Tempe approves Leo Tempe 786-unit mixed-use development, grants historic preservation appeal

Good evening everyone. Welcome to the Tempe City Council regular council meeting. Item number one is called to order. Council meetings can be watched in real time via Coxcable Channel 11 and at temp.gov/temp1. Members of the public may also attend the meeting virtually through Microsoft Teams. If you have signed up to speak on items later on in the agenda, please note that as the presiding officer, I have the discretion to introduce items out of their regular order as listed on the agenda.

I may change the order of items from time to time to accommodate scheduling, to allow us to address items with a large number of speaker cards, so those wishing to speak on those items don't have to wait until later in the meeting, or to otherwise expedite the business of the meeting.

If you wish to speak on an agenda item and you haven't filled out a speaker card yet, please make sure to fill out and submit your completed card to the city clerk prior to the item coming forward for council discussion. I will call your name when it is your turn for public comment. Now, I'd like to invite everyone who's willing and able to stand and join me in a for the pledge of allegiance followed by a moment of silence or actually in reverse. Thank you.

I pledge allegiance 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. Tonight's agenda has a number of items that the city council must consider in order to conduct city business. Guidelines for conduct of city council meetings are on the table near the entrance for those in attendance at tonight's meeting.

We will now play a video with the proper protocol for ensuring the appropriate conduct at city council meetings. The city of Tempe welcomes public comment at this time. Disruptive behavior will not be allowed. Continued disruptive behavior will lead to removal from the council chambers. We need to be able to hear everyone in the room. Behavior that disrupts, disturbs, or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of any city council meeting is not helpful and is not permitted.

This includes behavior both inside and outside of the council chambers. Should individuals inside the council chambers become disruptive so that city business is not able to be conducted, the mayor will first ask that the individuals allow city business to be completed. There will be time for public comment during the call to the audience portion of the meeting.

If no cooperation, the mayor will issue a verbal warning and let them know that the continued disruptive behavior will lead to removal from the council chambers. If there is still no cooperation, the mayor will issue a second verbal warning and let them know that the continued disruptive behavior will lead to removal from the council chambers.

If there is no cooperation after asking and two verbal warnings, then the mayor will ask security officers to remove only those individuals who are causing the disruption. Security personnel should not engage in any way, but only escort them from the council chambers. If individuals refuse to leave, security personnel shall warn them that they are trespassing and that the next step will be arrest by a Tempe police officer. Tempe officers may have to arrest if individuals refuse to leave.

Charges for trespass and disorderly conduct may apply as well as other charges. Should anyone be asked to be removed, the mayor will recess the meeting. Thank you. We will now play a video conveying the city of Tempee's native land acknowledgement statement. We wish to acknowledge that Tempe is the homeland of the native people who have inhabited this landscape since time immemorial.

These ancestral lands of the Aam known as Puma, Peiposh known as the Maricopa and their ancestors extend far beyond our city. This land continues to be spiritually connected to the AAM of the Salt River Puma, Maricopa Indian Community and Hila River Indian Community. We accept the responsibility of stewarding those places and solemnly pledge to consider this commitment in every action. All right. Next up, item number four, meeting minutes. Tonight will be assisted by Council Member Hajj.

Council Member Hodgej. Thank you, Mayor. I move to approve Okay. Excuse me. I move to approve the city minute meeting minutes for item 4 A1 through 4 A2. Second. Okay. It's been moved by council member Hodge and seconded by Council Member Keading. Please vote. Yes. And that item passes seven to zero. Next up, item 4B, acceptance of board, commission, and committee meeting minutes. Council member Hajj.

Yeah, I move to accept the board commissions and committee meeting minutes in item B I mean 4 B1. It's been moved by Council Member Hodgej and seconded again by Council Member Keading. Please vote. And that item passes 7 to zero. Next up, item 5A, mayor's reports and announcements. Uh, I have a few here. Let's see if I can also have the the council join me for these down in the front. Uh, first of all, 5A1 is going to be our pride month proclamation. So, if either Dr.

Humes is here or members of our Tempe Pride group, if you could join me up front as well. [Music] I'm not I'm great. [Music] Had to make sure I had everything before I came on down here. So Oh, thank you. All right. So, first of all, item 5A1 is our Pride Month proclamation, and this proclamation reads, "Whereas the city of Tempe is deeply committed to equality for all.

And whereas the LGBTQ plus community has fought tirelessly for equality and the rights and protections they deserve at home, at work, and in the public. And whereas the fight for LGBTQ plus equality continues across Arizona, the United States, and the entire world. And the city of Tempe is a committed partner in this effort.

