.

After the 19 years, I think there's sufficient evidence after the the vacancy rates. I think there's sufficient evidence that nobody's going to invest 20 million. So, we're not letting go of an office development. It's not a this or that. It's simply we have unproductive dirt that's sitting there with zoning. And we wish, but a wish isn't strong fiscal policy. But the approval will drive economic income and benefit for the towns.

For the reason Danny just mentioned, you have residents generating 96 to 109,000 direct income. Residents then generate 6.3 million in economic output and they create a mixeduse amenity will increase leasing of vacant 73,000 foot existing office. So you're driving economic income with this type of approval. Simply put, I do not believe that more years of vacant land, it's it will not increase the town's bottom line and will leave money on the table.

I believe that this is the right path from a fiscal side. I know the town has concerns about fiscal policy and I believe that simply sitting another 101 15 years on dirt that's not producing is not the best policy.

I believe that moving forward with something bird in the hand that's not only going to bring in revenue directly but also is going to help us fill up the 73,000 square feet of vacant space that we have and that is going to be better for the town and certainly better for us which is why we're making the request.

Um, with that, I'm happy to answer any questions and I'll may take a page out of the park director's playbook and I have a team of folks here that can also help me answer questions if necessary. Thank you, Council Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. Do you know what your system development fees will be? I'm sorry, Vice Mayor. Do you know what your system development fees will be? Um, I think I do have that. Oh, actually, I don't know if we've run that calculation. Um, I can try to run it quickly.

Yeah, you can move on and have someone do that. That'd be great. Other questions? Councilman Torus? The uh couple couple observations and questions. One, everything we're referencing back to 2018, 2020, 2019, things that were done, oh, they got to do it. That doesn't mean everybody gets to do it and it doesn't mean that this council would have done it. Means the council in 2018 did it. In fact, that's one of the things that bothered me as so many things were reszoned.

Uh but I do have a question here. Let's say no office ever comes, even though that's an impossible thing to predict. Uh why would it have to be apartments? Why wouldn't it be uh single family? They're right next door. They're right across the street. Why wouldn't we have single family homes, small ones, something entry level that uh people could actually buy into the American dream? Why would it have to be apartments? I appreciate the questions through the mayor.

I I the the fundamental issue with that is you would be the way this campus works is that we have control over the campus. This this is a major investment that Orset has made in the campus by selling off. First of all, it's a very small property. What homes you could get on it, not really sure, frankly. Uh we did run a proforma per your request and it loses money.

But even setting that aside, you now have a you're handing over to what two dozen, three dozen property owners that hopefully they maintain their property. Well, now you have an HOA that I have to go fight with every time that there's the landscaping treatment. So, with a rental situation, we would remain the owner operated. That is Orsad's model. But having a situation where you turn over ownership to a separate group that we surround on both sides that would be using the shared access road.

Um and frankly that in in this type of environment we would be able to provide that type of um housing option. There's there's easy ability to have units that turns over more frequently. So in the case of the housing where we can attract people um that's a little bit different model where I can say look you have an office lease and a multif family lease and we can kind of work together. I'm putting that deal together. Uh, I've never seen a single family neighborhood be part of an office campus.

Um, even if you tried to wall it off, they have their property line goes into the middle of that drive aisle, both frankly to the west and to the north. Um, so they would be using it and frankly they would be partially maintaining it.

Um, and so by releasing that control over to a separate entity that we hope we don't have to go and and pursue litigation against every time that something goes wrong, it it really releases control and doesn't give us the ability to to protect the campus in quite the same way. And look, if the city really wants to see uh single family homes, small single family homes, I've got developer clients who are happy to do that. Um, and I think there's places for that.

Um, but on properties this small, by the time you put a loop road around and things like that and put in yard space, I don't know who would want to invest their life savings in coming into this office campus, they would have to be very small. And again, in the the ownership problem really creates a real burden um on us doing it here. Well, I mean, I've seen it done in other places in Gilbert.

Uh, unfortunately they were lease uh there were lease communities with with freestanding homes on them, but uh I've never heard of homes being built losing money in Gilbert. Um, you know, and and to be frank, I mean that seems almost that seems just like an odd thing for me to consider. And I want to consider the people that are next to this project that do live in Chandler. They bought in and part of them live next to a an office building. Yeah.

So, people do live next to office buildings, including those people who I do want to hear from because whether or not they're Gilbert residents, they're going to be affected. But I maintain that you can redraw property lines because you own it and sell off the 4.9 acres and it could be single family homes. Other questions? Thank you. Thank you. We have a question for staff if we could. Sure. Um Kyle or Kelly or anyone, do you have any ideas what the system development fees may be?

Mayor, council. Um, just doing some quick math without knowing all of the uh insights to the construction of this. It looks like we're pushing anywhere between 220 $275,000. Okay. Does that actually I know that legally we could only charge X amount. Does that cover our costs? Do you know any idea that would cover our costs? The system development fees are based on the impact of the development to the system. So, it should cover the cost. Correct. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

We'd like to get to the uh public comments that uh cards. Uh I do want to indicate that I have 78 submitts online that are in opposition to the item. I have three others that are added to that and one that's uh in favor. And then I have a series of uh requests to speak cards. Um I think Marcus Cabrera is going to be reading a text. Uh and do you have any idea how long that will take you?

Sorry, let's do let's start it with six minutes and then I have some other cards uh some requests to speak and each one of you after this has been presented I'm going to ask if you're going to be repeating what he's already said because we don't want to just keep repeating things. So I'll call on you individually. Go ahead Marcus. Mayor, there we go. All right. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council. I hope we're still all awake. Uh, Mr.

Mayor, on behalf of your neighbors here tonight, thank you for the time that you and the council have set aside to hear from us on one of the most important issues in our community. We are not a development team. We don't have a land use attorney on retainer, an economic consulting firm on staff, a polished presentation built by people who do this for a living.

We do not have the benefit of a paid town staffer guiding us through this process, making our case alongside us, or coordinating updates after a lastminute petition for continuence. We don't have the technology in this room to render project renderings or charts. Mr. Mayor, what we do have is our own research done on our own time and with three minutes each pulled together at this podium. That way you will hear from a single unified voice because that's exactly what we are. So with that, Mr.

Mayor, our first argument, the developer's analysis was compared against the wrong baseline. At the planning commission meeting in June, the developer compared the benefits of the multif family proposal to an empty lot, not to a successful general office development, which is the parcel's actual adopted use. That is not a neutral comparison because it measures the proposal against the least favorable baseline available rather than the relevant one. This is not simply our own opinion.

A substantial body of municipal research or the so-called cost of community services analysis has repeatedly found that residential development typically costs a municipality more in services than in return in returns its tax revenue while commercial and industrial land consistently runs a surplus. That is the comparison the applicant's own study should have made and did not.

Argument two, the town of Gilbert already outlined arguments against this type of reszone at the at the as the town has shifted from a bedroom community towards an unemployment hub. Congratulations. It's its designated commercial land supply has fallen to roughly 9.5%. total land area below the 10% town leaders have identified as the appropriate target. Gilbert has consists considered something very similar to this re to this in in the recent past.

In June 2025, the town rejected a minor general plan amendment and reszoning at Gabriella Point commercial center that would have allowed highdensity multifamily use, including a proposed 329 unit apartment complex. Several takeaways from that meeting are directly relevant here.

First, senior planner Keith Newman warned that converting commercial land to residential use could hinder Gilbert's long-term economic sustainability, noting that quote, "Once lost to residential development, this commercial land cannot be reclaimed." Second, multif family units already existed close to this site to that site. Third, economic development deputy director Jennifer Graves noted that the percentage of land designated for commercial use in Gilbert has shrunk to just 9.5%.

As I said, and fourth, uh, Mr. Mayor, um, you said at one point, quote, we should be closer to 10%, we're going in the wrong direction. We are going to need this land for commercial use. If we start carving it up now, it won't be available when we need it. Oof. The council voted in August of last year to approve the Ara Santan, transforming 14 and a quarter acres of vacant land at the southeast corner of Val Vista Drive and Picos Road into a mixeduse community with apartments and office space.

But even there, town planning manager Ashley McDonald cautioned, saying, quote, "With Gilbert closer to complete buildout, efforts must be made to retain as much commercially zoned land as possible." Unquote. So, so there's the argument. You you understand the argument. Uh, a few others. Uh, council member uh, Bon Giovani, Mr. Mayor, um, voted no um, even for the, uh, referring to the Harvest Grove project in April 2026, um, more than one for more than one,000 new homes.

It did not it it did so only after the developer removed all multif family housing from the plan, saying, quote, the highest and best long-term use of one of those of the last major parcels of land um, was for economic development. instead uh he wanted to take on a project that would generate sales tax revenue. As we see, Mr. Mayor, staff and council have consistently emphasize the need to protect land for economic development rather than convert it to residential use across multiple projects.