And whereas in 2014, the Tempe City Council established protections for LGBTQ plus individuals from discrimination at home, work, and in public spaces, which then were enshrined by voters in 2015 in the city charter by an overwhelming majority. Since the passage of these protections, the city of Tempes received a perfect score of the human rights campaign's municipal equality index.

And whereas the city of Tempe has an LGBTQ plus alliance called Tempe Pride and celebrates the great diversity of our employees, including those identifying as LGBTQ plus and joins them in celebrating pride for who they are.

And whereas Tempe will proudly participate in pride events throughout the region with dignitaries, public safety officials, and city employees, all unified to support the LGBTQ plus community as they remember their history and commit to continuing the work towards true equality for all people, no matter who they are or who they love.

And whereas the city of Tempe is proud to celebrate pride with the help of the downtown Tempe Authority, who is showing their support with special pride flags installed on lamp posts along Mil Avenue. and the organization of the annual Tempe Pride Party which is this coming Saturday night. Now therefore, I Corey Woods, mayor of the city of Tempe, Arizona, do hereby declare June 2025 as Pride Month in Tempe, Arizona.

If there are more members of Tempe Pride, please come on down for the photo here. Don't be shy. One, two, three. One more. One, two, three. Okay, last one. One, two, three. [Applause] Next up here and Dr. Humes, don't go don't go anywhere. This is our Junth proclamation. And where so this reads, "Whereas President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st, 1863, formally abolishing slavery.

And on June 19th, 1865, after 2 and a2 years, the executive decree was finally fully enforced throughout the Confederate States when Union soldiers arrived in Galveastston, Texas to ensure all enslaved people were declared legally free.

And whereas Junth has been called the second independence day for the United States and began a post-emancipation period where formerly enslaved people began the brutal journey of reunifying families, obtaining education, acquiring private property, and running for elected office. And whereas Junth is a day on which we as a society pay honor to those Americans who were enslaved and recognize the evils of slavery and how its aftermath has shaped our nation.

And whereas Junth is also a day of reflection and renewal as we show appreciation for the many valuable contributions and sacrifices made by African-Americans to our society.

And whereas the Tempe African-American Advisory Committee through the support of the Tempe History Museum, the Tempe Black Employee Alliance, and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Office work together to celebrate Junth and honor our state and nation's strong African-American heritage and remember the lives of those who were enslaved as part of that history.

And whereas the transformative work of equity, inclusion, and reform must be shared by all in order to ensure that the unalienable rights of all people to life, liberty, and the pursuit and the pursuit of happiness. And whereas Tempe recommits itself to the values of inclusion, equity, justice, and reform in recognition of this important day in our country's history. Now therefore, I, Corey Woods, mayor of the city of Tempe, Arizona, do hereby declare June 19th, 2025 as Junth in Tempe, Arizona.

[Applause] Keith, Keith Keith Keith Burke. We stand here today. We stand here today because of it. You know, here we go. One, two, three. One, two, three. Last one. One, two, [Applause] let me do this. I'm going to take something slightly out of order here just uh for the council. Um all right, let's go to item 5 A4 which is the Corona del Soul High School baseball champions. [Applause] Do we have anyone from Corona here in the audience? Just look at the shirts. Yeah, there we go.

Congratulations. That's awesome. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Good job. Good job. Congratulations. So, I'm going to go ahead and read this then. Aubrey says hi to one another. So it says whereas the mayor and council of the city of Tempe proudly recognized the 2025 Corona del Soul Varsity Baseball team for their outstanding dedication, perseverance, and excellence in capturing the Arizona Interscolastic Association State Baseball Championship.

[Applause] And whereas coach David Webb of the coaching staff led by the varsity baseball program to its third state title, the second under coach Webb's leadership, cementing his role as a transformational figure in the program's legacy.

And whereas high school athletics instill essential life lessons commitment teamwork leadership sportsmanship and resilience, which equip student athletes for success far beyond their time in high school and shape not only champions on the field, but also honorable, disciplined young men off the field.

And whereas all 10 varsity baseball seniors from the class of 2025 will be continuing their academic journeys at institutions of higher learning, many earning athletic or academic scholarships at division 1 schools. And whereas six of the team members have committed to D1 schools, including Oklahoma State, University of Texas, Brigham Young, two at Arizona State University, and San Diego State, and one has been accepted into the prestigious United States Military Academy at West Point.

All right. And yeah, [Applause] and whereas all four grade levels contributed to the team's success and many earned prestigious awards including but not limited to six Tempee All City awards, 6A central region player of the year. Four players earned first on team all region, three players earned second team all region, offensive player of the year, honorable mention, and Max Prep's player of the year.

And whereas with state titles in 1993, 2009, and now 2025, the Corona del Soul varsity baseball team is a proud legacy of excellence, and the 2026 team is determined to break the 16-year cycle and defend their championship. All right. And whereas the city of Tempe and the entire community stand united in pride and admiration for the achievements of the Corona del Soul baseball program on the field, in the classroom, and as ambassadors of our community.

Now therefore, I, Corey Woods, mayor of the city of Tempe, Arizona, do hereby declare June 5th, 2025 as Corona del Soul High School Varsity Baseball State Day in Tempe, Arizona. [Applause] Who would I like to give this to? All right, here we go. All right. Oh. Oh, this all. Oh, I think we are done. Yes, we're good. We're good. Oh, yeah. Totally. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Gotcha. Something happened.

So council, we will come back down for the employee awards before first we're going to let folks introduce those employees and then we can go back down for a photo right here at the end. So that brings me to item 5 A3 which is presentation of employee of the quarter winners for quarters 1 and two and of 2025 uh and United Employees Association Jackie OSA scholarship winners.

So, I'm going to bring down now Joel Guy, president of the United Employees Association to announce the employee of the quarter and scholarship winners. Joel. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, hello Tempi City Council. My name is Joel Guy and I'm the president of UAEA, City of Tempee's largest employee association. I'm here today to make two announcements to recognize the incredible work of both city of Tempe employees as well as their children.

First, UAEA started the employee of the quarter program last year to recognize the incredible work that's happening every day um on behalf of City of Tempe employees. Every quarter, our board recognizes three to five exemplary employees from across the city who either self-nominated or nominated by their peers in a variety of ways for exemplary performance in their area.

We represent hundreds of different job titles as an employee union and recognize that exemplary performance can vary significantly depending on what employees do every day. As such, we leave it up to every area to determine what that means within their individual team.

Some areas have nominated employees whose incredible attitudes help improve the morale of their individual area, while others have nominated people who are tirelessly reliable, stepping in whenever they're needed to help their peers finish their work every day. Applications are reviewed by our board, and then finalists are announced at the beginning of every subsequent quarter in our newsletter. I've asked the quarter 1 and quarter 2 employees from this year to join us this evening.

Some of them are unfortunately working tonight as City of Tempee employees. Um but most are in the audience at this point in time. Um in a moment I will call them down and I'd appreciate if they can stand and remain standing until I finish the list and then should they come down once I've finished? Absolutely. Yes, please. Thank you. So from the first quarter of this year we had four winners. We had Sean Campbell, solid waste equipment operator 2 with public works. We had Oh, go ahead.

We had Louise Ortiz, who could not be here tonight, a support analyst with it. We had Jod Oni, a crisis intervention specialist with Care 7. And we had Sam Storm, another solid waste equipment operator with public works. So then from the second quarter of this year, uh you can sit down for the moment. From the second quarter of this year, we had five winners. Um, Jeremy Hop, an arts and culture specialist at TCA.

Mariam Koskan, a data and research analyst with [Applause] FIRE, Jill Briner, who could not be here tonight, but a librarian with community services. [Applause] Brady McCay, a crisis intervention specialist with Care 7, and then Jonathan Fasco, who could not be here, but is also an arts and culture specialist at TCA. So, I appreciate the opportunity to recognize these people in an official way.

These, of course, are incredible employees whose peers feel that they go above and beyond to make this city great. Um, thank you so much for being here, winners. Um, thank you for, you know, making the time tonight. Our third quarter applications closed on June 1st and we'll be announcing those winners on July 1st. You can view all of those winners online at uaeatmpy.org/hallofame. So, can everyone come down and join me for a photo? And council, can we join in the front as well? Thank you.

[Applause] to be in the back. Gentlemen, you Thanks for coming. Appreciate it. [Applause] A little closer. Okay. So, I appreciate you coming down. I'm going to have to have you come down a second time in just a moment or two. Um, the second reason I'm here tonight is every year our union runs a scholarship, the Jackie Awasika scholarship program, an essay based contest that provides college scholarships to the children of UAEA members.

Uh, we recognized a couple of years ago that many of our members are actually in school right now trying to get additional degrees or even their first degree. And so we decided to extend the the program to them as well. Um, applicants must fill out a detailed application and write an essay on their choice of six topics ranging from the importance of unions. Um, obviously we have a conflict of interest there to the possible impacts of AI technology on the future of work.

Applications are anonymized, graded independently by a team of three people and then scores are tallied and deanonymized to identify our winners. This year we awarded two scholarships to children of seniors and one to a current employee. I would appreciate if the applicants could stand as I introduce them. So the first person we have is Cole Armstrong.

He is the son of city employee Heather Armstrong and is a sophomore studying mechanical engineering right now at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. He wrote an excellent essay on the potential future impacts of AI in our society and will be receiving $1,000 in scholarship awards. [Applause] So, our second winner, Maya Taylor, is unfortunately working tonight. Real go-getter, but her mother, Kelly Taylor, is in attendance.