Argument three, the site cannot support the density it is requesting. At at the planning commission's vote to deny this reszone, vice chair Fay explained his no vote by pointing to three separate deviations from town development standards that tonight's project needs to ignore in order to fit its unit count onto its site.

This includes a landscape setback reduced to zero along the north and west property lines, a west building setback reduced from 20 ft to 15 ft, and a cut to require common open space from 40% down to 35%. At its proposed density, the developer is asking to wave three separate development standards simultaneously on a site that can only build on a net 4.48 acres. I'm running out of time, so I'm going to summarize our arguments in bold here. Keep going. I'm not going to test the council here.

Just keep going. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Okay. Thank you. Argument four. The developer has completely abandoned Gilbert's process in a last stitch hope for approval. Mr. Mayor, we had multiple neighborhood meetings regarding this reszone, plus a vote by the planning commission which denied the motions. However, after the planning commission's denial, the developer asked for a continuence to revise its submitt.

The fall-out effects of this continuence have completely upended the formal process. There have been no new neighborhood meetings regarding these changes. The planning commission has not voted on the changes and there wasn't even a sign placed on the lot alerting homeowners of the September 1st council meeting. When we asked town staff about the sign, which only reappeared on September 9th, we were told readvertising is not required with the granting of a continuence by town council.

This just shows that the regular means of proposing the reszone have been completely bypassed with the handling of this new submission. Poor handling, as many of us have been saying. Mr. Mayor, if this council votes in the affirmative to this new proposal, it is also allowing a complete lack of form to win the day. Moreover, regarding the changes themselves, the revised plan removes six carriage homes from the rear portion of the site.

However, the applicant is still requesting a reduction in the required landscape setback from 20 ft to 2 feet and a reduction in the required common open space from 40% to 35%. More importantly, the units removed from the carriage homes have been added to the main residential building. This is yet another example of yield maximization.

By cramming 12 additional units into buildings where the existing one-bedroom units are already smaller than the average studio apartment in Gilbert, the developer will make these units even smaller. Argument five, eliminating setbacks ruins the proper transition of land use. The developer says the project is designed to encourage outdoor living, yet it can't even meet the town's 40% open space requirement. The developer has argued that the property lines are merely a technical problem.

That argument should that argument should concern this council on its own. If developers can wave away property lines to justify reducing setbacks to zero, it sets a troubling precedent for future applications and a troubling rejection of current codes. Mr. Mayor, the non-residential side setback here isn't being reduced. It's being waved almost entirely.

This is not a modest adjustment, but an almost complete waiver of a standard meant to preserve separation, light, air between differently used parcels. Reducing it to almost zero undercuts the developer's own claim that the site is well suited to apartment use. Argument six, the developer's use of college dorm data as a comparison to his plan is misleading.

The developer cited real page data showing that the average student housing unit built since 2008 has 2.9 bedrooms compared with 1.23 bedrooms per unit in this project. This was cited at the planning commission meeting. They did this to argue that they are much more accommodating than what we see in college dorms across the country. However, it's worth noting what real page actually tracks.

Real page data tracks rent and leasing trends for off-campus student housing including single family homes rented to students. Therefore, the data cannot be taken as a whole to just to just imply apartment dwellings. Knowing this, the developer is actually building something denser than what real page tracks since the developer is not building homes at all. In fact, 93 93 of the project's 121 units are one-bedroom units. In other words, nearly 80% are all just one-bedroom units.

Moreover, these one-bedroom units appear to average roughly 600 square f feet. For comparison, apartments.com lists the average studio apartment in Gilbert at 614 square ft. This project's typical one-bedroom apartment is smaller than a studio. With the addition of six more units into the main building, the one-bedroom units are going to shrink in size even more as the density will increase.

Argument seven, neighboring developments directly contradict the developer's claim that multifamily is the only suitable use for this land. The developer claims there is no viable use for this land other than multifamily housing and that any building off the arterial roadway is destined to sit vacant.

This claim is contradicted by his most recent occupancy numbers which shows the building away from the arterial road with a higher occupancy rate than the buildings direct directly on the arterial road. The developer states that he has struggled to fill his own office buildings. While this may be anecdotally true for the developer, that claim doesn't hold up against what's happening around them.

Parcel 304-56-933A, just to the northeast of the lots discussed tonight, was developed and filled with commercial tenants. Across the street on Germaine Road, multiple business parks have been developed and are attracting commercial tenants. Nearby business parcels have been built out and filled continuously during the entire time the developer has had has owned this site.

At the first neighborhood meeting, the developer reported his occupancy at 68% filled in the north building, 0% in the middle building, and 24% in the south building. However, after the second neighborhood meeting, the occupancy is now 78% in the north building, 37% in the middle building, and 71% in the south building. The developer knew these improving numbers before the second neighborhood meeting, yet continued to tell residents he could not rent out the space.

It also appears that the middle building is gaining a new tenant now as we speak on ongoing constru as ongoing construction has been noted. To say that the space cannot be commercially rented contradicts what is happening with his lot. And it's no wonder the parcel has excellent access. Mustang Drive borders it to the east connecting to Germaine Road and Gilbert Road with easy access to the 202 via Gilbert Road and Lindsay Road.

That makes it a genuinely desirable site for businesses and general office use as we can see from the many office complexes that surround the area. Argument eight, the developers make an incorrect comparison by claiming that they should receive the same treatment as a 2018 reszone from business park to multifamily.

In the 2018 case, the town had no real basis to deny that request because voters had already approved the 2012 general plan designating the area to the south for medium density residential development, allowing more than 14 and up to 25 dwelling units per acre and the area to the north light industrial. In other words, the surrounding zoning already supported that change. Argument nine. The developer speculates that if he can develop this lot as multifamily, he will be able to rent it.

He will be able to rent his current office space. Across the street, we have the Curve Apartments with 356 units and Town Germaine with 209 units. Less than 2 mi away, Rivulon finished with 352 units. In addition, the Gilmore is being built with 300 units. This equals 1,217 units available within two miles. The developer tonight would have you speculate, Mr. Mayor, that another 121 units are going to make his office space more rentable.

In reality, there is already sufficient housing in the area to support the employment needs of this office development, creating a true live work environment without the need to add another 121 units on a net 4.4 acre site. Argument 10, the builder's third floor appears to violate Gilbert's code's stepback requirement.

In our humble opinion, the land development code building stepback requirement says that portions of a building typically above the second floor be recessed to a 1:1 ratio, preserving light, air, and separation between differently masked uses. Because this building sits within 100 ft of the single family dwelling lot line, its third floor is required to step back an additional 13 ft from the building face.

Nothing presented at the June hearing indicates that step back that that step back has been incorporated into the design. Therefore, the building shown to residents does not reflect what the LDC requires. Argument 11 that people have spoken about what to do with this parcel of land via a protest petition.

The town of Gilbert denied the protest filing stating that although we met the threshold by lot count analysis with 76% as we saw tonight uh we did not meet the threshold area analysis here we achieved 17% of the total area represented with 20% needed and we concede that the underlying fact remains however the entire circle of directly affected neighbors organized in writing against this reasonzoning and came within a matter of percentage points of clearing this bar according to interpretation of the statute by town of by the town of Gilbert.

That is to say, 100% of the homeowners and 100% of the HOAs eligible to sign the protest petition did so. Knowing that the majority of neighbors opposed this reasonzone, yet being free of the legal requirement of a formal protest that would have oppo imposed on the voting tonight is all the more reason that we humbly suggest to you to put our put neighborhood values first and champion our voice even without needing the the forced supermajority.

Argument 12, the developers financial ambitions should not override the investment made by everyday moms and families. The developer was aware of the land uses permitted under the business park district zoning when he purchased the land and purchased it anyway. However, he is not the only property owner who invested in this area. When purchasing land, we the property owners of our single family residential homes also invested when we bought our forever homes.

We understood that we were buying homes on land zoned for homes next to land zoned for businesses. However, unlike the developer, we invested far more than financial resources into our homes. Our children trick-or- treat in our community. Our parents live with us. Our taxes contribute to the adjacent Chandler Park. And in fact, we neighbors visit the lot in question far more than the developers do on our evening walks.

Unlike the developer where the possibility of return on his investment is pure financial gain, the return on our investment is our beloved community here speaking to you tonight. Mr. Mayor, the developer could rent his space now. But because he wants an even bigger profit, he's willing to betray this community before you, change the rules to benefit himself, and cram apartments into his lot.

No homeowner on the border of this lot has maintained that they would have still bought their home had they known that an apartment building was going to be built right against their wall in their backyard. Argument 13. Neighborhood concerns are a form of documentation that should not be waved away. At the June hearing, Commissioner Davis suggested the project's impact on surrounding residents may be less severe than feared.