Maya is a current college student majoring in exercise physiology at Northern Arizona University. She wrote an excellent essay on her choice of major and we're receiving $500 from our scholarship program. And then finally this year we also awarded funds to a city employee for the first time, member Jod Oni. Remember her? She was here a few minutes ago. Jod is currently enrolled in the Master of Human Services program at the University of Arizona.

sorry, a master of arts and human services at the University of Arizona. She wrote an excellent essay about what drew her to her field, and we're receiving $1,000 from our program. So, thank you for the opportunity to allow us to recognize these winners as well as our excellent employees at this level. And if you could join me down here for a photo, I greatly appreciate it. [Music] show and then can you show off and two. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you so much. All right.

Thank you very much and congratulations to all the winners this evening. Next up, item 5A5, 2025 community and business surveys. So, just want to let everybody know for Tempe residents and business leaders, we want to hear from you. The city of Tempe is conducting our annual community survey and our bienial business survey and your feedback is essential.

Your input helps us plan strategically for the future, invest in city services that matter most to you, and to strengthen Tempe as a great place to live, work, and do business. So, we invite you to take the survey online at tempe.gov/serveys now through July. It only takes a few minutes and your input helps shape decisions about public safety parks recreation economic development transportation code enforcement, and more.

All responses are confidential and results will be shared this coming November. So, if you have any questions, please contact our strategic management and innovation office at strategic_management_inovation.gov. Once again, [email protected] if you have any questions. So, thank you for helping us make Tempe an even better place to live, work, and raise a family.

And then next up, item 56, new appointments and reappointments to the audit committee, board of adjustment, development review commission, and joint review committee. Just want to congratulate the following individuals on their new appointments to the board of adjustment. Katie Cross, Lily Drosos, and Andrea Somishka. Congratulations as well to the following individuals on their reappointments to the audit audit committee, uh, Gregory Hill, and Council Member Nikki Amber.

Also to the Development Review Commission, uh, Andrew Johnson, Charles Redmond, and Linda Spears, and the Joint Review Committee, Jason Comr, and Pamela Gankin. We also want to acknowledge Joe Lassuski who was reappointed by ASU to serve another term as an ASU regular member of the joint review committee. So to all of these appointments and reappoints, these are detailed in agenda item 7A1. We want to thank you for your service and for your commitment to the city of Tempe.

Uh we know that people have a lot going on in their lives. So we appreciate them giving of themselves in a volunteer capacity to serve on any number of our boards and commissions. That is the end of my announcements this evening. brings me to Madame City Manager. Any reports or announcements? Just a couple. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

First, I'd like to thank uh the Jackson Bickler Foundation for their generous donation in memory of their son Jackson who was who had after a long battle with multiple forms of cancer passed away at the age of 16 on September 11th, 2024. It will be item 76 I 7C8 tonight. Keith Burke and I met with Abby, his mother, uh a year ago, approximately a year ago, and uh she was trying to figure out ways to commemorate um Jackson's impact on the community.

Um we mourned with Abby and her family, and we thought of ways that we could do that, make sure that he is always remembered in his hometown. So, the Bickler family created the Jackson Bickler Foundation in memory of Jackson and will be donating parks, benches at Mary and Moses Green Park and Hangar Park. Jackson grew up in Warner Ranch neighborhood near these parks and eventually attended Corona High School um Corona Del High School, which interesting enough we're acknowledging also tonight.

Um in addition to playing soccer, as we see there, Jackson, he was an active um member of the community. He would often gather with his friends at these parks and play sports and other games at the parks as Abby described. And one of the things I remember about meeting with her, she said he would off often say, "There's no reason to be kind. So so be kind for no reason." Which I think is a great reminder to all of us. So Abby, I know you are on virtually.

You couldn't be here with us tonight, but we wanted to make sure to acknowledge you and your family and our partnership to memorize to commemorate Jackson's life. Thank you. And then finally, um, also in the same spirit of acknowledging great employees of our city, and I know he's probably very upset that I'm doing this, um, I would like to congratulate Chief Deputy City Manager Greg Reese.

Chief Reese will be receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arizona Chiefs Association, which is one of the highest honors of the state. Um, I am so excited for him, for our organization that he has shared over three decades of of who he is, a great leader, not only with the fire department, but with our great city now in his new role as a chief deputy city manager. Um, so I hope he's speaking to me after tonight. Um, because he did not want to be acknowledged.

We just found out yesterday at 2 p.m. Shaking his head. Of course, of course he is. But, uh, this is the second lifetime achievement award that he has received in probably in the last year and a half. So congratulations Chief Chief. [Applause] That is all the announcements tonight, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Thank you, Madam City Manager. Greatly appreciated. All right. Well, that then brings me to item number six.

But before we move into public appearances, just want to take a moment to address campaign related activity, especially that we are now in the 2026 election season. City council meetings are open to the public and are a vital forum for civic engagement. We welcome all individuals, including candidates, to speak on matters of public concern during the public comment portion of the meeting.

However, because this is an official city council meeting that is both televised and livereamed using city resources, we ask that all candidates, including current council members, to refrain from electioneering or campaign related activity while participating in this meeting. That means no discussing your candidacy, asking for votes or signatures, or displaying campaign materials such as signs, t-shirts, or literature while speaking.

So, thank you for helping us to maintain the integ integrity and the neutrality of our public meetings. That brings me to item number six, public appearances. According to the Arizona open meeting law, the city council may only discuss, respond to, or take action on matters listed elsewhere on this agenda for discussion and legal action. The purpose of the open call to the public is to allow individuals to address the city council on any issue within the jurisdiction of the city council.

No person shall speak more than once and there is a limit of three minutes per speaker. In the interest of allowing all members of the public to have an opportunity to speak, in the case that there were such a large number of persons intending to speak during the meeting that it may deprive other members of the public from the reasonable opportunity to speak, the mayor may limit each speaker to less than 3 minutes.

Speakers present at the podium must provide us state their name and city of residents and provide a speaker card. Members of the public shall refrain from making personal, impertinent, or slanderous remarks and from becoming boisterous while addressing the city council or while attending the meeting. Speakers will be taken first come, first serve in the order in which the cards are received. Speakers visual aids and appearances by phone or recordings are not allowed.

The city council is prohibited by state law from discussing, responding to, or taking action on matters raised during the call to the public, even if asked to do so by a member of the public, so long as the subject discussed by the speaker is not listed as a specific agenda item for council's consideration for discussion and legal action. Individual members of the council may respond to criticism made by speakers, ask staff to review a matter, or ask a matter be placed on a future agenda.

With that said, once again, I'm going to call forth speakers in the order in which I received the cards this evening. Uh, the first card I have this evening is from Mario Martinez. Okay. Is Mr. uh Martinez here? Okay. Then I will move to the next speaker then uh which is Brennan Metaf. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. Good evening. Hello. Uh this is my first time here. I am Brennan Metap. I live in Tempe, Arizona, uh down by the lakes.

Um just wanted to give a quick speech here um to speak about a policy vision for the city of Tempe that I believe that this council and uh other cities around this country can adopt to um provide uh affordable housing, climate solutions, sustainability um and good green infrastructure which we all agree with. Um so I just wanted to begin my speech by thanking the city for their uh action on housing. um building housing anywhere and everywhere. Increasing supply is very important.

Uh and this council uh acknowledges that and supports that. So um my agenda today, I guess I should say, is um something called abundance. I'm sure it's been uh everywhere. There's a book about it written by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, but basically has four main uh four main policy areas. Open society, state capacity, dynamism, and addressing the captured economy. Open society means committing to transparency, robust public engagement, and a culture of collaboration.

Is about inviting citizens into meaningful dialogue, decision-making, and ensuring policies genuinely reflect the community's values and needs. Secondly, state capacity calls for us to invest boldly in infrastructure that meets current and future demands. Tempe can proactively expand and modernize our transportation, utilities, and community amenities, creating a resilient foundation for sustained prosperity and equitable growth. Uh the I 10 Broadway curve just opened. Congratulations everybody.

Great work. Um third one is dynism uh requires us to embrace growth and innovation in housing, commerce and public spaces by dismantling outdated zoning laws and simplifying permitting processes which can encourage vibrant mixeduse neighborhoods and abundant affordable housing options. Uh which brings together a community uh that is accessible to everyone. Sometimes walking, sometimes driving, sometimes bike riding, you name it.

Um, lastly is addressing the captured economy, which means confronting policies and practices that unfairly advantage entrenched interests at the expense of broad-based economic participation. By championing entrepreneurship, reducing barriers for startups and small businesses, and ensuring fair economic competition, we can democratize economic opportunity for all. Uh, together, these principles outline a vision toward a flourishing, inclusive, and abundant tempe.

And I urge this council to take proactive approach to take this proactive approach and uh continue the good work it has been doing. Lastly is just keep supporting Arizona State University. Very important. Um Miss Chin. Go Devils. Yep. Everybody, that's all my speech. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. The next speaker I have this evening is David Sokowski. Hello. Can you hear me? Yes, I can hear you. Uh please state your name and city of residence. You have three minutes.

My name is David Sloski. I'm I live in Tempee. Um I don't understand why residents pay for city services if we have to apply for permits and pay to use those services. It's your responsibility to provide the services and we shouldn't need a permit to use a public park. If you think eating in a food eating food in a park is so dangerous that it requires a permit, then you can have a fire truck at the park and watch people eat food.