That's a prediction, not a documented finding, and it stands against an unusually wellorganized and specific record of opposition. Mr. Mayor, here is what is documented. Nine Peterson Farm residents spoke against the project at a hearing. A written objection was submitted by an attorney representing Peterson Farms. A second letter of opposition followed. Um and uh and the city of Chandler also said their piece respectfully uh council.

Um in addition, the town of Gilbert planning commission has voted against this reasonzone. That volume and specificity concerning this matter is the voice of the will of the people. Mr. Mayor, may this body be known to champion the will of the people. Conclusion. Mr. Mr. Mayor and Council, as we conclude tonight, an important consideration needs to be made out of respect to something I don't think we've heard tonight, which is renters everywhere.

Every person deserves a safe, decent place to live. Every family looking for a home deserves dignity, respect, and the opportunity to become part of a community. We should welcome new neighbors, not judge them by whether they own or rent their home. In fact, all of us have rented in the past, have loved ones currently renting, or have fellow neighbors renting right next door. I'm sure we can all share stories of our very first apartment and the day we received our keys to our forever home.

To that end, welcoming people is not the same thing as approving a change in a lot's purpose simply because the developer doesn't want to follow through with his original agreement. As permanent homeowners in this area, our voice repres represents the deepest concerns for this community. We can support housing while still asking whether this particular project at this particular density with this particular design belongs on this particular piece of property.

This is the sign of responsible planning and responsible citizenship. The people who live next door are not asking anyone to go without a place to live. We are not saying that renters are less deserving than homeowners. We are not saying that new families should not move into Gilbert.

What we need to do is consider the most compassionate approach to housing, being careful about using the general need for housing as a justification for granting a developer whatever density or zoning changes he requests. A legitimate need for housing does not automatically make every proposed development appropriate.

It is not compassionate to tap into people's need for housing as an excuse for reszoning a business park into apartments, maximizing the number of units that can be placed on this parcel in the hopes for a larger overall corporate profit. Mr. Mayor and Council, people deserve better than being turned into ponds like this. Renters deserve good planning. Existing homeowners deserve good planning and the town of Gilbert deserves good planning.

If this project is truly the best use of this property, it should stand on its merits, its compatibility with surrounding development, its setbacks, heights, density, proper collaboration with the planning commission, and its consistency with the town's long-term plan, which as permanent residents in this area, we all still believe means something.

It means caring enough about Gilbert's future to preserve the thoughtful balance between residential neighborhoods, employment areas, commercial uses, open space, infrastructure that made this community desirable in the first place. This isn't about keeping people out. It's about making sure that when we invite people in, we do it in a way that serves everyone. Not one property owner above all others. That is to say, not one developer who was looking for his for his biggest payout. Mr.

Mayor and Council, it is late. On behalf of all of us here tonight, thank you for your time this evening. Thank you, Marcus. I'm going to ask again, I've got five other cards here. Do you have information other than what he has explained to us tonight in that letter that you want to share? Mayor, can I provide a one more thing?

Um, doing the math for the SDFs, I missed a few pieces and the the the multiplier, um, it actually comes out to about 1.5 million for the process for the entire project, not the 250,000. So, it's about a million and a half dollars. I apologize for that. Thank you, Kyle. Mike Burns, do you have additional information? Mayor, council members, thank you for this opportunity. Um, my name is Mike Burns. I live directly adjacent to this property. My family's lived there for 23 years.

Uh, we bought our home. You could still see dairy cows from our backyard where Loop 202 sits today. We chose this lot because there were no homes behind us and because the property was planned for office use. Many of our neighbors along this property line made the same long-term investment we did. Every home boarding this property is single story. And it isn't just our backyards facing this development. Our kitchens, living rooms, and primary bedrooms all face it.

What is now proposed would replace three-story building less than 30 yards from these homes. A six-foot wall does not meaningfully buffer a singlestory neighborhood from three stories of apartments balconies lighting noise and residential activity seven days a week.

That compatibility concern becomes even more significant when the proposal also seeks modifications to landscaping, open space, and setbacks, the very elements that could otherwise help provide separation from the existing neighborhoods. The planning commission considered this appro on recommended disapproval. There's also a larger issue that deserves consideration. Gilbert's approaching buildout. According to the town, approximately 70.9% of Gilbert's land is already residential.

Only 9.5% is designated commercial. This parcel is designated general office which is an employment land use designation. While that is different from commercial land, the broader principle is the same. As Gilbert approaches buildout, opportunities for employment, business, and commercial development become increasingly difficult to replace once that land is committed to residential use. The applicant has argued that today's office market makes development difficult.

That may be a consideration, but today's market is only a snapshot in time. Local data also provides a different perspective. Kushman and Wakefield reported that the Price Chandler Gilbert submarket led the Phoenix region in positive office absorption in the second quarter 2026. We live here long enough to see markets change and to watch the entire area develop around us. What may appear economically attractive today should be weighed against what Gilbert may need 10, 20, 30 years from now.

Should be weighed against compatibility with the families who are already here. Developers understandably have a financial investment in their property, but residents have investments here, too. We've invested 23 years in this neighborhood, our homes, our resources, our families, and our quality of life. This isn't about opposing growth or opposing multif family housing.

It's about whether three-story apartments are compatible with this particular location, immediately adjacent to an established singlestory neighborhood, and whether this is the best long-term use, increasingly limited land. Good. And planning isn't simply about what can be built today. It's about considering what will still make sense decades from now.

I respectfully ask for you to consider the uh commission's recommendation and compatibility of this project with the the existing neighborhood and the long-term interest of the community and deny this request. Thank you. Thank you. Martha, you have additional information. Again, I'm stressing, please don't repeat what has already been read. Push a button. It's on It's on the podium there. On the base. On the base. There you go. Good evening, Major Anderson and uh council members.

I just want to say thank you for hearing us out. Um and something that I learned when I came to this country very quick is something that you guys said a lot. Just do the right thing because it's the right thing to do. And that's all I have to say. We are the families that live there and I don't want my daughter on the swimming pool and having people looking at her or me or if you have grandchildren, kids, wives, girlfriends, you wouldn't want that.

So, please do the right thing because it's the right thing to do. That's all I can say. And thank you so much for being here with us so late. I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you, Rosanna Mina. Again, just stressing, let's not repeat what we've already gone through. Hello, my name is Rosanna Mena and I am a resident of Peterson Farms for over 20 years and my house is right behind this project. Um, in a civilized society, land owners cannot simply do whatever they want with their land.

They cannot simply choose to overlook their neighbors rights to privacy, health, safety, and value of their property. It is why we have laws regulating the zoning and use of land within our towns. Developers are aware of permitted uses for the land they own and the adjacent property owners are also aware of permitted uses and base their decisions to purchase their homes in the permitted uses.

The town council members, you are pe public servants cause with safeguarding the rights of the citizens against the unrestrained power of corporate greed. Let be clear, multifamily is not a permitted use. The attempt to reszone and maximize the yield of dwelling units by requesting deviation of required setbacks from 20 feet to almost zero on such a small property is nothing more than greed. To maximize the profits the developer will get from selling the complex soon after completion.

Despite claims to the contrary, the curve apartments across the street were sold soon after completion for the small sum of $116 million, giving the developer a massive profit while the homeowners adjacent to the site have to contend with increased density traffic and loss of privacy. The Eternal Springs Nursing Home, it's uh located in Gilbert Williamsfield Road in Linden Road. Is a nursing home built in the same size lot. We offer this as an alternative to Orset.

This uh um is a very suitable use and widely accepted by the neighbors. Um, we ask you to consider if this were on the border of your backyard, the apartment complex. Would you consider it acceptable to overrule the zoning you sign up for allow threestory one-bedroom apartments to invade your private city look into your backyards? Would you still consider this acceptable transition from one-story single family homes as call for the town Gilbert general plan?

Would you be happy with the smell, the noise of the dampers being emptied every morning, cramming as many one-bedrooms apartments less than 600 square ft into such a small site could lead to serious overcrowding, partying, nuisance, marijuana smell, increased traffic and noise, and multiple calls to the police. City Chandler wrote a letter. All of the homes in middle adjacent of the property are one-story single home and the majority of us have been there for 20 plus years.

Please listen to the planning commission and reject the attempt to resone. It will it will have a long-term permanent negative impact in our community. Thank you. Thank you, Leah Burns. What was that? Sorry. I appreciate the opportunity But I don't want to repeat it. Okay. Thank you, Noah. You stayed here all night, Noah. Um, aloha, mayor, and to the rest of the city council. My name is Noah James Markham, and um, I really like this. Um, and uh, that 10page essay was very um, it was disastrous.

I'll just say that. Um, it was very boring. Um, and don't lie about the city of Chandler because you know what? You know, we have the greatest mayor coming into place after 36 years, a Democratic mayor mayor. and I know that he would like this investment too. Um, so yes, we need this. And I think they did a lot of um different things up there. They uh you know, they um changed it um the designs around. So, I think we're we're going to be okay. And welcome to America.