You don't charge for the event and add a bunch of stipulations and make it impossible. Would the Broadmore bike bus need an event permit? It looks like the bike Broadmore bike bus would need a permit and to pay for the police escort the city has provided to keep everyone safe. The park rules say we're not allowed to prepare food and the city has been removing grills from city parks. For many renters, we're not allowed to have grills on our property.

So, as renters, we're not able to have a picnic with friends or families. That's a privilege only for homeowners. Now, our residents paid for the park amenities, but now the city gets to decide that we don't get to use it. The city's permit process is completely arbitrary. And I don't understand why the city manager can deny permits. Who has the authority to grant an appeal for a permit? That doesn't seem fair because normally it would be done by a neutral third party. It's a little ironic.

The city wanted to activate its parks and we have this community group using the park and the city is trying to stop them from activating the parks. This is supposed to be a free country. But we need a permit to play sports or walk or bike or eat food. In my opinion, that's not a free country. We have the right to peacefully gather. They didn't put a 30 person limit in the constitution. Thank you for listening. Thank you. All right. The next speaker I have this evening is Robert Tiiani.

Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. Hello. My name is Robert Tiiani and I'm a city I'm a resident of Tempe. My wife and I joined several hundred Tempe citizens. Actually, I'm here to speak about Shalomar Proposed Reson. My wife and I uh joined several hundred Tempe citizens last night at the owner developer neighborhood meeting.

Although I have never met the present golf course owners and have nothing against them personally, it became immediately apparent to us attending that any past narratives regarding this proposal floated out by their development team was simply eyewash. In review of the history of the developers many planned iterations, it was clear that the initial and primary intention was and remains to obtain the maximum development possible in order to generate the most profit for the property owner.

The first design of over 400 rental units does just that. It creates a density of nine dwelling units per acre, the maximum outlied in the latest general plan. designed with absolutely no prior discussion or input from the community. It clearly indicates the owner and developers belief that they could easily manipulate the city guidelines to their benefit.

Narratives that include consideration for what is best for this community, the city, the tax base, and school attendance were quickly dismissed as subsequent redesigns offered token reductions and modifications with a review of each of the six iterations presented last night. All this time, it became obvious to everyone but the owner's team that they indeed were unable and unwilling to read the room, as one of the neighbors so eloquently stated.

In my opinion, the owner's continued pursuit of this resoning proposal in the face of such overwhelming community opposition is a statement of fact that is only that it is only a money grab with no consideration for the damage to the community, the environment, and the well-being of Tempe as a whole.

And now that an alternative offer has been presented to the owner with the hopes of maintaining and improving the golf course, the claim that no one is interested in purchasing Shallomar expones exposes the owner's sincere insincere intentions.

I therefore ask along with thousands of other Tempe voters that oppose any resoning of this historic and valuable city asset that this council use its wise discretion to see with clarity what is happening here and not to be conned into thinking the owner cares about anything other than juking the system and you all to the maximum financial benefit possible.

Lastly, if there's any doubt as to where the owner's heart lies, simply look at the present condition of the property and the des devastating impact caused by the owner's decision to abandon and cut off the water supply. Very sad. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Appreciate it. All right. Next up, we have And so we can't have any clapping this evening. We have to get through all this. Um the next speaker we have is Nancy Keith. Please come forward and state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes. Good evening, council and mayor. My name is Nancy Keith. I live in Mesa and I'm here to talk about the Shalomar property. The Shalomar neighborhood was important to my parents. Uh they would drive from Southern California to visit with my husband and I. And while they were here, they'd drive around and look at different places because they were considering maybe moving closer. They ran through the area of Shalomar, drove through there, and they fell in love with Shalomar.

They bought a house. They found a realer that same day and bought the the two the two-bedroom model at that time and lived there for a long long time and enjoyed every minute of it. They loved the neighborhood, the wonderful neighbors that they met and they enjoyed just everything about it and happily lived in their beloved bow home. They called it their bow home because of the name of the street.

I'd seen information though lately about the city of Tempy wanted to do more greening of their city. I think that's wonderful. I think that's a good idea. But then I'm hearing about the golf course being taken down and getting rid of it completely. That just doesn't somehow seem right.

It's confusing because I think the city of Tempe has a very good idea about the the greening when we when there's this wonderful location with mature trees, bushes, space for people, and places for local wildlife to live. That that should be something also to think about more seriously than let's just get rid of it. It makes me wonder why the city of Tempe can say one thing and then say something different.

I hope that you will listen to the community who is strong in opposition to the resoning and that you will vote no when the time comes. Thank you for your time. Thank you. The next speaker I have this evening is Joel Stern. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. My name is Joel Stern. I am a Tempe resident and I am here to applaud the reappoint of the city manager, Rosa.

Um, since her time here, I truly believe that the city is while not perfect, it is run very well. city staff is um is uh empathetic. They are quality. They do their jobs. They are always asking what they can do more. I sit on the uh um neighborhood advisory commission. We have a direct link into the city with that and we are always doing better. We are always asked what we what the city is always asking what they can do better.

And I see that every day, not only with the city, but with council um and and the people that volunteer here. We are, like I said, not a perfect city. We have laws that not all of us agree with, but they are still the laws that we have. I think that this city is trying to fix it for every single citizen here. And again, I think under Rosa, we we have kept this ship moving and I appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker I have is Lance Waran. Please come forward.

State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. Thank you. Lance Warian, city of Tempee resident. I'm here to speak about the Shalomar Golf Course as well. Thank you. The Shelmore Golf Course uh serves the citizens of Tempe as well as the residents of the neighboring communities by providing a natural cooling space, something that is a quickly diminishing asset here in our beautiful Tempe.

If the city were to approve the developer res request for resoning, this will not only destroy the natural space that is home to our natural wildlife, but it will also eliminate our community gathering space that many of us use for outdoor activity, the fish fries on Friday night. It's just it's a community gathering space. Um this will in turn pave the way for a uh higher density living unit structures that does not really fit the existing landscape as currently zoned.

This in turn will create, as speaking with other residents of the community, an unwanted heat island. First and foremost, traffic congestion along Country Club Way and Spelling over on East Concord Drive, which may include the necessity for unwanted speed bumps. God knows we love those speed bumps. And um I'm only one of many residents who feel strongly about this uh against this against the reszoning of the our neighborhood community to allow this uh medium density housing development.

Please don't allow our beautiful Tempe to become central Phoenix. We would have moved there if we wanted that. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker I have this evening is Ann Till. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. Hello, I'm Ann Till Temper resident and I'm absolutely opposed to reszoning the 44 acres in Chelomar. Last night's developer meeting was packed with standing room only, probably around 500 people.

I just want to emphasize that most of us don't even live around the golf course or play golf. Yet, we are packing the room and not because we all care about traffic or property values, which is a definite important impact to those living near the golf course. But most of us are here because Shalomar is a very important part of our city, more important than a city park and what Shalomar has given the community. It's more than a golf course to us.

Since it opened, it's been a neighborhood and city center used for much more than golf. And it's also home to many memories. We've used it for community meetings, meetings or meetups, meetings, McClinttoac High School track and golf, food truck night, restaurant and bar outings, music venue, weddings, walking, etc. And it's an important green space that is home to around 300 mature trees and wildlife.

The property may be individually owned by the new heisels, but the zoning decision should be owned by the residents. Shalomar was purchased as an agriculturally zoned property at a fraction of what the developer offers. Reszoning the property maximizes the property owner's profits. It needs to remain agriculturally zoned as it was originally purchased and there is actually a different offer submitted that involves a golf course.

With the developer plan presented, city residents would be losing much and irreplaceable space and the developer is offering really nothing. So now we are at the point where the developer is going to try to convince everyone that they have covered all the issues when they haven't.

And you've had many speakers over the last year talking about what Chalamar means to them and even from some kids Um the fact is is that Chalomar is irreplace irreplaceable and a treasure that must remain for city residents and they are showing up and people are showing up at the meetings and signing petitions to let you know. So the zoning absolutely should not change.

So there is only one issue and that is that the space should not be used for the purpose that the developer is seeking to use it for. um saying that they are going to offer a little green space at the front of an HOA doesn't even come close to covering what will be lost by residents across the city. And do we really believe that an HOA will allow residents to use their space anyways? But anyways, that's let's keep it zoned the way it is. Thank you. Appreciate it.

The next speaker I have is Sergeant Rob Ferraro. There he is. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. Good evening, mayor and council. My name is Rob Ferraro, president of the Tempe Officers Association. On behalf of the rank and file officers, I want to express our strong and unwavering support for city manager Rosa Enchowsy.

Under her leadership, Tempe officers have seen meaningful progress on issues that matter, from fair compensation and benefits to improved working conditions that help us serve this community with pride and professionalism. City manager in Chelsea has also stood firm in supporting the enforcement of quality of life crimes that impact our neighborhoods.

While working to make Tempe a destination city, one that attracts businesses, amenities, and the kind of growth that benefits everyone, she leads with courage and conviction. And while critics may look to score political points, we've seen her commitment where it counts in action. The Tempe Officers Association proudly stands behind her leadership and her vision for this city. Thank you very much. Thank you. That's all the cards I have this evening.