I know you guys are struggling and there's other people that are struggling and there's a lot of rapists out there. There's a lot of drugs out there. Um, and we're come we're a complaint about this border. Um, and nothing has changed with Donald Trump. Um, and so I encourage this and this will be great for business for the Mormons too with the great tempo here. Mahalo. Thank you so much. Mr. Earl, would you like to uh respond to these comments? Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

I'll try to try to touch on these briefly. Um, with regard to the economic analysis, it was done correctly. Um, it's done based off of what would be developed on the property. And frankly, as I showed, and I won't go back into detail, office is not going to be invested. No one's going to invest 20 million on this property for office based off of what's occurring on the property today. And this generates revenue. So it helps us to fill the ever other office that we have.

Um let me put it this way. We didn't sandbag our own project for 19 years so that we could come and bring a multif family request. This is actual economic viability is what we have to look look at not simply what we hope to be the case but is actually true. Um in argument two the neighbors again have confused the analysis about reszones from commercial land. That's why I highlighted what I did that this is not a reszone from commercial land.

We're not sure how those are really relevant in this case. Should the town preserve viable retail land? Sure. Um, but why would forcing the owner to sit for another 20 years on small office lot um and wait for office that isn't coming? The town needs the revenue now. Um, and this is how we do it. The neighbors point to the planning commission concern about number of deviations and yes, we address those concerns directly. We reduce from five to two and only have these minor that remain.

Um, they have a concern about density.

uh we reduced our density at neighbors request um dropped zoning categories as we explained the other deviations that we have retained they don't affect the neighbors there was sort of a sort of mixing the two of well these are for to protect us we have re kept those in those are intact we haven't deviated from those we're talking about one that's internal to our own campus and one that's about open space which again because of the way the roads are configured we effectively meet it um under sort of that understanding um and And again, it it's about our residents.

It doesn't affect uh the people outside of it. And again, dropping the density would lead to less tax generation anyway. Um did we follow proper procedure? Yes, all all procedures were properly followed. Um they said that by uh by removing the deviations and putting the units into the building somehow, we must have shrunk the units or jammed them in there. We did not. Those units that were in the building stayed the same. We had storage space. That's how we were able to fit it in.

Um, again, the neighbors point to the western setback and there's claims of offense about there not being a transition of uses, light and air between uses. As I mentioned, there's 140 ft between the principal buildings. There's no light and air problem there. Um, again, no impact on the neighbors. We're matching the condition that already is there um because we have an internal campus condition. Um, they talked about our one-bedroom units appearing to average 600 square f feet.

That's not accurate. The vast majority of our one-bedroom units are 696 square feet and as a point of reference, they're 725 across the street. So, virtually the same. Um, it's also about context and the market. These units are the right size for this market. We expect to rent young professionals, perhaps those working in the area or on our campus. Um, and so it makes sense here. We also have two-bedroom units. They're up to um 1,178. So, we have options.

Um they also pointed to industrial leasing in the area and saying that it appears that they're renting industrial space across the street. Therefore, you should be able to invest in new office. Um that's a 23 acre cross talk industrial facility with truck bays and bay doors. It's a very different type of development with a very different type of market. There's really no basis for saying that because an industrial warehouse facility is doing well that spec office should be invested in.

Um as I've meed, we even looked at warehousing here. It just doesn't work for the size. Um they also talked about Orsets's uh lease rates. Um they keep saying that the office will work here, but they can't ignore the fact that not a single one of the buildings is over 90% which is the benchmark you look to achieve within 18 months. Um and again it's not a Gil it's not a Gilbert problem or a set problem. It's a nationwide problem. Again nobody's going to invest office in this.

Um and and frankly I I understand that pushing for office they probably understand that that probably means nothing will be developed. Um, I'm not sure they would mind that result. Um, but I don't think it doesn't generate vacant land won't generate and support the town's economic interests. Um, the neighbors claimed that when the council approved MFM across the street that it was consistent with the general plan, that's also incorrect.

The council approved the general plan amendment at the same time as the zoning. It wasn't approved by the voters. Uh, the neighbors have claimed that if there's multifamily in the general area, that's good enough. But that's fundamentally different. As I talked about, by having multif family on site, we can offer it to office tenants. We can make deals with office and multif family in the same lease. It becomes part of the campus.

Um, their multif family doesn't convert this lot into a mixeduse campus. It also doesn't remove a vacant lot out of the middle of the property. Um, the neighbors also point to a stepback provision. We are not seeking a deviation from that stepback provision. Um, we will be in compliance with that standard. Um the neighbors also highlight that they did not uh achieve the sufficient signatures to trigger a three-quarter vote. We agree.

The state statute certainly set specific thresholds for a reason. Um they also highlight that they bought next to office zoning uh which means they knew it wouldn't be homes. Um they knew it would have height. They knew it would have trash collection and traffic and activity.

Um and again we've gone above and beyond in making the design changes that we have made to be much better than what could be done by right with six stories allowed by right on the property or even two stories at the 25 foot required setback. We would still have much more privacy uh invasion. Um they've always suggested that reszoning is inherently wrong. Uh but the reasoning process exists for situations exactly like this. Um yes, we knew what we bought when we purchased it.

uh but we didn't know what would happen in 2020 or that what would happen with the office market. Uh we can sit and simply hope for things to go back the way we were but hoping isn't a strategy and it's not going to reverse things. Again they highlight the planning commission concerned about the number of deviations which we have addressed.

Um I also would like to if my presentation could be pulled up I do want to talk a little bit about the privacy concerns and I just want to show a couple of slides. Before we ever even designed the original building, we did a drone study so that we could look at what the impacts would be from somebody standing on that thirdstory building which we had originally proposed.

Um, and I think that's super uh relevant here because it does show that even with frankly without putting in the clear story windows, we were already super protective of that. So, while that's coming up, um there was also a talk about senior housing. Um that is frankly the same zoning that we're achieving here anyway.

Um and having having office or having senior living is not what we would have in a premier office campus like this with having sirens and other things like that is not a compatible use to a premier class A office development. navigate through this as quickly as it'll let me click. Might be faster if I can give you the slide number. Somebody can if they they have it, they could right click on it. It can take us right to uh slide 78 is what I'm looking for.

That probably be a little faster than me clicking through all of this. Thank you very much. Perfect. Thank you so much. Oh, I think you have to do the present from that location button. It might work if you use the little button at the bottom. Uh yeah, that one. Try that one. Nope. We could probably just do it off this screen actually if needed. It's not quite as big, but it'll get us there. We'll just we'll just Yeah, we'll just try that.

So, what we did is we took we went back to the setback line that was proposed at that time, 86 ft. We're currently at 83, but because we've moved the windows, it's actually more than 86 ft. Um, but we'll use 86 ft because it's more conservative. And so, we went back and we took the drone to that spot. We flew it up to the point where somebody would be standing on the third floor and we looked at what would you see out of that window. So you can go to the next one. Thank you.

So then what we did is we uh we took out a pole and we measured up to what those heights would be. So if you installed landscaping, what would those start to screen at? A 12ft tall tree, 13 feet, 14 feet, 15 feet, which of course is pretty conservative in terms of with a tree height that you would achieve. We can go to the next slide. And you can see how this would cover uh the backyard. And again, this is under the old view where we had views direct looking directly south.

You can see there with that tree that you have in that backyard is sort of a representative example that as we plant trees on our property, you can see how even that fairly modest mature tree um is screening that backyard entirely. So by having double row of trees and by frankly having clear story windows facing south, we we are abundantly protective. You can go to the next one as well. And you again can see that even these sort of modestly uh grown trees um provide ample screening.

Even even the uh bushes over onto the side there um are providing ample screening of that backyard. And finally you can go to 82 and you can see the same principle. So the point is we then took the building and we removed those windows, put them into clear story windows. The buildings now things all face inward. We are highly highly protective of the privacy. We negotiated against ourselves before we even took the neighbors the first design.

They said that they were still concerned and so we radically changed the building to be even highly more protective. I I illustrate this because again under existing zoning um we could have been frankly said well that's what existing zoning allows for. Let's just do that. Um but we went above and beyond to try to be protective of the neighbors concerns and protecting privacy.

Um, and so again, I go back to that at the end of the day, this property after so many years, again, if we could develop it as office, we would. Let's put it to productive use. Let's get it generating revenue for the town. Frankly, um, Councilman, we didn't include the construction into our estimates, not because it's not valid, but because we wanted to be very conservative um, and not even rely upon the construction boost, u, which is why I didn't have that number handy for you, right?

Um, we were trying to simply be conservative in our approach and look at long-term uh, benefits. Um, but there are not only the construction benefits, but long-term benefits for putting this property to productive use and allowing this campus to be more healthy and be able to lease out the space that it has. Thank you, mayor, for your time and council members. I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you, council questions. Thank you. Thank you.

I'll uh close a public hearing and bring it back to the council for discussion and andor a motion. Wakey wakey. I'll go. Thank you, mayor. Um, man, I was right on the fence or should I say property line on this on this vote and um I know the developer messaged me a few times and I didn't respond because I was right on right on the line here. Do I go towards bringing in some money for the town or do I go and listen to people that aren't even residents of Gilbert? And I got to tell you something.

I in almost four years, I've never seen a group come in here with no rage, no matching t-shirts, uh proper civil engagement, i.e. not talk about an apartment complex and not mention the word traffic, crime, lower their home values, or those people moving in. I was extremely impressed and you guys moved me. You moved me to not support this. Council member Buckwin. Thank you, Mayor. Council member Bonjivani, I I too was on the fence like right up to the minute.

I've been running analysis on my own, spending just all this time calculating, checking it out because someone here said, "Do the right thing." And absolutely. Here's the problem with doing the right thing. Sometimes we disagree on what the right thing is. And I also sat here was just amazed at how so respectful you guys were. Um I'm going to invite you to every one of these resonings in the future. Very respectful, uh very kind. Um made a lot of uh put a lot of critical thought into this.

And there's many things that I agree with you on and there's some things that I disagree with you on. Um just as there's some things that I disagree with the developer on, there's also some things I agree on. And so, you know, when you said do the right thing, um I had to go back to the oath that I took and the oath that I took is to um do the right thing for the community that I serve while trying to be a very good neighbor to you as well.

And when I look at what is the right thing, it drills down to what is the best and highest use for this parcel while trying to consider all those other things. And you know, then I look at things like staff. There's a reason that Gilbert has a whole lot less apartments than Chandler does, than Mesa does.

our our percentage when Kyle and I were talking earlier today um I think you'd said it was right around 12 to 13 14% whereas the other communities are up in the 30s and the reason is because councils in the past for the most part have not approved them and staff has not recommended them and rarely do I see staff say yes to apartments especially when it is converting some form of commercial or office anything that's non you know residential to it and in talking with them, you know, my understanding from staff is yeah, that they believe this is the highest and best use for this.

I look at it and I and I I consider what council member Ptorison said, you know, why can't it be houses, but council made some decisions in the past when I looked at that slide you had and you had apartments right here, you got multifamily right here and this whole line of it and then office here. I wouldn't put a house there. Now, it doesn't mean someone wouldn't buy it, right? Someone might, but in terms of fit, I don't see the fit. And I think council uh staff didn't see that fit as well.

So, it is it is just killing because I want to be able to tell you guys uh you know, tell them no to support what you said. But when I try to do what is the right thing for Gilbert based on the oath that I took um I have slipped over that other side and I am going to support it. Council member Torus, the uh I truly appreciate the uh the neighbors from Chandler that came here with common courtesy. No matter the outcome of this vote, you came with common courtesy and you were heard.

Uh because sometimes not yelling in someone ear someone's ear makes sure that you're heard. I mean the the placement of apartments I I don't think there's a whole lot of single family homes that can really complain about it. Uh because as you know there's a lot of people that complain about apartments that are seven miles from their home.

Uh but it's it's I don't feel that it's time to give up whether it's business park, light industrial, commercial or anything at this point because we are struggling to get back to a number and so many things were changed you know in in the 2000s and and and the teens uh to harm the long-term growth of this community. I I don't feel that it's appropriate to take another dig at that.

Uh, but I I just want to say I truly appreciate the uh the people coming forward as as Chuck and I, we have a podcast that we talk about getting somebody's ear and you did get my ear and you're a uh I guess we called that the concerned citizen and uh just I wanted to really say I appreciate it. There's I had I had mentioned I'll just make one comment.

I had mentioned several years ago that to the the council at that time that we're in a phase of development of Gilbert where we're not looking at very much land that we can develop on the outskirts on the edge of Gilbert. So so we keep growing. We're actually surrounded. But the type of development that we are going to be getting over the next several years will be infill. And infill is not easy. Infill is hard.

And we'll see a lot of these infill parcels like this one where we we'll have to make a hard decision on what to do with it. But we're going to find more and more of that as we continue towards buildout. And I do appreciate also all of you who are are participating in the process. These are hard decisions. Council member Kapowski. Thank you, Mayor. I I agree with you that the infill projects are hard.

Um, but these resonings, at least how Gilbert's process works, is that there is opportunity for that citizen input. I definitely appreciate all of your input and your time tonight being here um, and all the points you made, but also seeing the whole history of the project and how that input has changed the design of the project and the merit of the project. What I appreciate um is the reduction so it's not four stories down to three stories.

The changes that address the privacy concerns, the clear story windows versus any balconies or windows facing south. Um fewer variances is very positive in my eyes. Um and overall I do think that the land use transition is appropriate here and the campus overall. Um, I again I want to commend uh the citizens and whether you're Chandler or Gilbert, it is absolutely taken uh seriously.

Um, but I also believe in the right for people to develop properties and go through our process and I do believe that process has um been gone through and improvements made to the greatest extent possible. Thank you. Council member Buckley. I I don't have too much more to say other than what has been said, but I have to agree that, you know, I even from the beginning and hearing about the project, uh, I had my doubts as to if this was going to be the highest and best use for this property.

And um I just and I just don't see that that is the highest and best use of this property. And I truly believe that the future holds a lot of different things. And this propertyy's been sitting here for 19 years, I think you guys said, or whatever number of years you've owned the property. But things have changed dramatically since the property was purchased. And um I think Gilbert has an incredible future ahead of us.

And I I can't I just can't get my head around putting apartments there when uh you know there there are many other ways and things that that can be that can be put there. and and I just, you know, I wanted to support this for you guys and I really wanted to say that your presentation was fantastic. Um, and um, I mean, everything every question I probably had you answered in in your presentation, but I also have a heart for the residents, whether they be one street away or or Gilbert residents.

and um you know I just don't there's just no way I can support this. That's not saying I wouldn't support something different coming in the future, but I think there's a better use for this property and I'm sorry to have to say that. But uh that's about all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you. Anything else? Not I'll entertain a motion. approve to move to I move to approve. I'm tired. Sorry. Um agenda item 30. I'll second after that. I'm sorry. I didn't hear the motion to approve it.

Motion by council member Buckland, seconded by the vice mayor. Please vote. Motion fails. Four to three. Thank you. Okay, we're going to attempt to uh speed things up somehow here. Item 31 is general plan GP2504 zoning Z2509 headquarters of Gilbert. I do have um gonna see if we can uh make these presentations very brief, very quick. Both you and the applicant hopefully can do that. I have uh two requests to speak. Um so I'll call those once we get those done. Go ahead.

Good evening, uh mayor and council. Uh, Salanto Planner 2. The next item we'll be taking a look at is GP25-04 and Z25-09 headquarters Gilbert. No, you're fine. The subject site outlined in blue is approximately 6.37 acres and is currently part of the larger 66 acre Gilbert Town Square planned area development which is situated west of the intersection of Gilbert Road and Civic Center Drive. The site is adjacent to commercial to the souththeast and northeast.

On the west side of the site, um there is some multifamily medium zoning and to the northn northwest we have a canal system directly adjacent to the property and just beyond that we do have some single family uh residential. Uh just to give a brief overview of what this project encompasses is a minor general plan amendment to change that land use classification of 6.37 acres of general commercial to 6.37 acres of residential 25 to 50 dwelling units per acre.

The other component to this application on the resoning and PAD side is to remove the subject site from the existing Gilbert Town Square PA and establish an independent PAD for the headarters project. Uh the next component is a resoning of said 6.37 acres from shopping center to multif family high. Um as I mentioned that first component is the general plan application uh to change the land use classification from general commercial to residential to 2550 dwelling units an acre.

Here we just have the map just to provide some context of what the adjacent land use designations are looking like. We can see we have additional multif family here, some utility to the north and commercial lining the east, north, and south. Um, as part of the general plan amendment, staff reviews and evaluates whether the proposed land use change is compatible with surrounding properties.

In this case, staff finds that the change is appropriate due to the multif family residential existing to the west and establishing multif family can help further support the success of nearby commercial uses while improving access and utilization of local canals, trails, and other townwide amenities. Uh, additionally, as part of this process, we also must evaluate whether the proposed land use change aligns with the goals and policies outlined in the general plan.

Uh this proposal supports those objectives by enhancing direct access to the canal and trail systems and offering convenient proximity to the heritage district and other nearby commercial amenities. The project also activates a long vacant infill site, bringing new energy and activity to an area that has historically struggled to attract success successful commercial uses thereby strengthening the surrounding community.

Uh finally, the development introduces a diversified housing option through an age restricted multif family project. A use that is permitted within the town um and is a bit different than our traditional multifamily. Only caveat is 55 plus uh community. Uh moving into the zoning perspective, um as I mentioned there, part of this request is to reszone from shopping center to multif family high for the um age restricted multif family development.

Again, just providing that zoning map just to help build some context to the adjacent multif family uh the canal systems that will help build into the proposed project and the adjacent commercial properties um that we believe this multif family can help boost the overall um lifeline of these commercial uses. As part of the reasonzoning and PAD process, the applicant is requesting uh three different deviations.

Uh the first is a reduction of the landscape setback in the north and south property lines from 10 to zero and that's because these property lines are located within the center of shared internal drive aisles and I'll be sure to show that on the development plan next. Uh the next um deviation is related to covered parking spaces um that shall be enclosed. So per our code, one space per unit shall be covered. Of the 25% those spaces shall be completely enclosed.

Um which means that 45 enclosed garage spaces would be required. Um to get off that that odd number, the applicant is proposing 44 and that's why we are seeing that deviation from 25% to 24.36. Um the last reduction or I'm sorry uh deviation related to the PA AD amendment is specifically for accessory structure separation and that is only for parking shade structures only.

All other separations between buildings and accessory structures will maintain that 10 ft but the parking shade canopies located within the parking areas are being requested to 6 ft separation. Uh looking at the development plan for headquarters, you can see it's uh establishes a centralized layout providing two u major multif family residences with a clubhouse just in the center on site.

Um parking on site has been a topic of discussion between staff and the applicant as they are requesting a reduction in parking uh which is an avenue allowed per our LDC for age restricted um multif family projects. Um with that reduction we are looking at roughly 14.9% and working with the applicant um we have been able to reduce that reduction quite a bit with the um um with the reduction of a few units therefore reducing the the parking count.

Uh and with the reduction of those units, they did introduce um additional rooftop amenities for the development. Uh access to the site is also propo proposed off two existing shared internal drive aisles and a newly proposed rightin out configuration. And I know we had some comments earlier regarding the the parking on site and how it plays into that commercial u to those commercial properties to the to the east.

Uh so back in the early 2000s both Buffalo Wild Wings and what was Damon's were approved with 23 off-site parking spaces on the headwater site. Um through these entitlements, we've wanted to ensure that those 23 spaces are specifically shown for these commercial developments.

Um for the Buffalo Wild Wings project, at as it was mentioned, eight of those parking spaces were required for um the Buffalo Wild Wings, and the remaining 15 would be for the Damon's pad, which is just north of the Buffalo Wild Wings. and working with the applicant, we were able to establish 28 spaces uh on the north and south end caps and providing crosswalks to the adjacent commercial properties.

Um and there should be no issues um from from the applicant side related to condition language about signing some of those commercial spaces or all of those commercial spaces. Um as for public participation, there was a neighborhood meeting back in May 5th, 2025. Five surrounding community members attended and asked general questions. Um and from this moment on, staff has received um no comments from the public regarding the headarters project.

Um before getting into the recommended motion, there have been a couple updates to conditions uh when we brought it to planning commission. So I just wanted to make sure I had an opportunity opportunity to showcase those on the screen for you. And based off the updated condition language and recommendation from the planning commission for approval, uh we would recommend that the town council um approve GP25-04 and move to make the findings of fact and approve Z25-09.

And I'm happy to field any questions. Thank you. Questions? Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Ray. Can you just say yes? Uh good evening, mayor, members of the council, Brennan Ray, 20 uh 3:25 East Camelback here on behalf of the applicant. Um the night is long. I have a long presentation that I will forego unless you really want me to to go into the details. We are grateful to have been able to work with staff collaboratively over a very long period of time.

Uh we're grateful for the unanimous support of the planning commission. We have no problem with the stipulation that we shall um provide in those areas that S talked about um for signage for the uh commercial development and parking. Happy to answer any question. Well, I should say this. We request your your approval. Happy to answer any questions or go into more details as you all see fit. Questions? I just got one one question. Councilman Lines. Um Mr.

Ray, have you worked I and I understand everything I'm hearing. You worked with uh Miss Schmidt. You guys have got this addressed her request. Yes. She expressed earlier. My understanding you have. I just want to get that clarified. Yeah. Through the through the mayor, council member Lions. Yes. At the very outset, we knew we needed to make accommodations for the parking in particular for the Buffalo Wild Wings.

And we've never hesitated at any moment to push back and say no, we're not going to do it. So, we've done it in between the break. I thanked her for her kind words of support. uh and she just wanted to uh have the assurance that was on the record that that parking would be provided and that we would be providing signage for her benefit. Perfect. Thank you. Thank you. I have two cards on uh Jeffrey Carlson. Thank you, Mayor Anderson and town council.

uh as an owner of 11acre parcel in Gilberttown Square and an active operator of a business there and as the president of the Gilberttown Center Association, I stand to speak in full support of this. Um we believe that while the original planning, zoning, and development of this uh center uh was not intended in this way, but one of the strengths of Gilberttown Square in this next season is its potential to become more than a collection of businesses.

The addition of thoughtfully planned residential communities introduces the opportunity for a mixeduse environment where people can live, work, gather, dine, shop, and engage in the community without relying exclusively on vehicle traffic. So, we would ask that you support this proposed development and uh the approvals of the plan amendment. Thank you. Thank you, Noah. Aloha, mayor, and to the rest of the city council. Yes, I love this.

Um I know some of you guys might want to live in their necks. Um so this is great to have. Um and also um you know, you know, we just need to be competing with China. And I'm just so grateful that I'm Chinese and Japanese that we need to we need to approve this because the last one you didn't approve was really bad. But yeah, so thank you so much. Mahala. Thank you, Noah. I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the council for discussion andor a motion.

I don't know what you guys are going to do without me talking first all the time, but uh you just beat me to the punch. Okay, there you go. I mentioned earlier tonight 28% of our population are kids. Well, 21% are over 55 and um you know, we make decisions for now for 20 years in advance and we're going to need more senior places whether they're senior housing or assisted living, independent living or memory care. Uh, I'm glad this is just uh 55 and above, but we're going to need more of that.

So, normally I would never say yes to a changing our commercial, but um I know we had two restaurants that close. I I think one was an IHOP, and when in the world does an IHOP close, you know? Um, so I'm I'm in full support of this and and I hope uh I hope everyone else is too. Council member Lions, let me go real fast.

Uh, in general principle, I am 100% opposed to apartments, especially a density like this, but to what council member Bonjiovani said, our demographics are trending the direction where we're going to need more senior facilities. In addition to that, like you said, also that particular area over there struggles and you have two business owners that are also um bringing that forward saying that's an issue.

So, with that said, I'm going to go against my normal trend and say I think this is good for this area. I don't like giving up business uh square foot, you know, property. Don't like that. Mr. Ray knows that, but I think this is appropriate for this area. So, I I want to come out and support it. You want to make a motion? I'll make the motion that we approve item 31, general plan GP2504 and zoning Z2509 for approval. I'll second that.

Been moved by council member Lion, seconded by the vice mayor. Please vote. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you, Mr. A. Oh, 52. Okay. 52. I'm sorry. Item 32, general plan GP 2601, zoning Z2602, Woodrest Village West. Hello again, mayor and council. Sales Santo, Planner 2. Uh the next application we're taking a look at or applications will be GP26-01 and Z26-02 Woodcrest Village West.

Uh the subject site outlined in blue is roughly 16.8 acres and located at the southwest corner of Ranch House Parkway and Germaine Road and is part of the larger Power Ranch P A. The subject site is currently zoned multif family medium and is adjacent to multif family medium to the east and various single family zoning districts to the north, south, and west.

Um, and just to add a bit of history for the site for context, um, the site was originally approved as a three-story for rent multif family development consisting of 232 units in 2005. Although the associated off-site improvements and initial site work were completed in 2007 to 2008. Vertical construction never progressed and the property has remained vacant and undeveloped since that time.

Because the existing improvements were designed for a previous development concept, the site has faced challenges in its redevelopment efforts. Uh taking a look at the project overview, um it's going to be three pieces to this one. First being the minor general plan amendment to change the land use designation from residential 14 to 25 dwelling units an acre to a less dense residential 8 to 14 dwelling units an acre.

Uh, next we have that P Amendment to the existing Power Ranch PA AD to establish specific development standards for the Woodcrest Village West town home product and the reszoning of the 16.8 acres for multif family medium to single family attached. Um, taking a look at the general plan exhibit. Uh, as we see on the other application, staff must evaluate whether the proposed land use change is compatible with the surrounding development.

In this case, staff finds the request is appropriate due to the existing highdensity residential to the east and higher density single family neighborhoods to the west and north. Uh the proposal also supports a smoother transition of residential densities across the area and compatibility with the remainder of the power ranch pad.

Um additionally, as the re with the review process, we must evaluate whether the proposed land use change aligns with the goals and policies outlined in the general plan. Woodrest Village West supports these objectives by facilitating new development on a site that has historically faced challenges.

The project introduces town homes as an alternative housing type, expanding home ownership opportunities within both Power Ranch and the town as a whole, offering different options to accommodate a variety of lifestyles. Uh by incorporating community oriented amen amenities and thoughtful design, the development aims to foster a strong sense of place.

Importantly, Woodcrest Village West has been designed to be compatible with the surrounding residential neighborhoods, ensuring this new housing type integrates seamlessly into the existing developments. Uh, taking a look here at the zoning exhibit, just adding some context here, we can see the proposed SFA in its adjacency to some multif family medium, some SF35, some SF6, and I believe some SFD to the north.

So, we can see that this land use change does play um is compatible with some of these adjacent properties. Uh looking at the proposed deviations, uh the applicant is requesting to establish a new section within the power ranch PAD specifically for Woodcrest Village West.

Uh rather than modifying standards from previously approved areas of Power Ranch, this dedicated section keeps the town homes town home standard separate to avoid confusion and prevent unintended impacts to existing developments. Um several of these deviations are proposed to support the new town home product on a site with significant existing improvements. Uh the first deviation you'll see establishes the minimum lot dimensions for the SFA uh properties.

Uh the code currently doesn't have one for SFA. So the applicant is requesting to establish a 21x76 uh minimum lot or minimum lot dimensions. Uh the second deviation is to reduce the minimum lot area from the LDC standard of 2,000 square feet to 1600 square feet. Uh for setbacks, while the SFA district allows zero foot side setbacks, the applicant does propose a 5-ft setback at the end of each cluster of homes.

The final deviation request is in regards to lock coverage, which is anre increase to 65% based off of the 55 from the LDC. Uh staff supports these deviations because they help activate a challenging infill site, introduce alternative housing, and expand ownership opportunities within the area. Uh another uh piece to these deviations where staff did become more comfortable is the applicant was willing to commit to the pad.

Uh and what some of those commitments look like are to lock in a maximum of 171 units on site. Uh limiting three-story units to only 50% of the total uh unit count. Prohibiting three-story units completely along that southern property line as they are adjacent to uh single family properties. And the last commitment is to establish clear and independent private open space which each unit that does not play into the main entry of the home. So there will be those dedicated open spaces.

Um here just wanted to showcase that development plan. We can see these 171 units scattered through about 47 different clusters. There'll be two and threetory options um which will help establish some some strong presence along these um street frontages and help establish a site that's had some trouble developing in the past. Uh for parking, the minimum count has been met per our standards. 519 spaces have been provided.

Um, and there will be significant pedestrian movement with the adjacent sidewalks and of course centralized amenities for the residents. Here I just wanted to showcase those threetory options for you. You can see that darker shade of gray. We don't have any of those units along that southern property line adjacent to the single family. And here just showcases those different options for the private open space. um for public participation.

A neighborhood meeting was held back in December 9th, 2025, and roughly 10 to 15 surrounding community members attended and asked general questions um just what this development may be, traffic implication, things of that nature. Uh and to that point, staff has not received any comments from surrounding property owners. Uh we did bring this to planning commission earlier in the month with a recommendation to the town council for approval for both GP26-01 and Z26-2.

And tonight we are following uh that recommendation and request that the town council approve both GP2601 and Z26-2. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions for Saul? This is that uh site that for a long time been kind of an eyesore out there, isn't it? The one that's never finished. Great. The applicant push button again. Can you say yes for the record? Mayor and members of the council, John Gillespia at the Rose Law Group, 7144 East Stson.

Um, I appreciate Sal's uh presentation and I will get up here and say yes as my my presentation.

Um, we we worked with your staff and the planning commission and and have a recommendation from your staff and and the planning commission to provide this uh really a down zone and an upgrade to to fill out this this long vacant site and provide a a platted uh town home product that we really think is in high demand uh not only in the town but but in Power Ranch and and so that's why we've uh we worked with Power Ranch to to get um and you'll you'll see that we're not filling the room tonight with with our Power Ranch neighbors.

Happy to see uh what's being done here at the site and I'll answer any questions or or I think Noah might have some comments for us. Any questions? Yeah, we're a quick one. So, I want to make sure I got this straight. You want to go from 14 to 25 to 8 to 14 and build town houses. Uh vice mayor through the mayor. That's absolutely correct that we're we're downzoning the the density and the intensity to you're in the right meeting, the right town.

I I know it's a it's a welcome surprise and and and and certainly we represent um housing products throughout the valley and and and in the town and and there's there's a need and demand in in different areas, but but we're happy to be able to provide a town. Please feel free to come back too. Thank you. One sec. Sir, I just want to hear two words. Fe simple. Yeah. through the mayor, council Torson, that that's absurd. This is a a fee simple attached product. That's that's a town home.

And and I know um I know some of us on council might actually want this to be the next place that they live and not because of uh you know the the responsib but but more that they don't want to take care of the the yard anymore. So I'm just glad you're on my Christmas list. I'm glad it's I'm glad it's developing that that has been an eyesore there for Power Ranch at that. Council member Buckley, I just wanted to clarify something. I thought I heard someone say these are threestory.

Are they three or two? Town homes are norm normally twotory or they're one, but through the mayor, council member Bley. So the um uh what was approved for the site right now is a is four rent condominiums that could be built to three stories. And so what we're asking for is is a reduction in in what the approved uh height could be. So, we're we're committing to two and threetory. Um, you're correct that um a town home but but a town home could be built with a two-story or with a threetory.

And so, the the plat um will be able to facilitate a three-story product on it for Okay. So, this is going to be a threetory product. Two and two and threetory. And we have a cap of 50% no more than 50% can be threetory. And the perimeter boundaries, nothing can be a three-story on the perimeter boundaries. a reduction in in what's um currently a lot. Yeah.

I I just wanted to clarify that because you know in the beginning my head was like you know town homes is two stories and and then somewhere I heard three stories. So thank you for clarifying that. Yeah. Thank you. Any other questions? Thank you Noah. I think we can invite you up now. Um, aloha, mayor, and to the rest of the uh, city council. Um, my name is Noah James Markham. And yes, I really like this one. I think this is a great addition to um, Power Ranch.

I used to live there back in the day and um, it's a good place to live. Um, Power Ranch is a great place. Um, and also, um, yeah, there's, um, what is it? Higgley High School right there. I think we need more people over there, too. Um, and yeah, so, thank you so much. Yeah, approve it. Thank you, Noah. I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the council for discussion and or a motion. I prefer a motion. I would uh move that we approve it as written. Second.

Moved by council member Buckland and seconded by council member Kapowski. Please vote. Motion carries 70. Thank you. Item 33 is a zoning Z2608 LDC text amendment. Staff Good evening, council. Kristen Divine, senior planner. Is it appropriate for me to get up here and just say yes as well? Say yes, Kristen. Yes. Um I will try to make it brief.

Um so this text amendment that we have before you tonight is for um the commercial drone delivery system that you saw at study session a couple of weeks ago. Uh we're requesting an amendment to the land development code for terms use regulations and to add an entirely new section for unmanned aircraft and their associated systems specifically focused on commercial drone delivery systems. Um so just a little bit of history on why we're bringing this forward.

There was recently a house bill that is now currently in effect um as of the 12th. It limits our regulation abilities for unmanned aircraft and their associated systems.

Um, so what it regulates is that um, municipalities can enforce public unmanned aircraft owned by the town, the takeoff and landing of model aircraft in a town- owned park or preserve, the takeoff, docking, and landing of commercial drone delivery in residential areas or within 150 ft of a residential area, and commercial drone delivery on town owned property.

And I do want to highlight that although the the bill did not mandate us to adopt these regulations, we're just trying to be proactive because a lot of these commercial drone delivery support structures are quite large and we just want to create buffers for our residential zoning districts. So just to kind of highlight again um what some of these structures could look like, this is a drone dropbox.

It's a smaller structure utilized for places like Chipotle or Walmart to load goods and send off to the residents that are ordering. Uh this is a drone docking station. It's a much larger facility. It is used to charge multiple drones at a time when they are not out for deliveries. They're typically two stories tall. It could be approximately 20 to 30 ft. They can be standalone or attached to a building. Uh and then just to kind of summarize this, what we're proposing is to amend the terms.

We'd like to add the definitions that were included in the House bill. Um and then also amend the term structure to include a drone docking station and a drone dropbox so that they are applicable to setback regulations. Uh we'll also requesting to amend the use regulations table uh for these new items and then again add that entirely new section for unmanned aircraft and their associated systems.

Um and just a couple more examples of docking stations and dropboxes here to visualize what those look like. So these specifically are the terms that we're amending. Uh, but really the meat of what it is that I wanted to talk to you tonight about is the section 5.11, which is the brand new section that we're proposing to introduce to the code.

Um, so the House bill again does limit what we can regulate, but what it does allow us to do is limit these docking stations and drop boxes from their proximity to residential. So essentially what we're proposing is that any drone dropbox um can be located within 50 ft of a property zoned residential. It's consistent with what our other commercial districts allow. No outdoor business activities are permitted within 50 feet. So, we wanted to kind of keep that consistent across the board.

The dropboxes are much smaller than the docking stations. Um, but we are proposing to have a maximum boundary for those docking stations that they can't be any closer than 150 ft to residential. It's the maximum that we can regulate per the House bill. Um, and we wanted to to incorporate that to its full extent.

Um, in addition for um, properties within 2.5 milesi of an airport, the bill does give us the the ability to request an a consultation with that airport to ensure that the airport is okay with a docking station being located within that close to it.

Um, and it does also state that um, and the commercial drone delivery systems um, they essentially have to be permitted in any commercial district, non-residential district um, as long as it does meet those buffering standards that we're we're proposing. I'm sorry it's late. Um, so just a little bit of history and this should be the last slide I have for you. We took it to initiation and study session with the planning commission on August 5th. the the consensus kind of split at the time.

There was a little bit of concern that we were overregulating, but then there was a lot of support for um protecting those residential zoning districts. Um we brought it to you for study session a couple of weeks ago. Overall, the consensus was pretty positive. I know that there was some concern with noise and I did want to um just provide a little bit of feedback on that.

Per municipal code, aircraft is exempt from noise ordinances within the town and it is actually regulated through the FAA um specific for Zipline has been a company that has come in for a pre-application before and it is actually um a model that has been reviewed by the FAA and they are required to not exceed 78 dB when tested over 250 ft. Um, so that's the average decel that they operate at when they're flying at 250 ft.

But as the town, we can't regulate that because it's aircraft and they're exempt from our noise ordinances. Um, at planning commission, the text amendment proposal was approved 7 to zero. And that is all I have for you tonight. I'm available for your questions. Thank you. Any questions for Kristen? Sounds like Star Wars to me. Council member Kapowski, Kristen, I wasn't here for the study session, so I apologize.

Um, it sounds like what is being proposed in the LDC amendments is kind of as strict as possible as uh within the state law. Is that correct? Yes. So, Mayor Anderson, Council Member Kapowski, that is correct. Uh, we chose to focus ma mainly on the structures themselves because it's what's most impactful. The drones are regulated by the FAA and we really don't have any authority over them.

Yeah, I was in Aendale a couple months ago and um was very surprised to, you know, to kind of see some of these drones operating and they're much lower than aircraft. So, they're definitely noticeable, but obviously we have our hands tied in terms of how much we can do in this case. Thank you. Anything else? Thank you, Kristen. Thank you. Noah, don't tell us you're going to buy a drone now. Aloha, mayor, and to the rest of the city council. Um, I really like this. I really do.

Um, and I'm surprised people didn't complain about this one, but they complained about a, you know, an apartment being right above the whatever, whatever. Um, but this is, yeah, this is really cool. This is going to compete with um, America. I think America and China and um, yeah. So, I really like this. Yes. More technology. Ma, thank you. Thank you. We'll close the public hearing and bring back to the council for a motion. I make a motion that we approve this item. We have a second.

I'll second that. It's been moved by council member Buckley, seconded by the vice mayor. Please vote. Motion carries 70. Item 35, Council Member Lions, boards and commissions. I'll make this quick. Um, for the planning commission, uh, I am recommending that we consider the reappoint of Lesie Davis as a regular member with the team beginning September 30th of 26 and ending September 29th of 2030.

In addition, uh, reappointing Raymond Wong and Jenna Lion as the alternate members with terms beginning September 30th of 26 and ending September 29th of 27. I'd like to make a motion to approve them. It's been moved and seconded. Please vote. Motion carries 70. Thank you. You could see the uh future meetings that are coming up, study sessions and so forth. Communications, town manager. Yes, Mayor. Uh thank you.

Just have a real quick um item to recognize some some of the good work that's been done uh by Gilbert employees. Uh so Devon just wanted to mention the groundbreaking ceremony at the Vaughn Avenue connector project uh where we broke ground on the new east west connection extending Vaughn Avenue to Neeling Street. Uh and uh this is going to give us safer, easier access for drivers and pedestrians to get downtown uh and help continue the economic development in our downtown.

Also, uh staff completed the Ocato Road uh project from 148th Street to Greenfield. This widened Okato Road to minor arterial with added bike lanes, sidewalks, and m multi-purpose trail on the south side. It project the project also added new fiber conduit and cable along Okato and Lindsay to support long-term infrastructure in line with the town's fiber optic strategic buildout. Um, oops.

Also, also, mayor and council, the Santan Vista Trail crossing at Ray Road, uh, we had the 231st traffic signal in the town installed at this location. So, uh, this give us gives us safety upgrades at the trail crossing, including signs marking sidewalks and a pedestrian hybrid beacon, uh, improving the safety and comfort for pedestrians and cyclists while strengthening Gilbert's, um, trail and network supporting supporting ADA friendly and familyfriendly mobility.

Thank you, mayor, for some time to recognize the great staff working on on these projects. Thank you. report from the council. Vice Mayor, no, Monte, I heard my my slides were prettier, so you get to go. All right, let's get them up there. I need at this time of night, I've got to have a script. Can you see it? Yeah, just say yes. Um, one of the things I want to bring up, the Veterans Advisory Board have designed these new t-shirts to commemorate the 250th for our country. They're on sale now.

Hit the QR code. Um, they're a really good buy, high quality, and I think very pretty. The color is actually navy blue. Kind of looks black on there, but uh really nice shirt. I think council member Bon Giovani bought one earlier tonight. So, thank you, sir, very much for that. Next slide. Uh, coming soon, we've got the banner tribute uh kicking off in November 26.

encourage you guys to uh uh reach out to family members and and veterans and encourage them to uh put these banners up in honor of uh those who have served our nation. And number three, save the date Veterans Day, November the 11th. We have a classic car show that we're sponsoring beginning at 3 p.m. 5:00 PM will be the ceremony. It'll be held at the Gilbert Water Tower Plaza. Please come out. We would appreciate it. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Yes. Okay.

So, parks and wreck, we're going to start with our um screen thing. Okay, we're going to start with the Gilbert family triathlon. Uh unleash your inner athlete at our annual Gilbert Family Triathlon. This family-friendly event will include 100yard swim uh in a pool, uh a two-mile bike ride around the campus, and a onem run around the track. All participants can return to the pool after their race uh for some open family uh swim.

Date is September Saturday, September 19th and Perry High School from 7:00 to 9:00. And then we also have our Viva Celebration for Hispanic uh heritage. Uh this vibrant community, Did I do this? Am I on the wrong week? No. Yes. No, I don't know. This vibrant community um events brings together families, friends, and visitors from a night of authentic Latin cuisine, a variety of cultural entertainment, and uh activities for all ages. And uh I think I am the wrong week.

So go to the soundbite thing uh on October 9th. We're going to have some some uh some bands there. So um yeah, I'm on the wrong week, but that'll work. It's late. It's late. Concert in the park, go to it. October 1st, 15th, whatever. Go to it. I'm on the wrong script. Thank you. Bye. Council member Capowski. I just want to mention that um the Gilbert Symphony Orchestra new season is starting again. There'll be four concerts this year.

The first concert will be on Friday, October 2nd, and the season opener will include Beethoven Symphony number three. It's Friday, October 2nd, 7 p.m. at Higgley Center for the Performing Arts. Thank you, Council Member Buckland. Thank you, mayor. So, as the leazison to Valley Metro RPTA, wanted to uh celebrate uh receiving the APA 2026 outstanding transit system of the year award. Um our CEO, Jessica, is doing great things. Uh I know I think hopefully Noah is still here.

uh comes to every meeting and and um requests improved service and expansion and and we're delivering it. And uh so 3.3 million additional passenger trips, almost 9% overall writership growth, almost 20% on the light rail, and uh 1.6 million additional bus trips. And then in terms of reliability, 90% on time performance, 81 with rail. Um you can read some of those stats there. Huge we we went to a new uh safety uh approved a new security company within the year.

Um and what's really cool is we've got significant decreases in uh both rail and bus assaults. So making huge progress. Congratulations to Jessica and team at uh Valley Metro RPTA. Just want to celebrate them. Thank you. Anything else? The only thing I have is happy birthday, Papa Bear. Council member Torus. When When is it? The 26th actually. Actually, the 26th, which would be next week, but we won't be here. So, I might melt down. You might melt down. Do I have a motion to adjurnn?

We are adjourned.