Uh, if there's anyone else who wishes to address the city council, it's Yes, please come forward. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't It's not on mine, but but feel free. Come on forward. So, yeah, I don't know why it didn't go through. No, no worries. Hey, that's what we're here for. We're here all night, so please state your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. Hi. Um, my name is Rebecca Sperry. Uh, and I live in Tempe. Um, so, um, I'm Rebecca Sperry.

I am a 35year-old, uh, K12 teacher affiliated with ASU, facilitator with the nonprofit urban planner, Army National Guard, truck driver and artist. I am addressing the city council on behalf of the people for item 84B. Speak on 884. That's fine. On the agenda, this item talks about restrictions on social gatherings. My understanding is that the focus on is on a group feeding a large group of people and related to the government.

But I'm here to talk about how from my understanding this legislation also restricts gatherings over 30 people and of microphone use in such gatherings. I will further not provide legislation to fight this. I will mention that it does have have to do with first amendment rights. Sorry, I will not give uh emotional reasonings, but I will provide my own personal sociological data set.

I do trust whatever decision is made for the city, and I thank you for all that you do, it's not easy to run a city at all. The biggest reason I'm making this statement is that many park gatherings are positive spaces. This legislation would displace 10 to 30 yoga teachers etc. people who create gatherings month on a and so close to 300 people would be affected on a monthly basis by this legislation.

There are two key tools that would like um that I would like anyone hearing my words to walk away from this utilizing the four pillars of neighborhood planning by Jane Jacobs which I'm sure you all know or understand similar concepts um and so I'll touch on that later but the idea and the idea of positive yield. My biggest issue and I use the word issue to describe the difference between effectiveness and ineffectiveness not frustration.

My biggest issue with this and any legislation like it is the focus on negative yield rather than positive. A negative yield focus only uses the logical part of the brain and shuts down the right brain which is stops us from communicating to others. I would argue that the focus on negative yield rather than positive from my professional experience which um is you know pretty it's a lot of different fields.

Um, so I became an urban planner before I got my degree and got in touch with all the nonprofit organizations I work with now. In 2020, I I said I needed to learn cities and that's why so I also volunteered for the fire department um with Phoenix and um I've worked at like five urban gardens and all of these things. There's a lot of different uh spaces that I've touched base. I was a caregiver for three years after 2020. Um I'm sorry that's time. So thank you.

Thank you for and I just realized too the reason why you were on the list it was just for 84 so later on the agenda but it's totally fine that you spoke no you're totally fine no worries at all it's all good so thank you just didn't want you think we forgot about you so all right um does anyone else wish to address the council on item number six public appearances if so please get my attention at this time all right seeing none I'll close that portion of the meeting and move on to item number seven which is Our consent agenda.

All items on the consent agenda will be considered as a group and we enacted with one motion by the city council unless an item is removed for separate consideration. Members of the public may remove public hearing items for separate consideration. Public hearing items are designated as public hearing item at the beginning of the item title. Council members may remove any item for separate consideration or to declare a conflict of interest.

If a council member would like to declare a conflict at this time, the city clerk will provide the council member with a disclosure form. If you wish to speak on a public hearing item, please fill out a speaker card and submit your completed card to the city clerk prior to the agenda item coming forward for council discussion. I will call your name when it is your turn for public comment this evening.

The consent agenda is listed as miscellaneous items 7A1 through 7 A11, awards of bids and contracts items 7B1 through 7P15 and resolutions items 7C1 through 7C11. Once again, any agenda item designated as public hearing item can be removed by a member of the public for separate consideration. If anyone would like to have a public hearing item removed, please get my attention now.

Okay, seeing none, I'll look to the council to see if there's any items that you'd like to have removed from the consent agenda for separate consideration. I will be removing uh item 7 A11. Uh but anything else? So moved to Okay. Um, it's been moved by Vice Mayor Garland and seconded by Council Member Hajj to approve the consent agenda with the exception of item 7 A11, which has been pulled for separate consideration. With that said, please vote. And that item passes 7 to zero.

Next up, item 7 A1, which is to approve the amended employment agreement for Rosen Chowy as city manager. I I had some comments I wanted to make on this item and I was I had a chart that I pulled uh just in advance and I'm going to try to make not make this incredibly lengthy, but you know I I I'd heard some chatter in the community frankly that concerned me regarding the salary request uh the base salary of $370,000 for our city manager Rosen Chowy.

And you know normally while I wouldn't speak on these things I felt it really important to speak on this this evening. So I went back and pulled a list of all of the different city managers.

So, one of the things that we do as a city when we're trying to figure out what your water rates would be, what your wastewater rates would be, what your sewer rates would be, and frankly, a lot of other services, we benchmark ourselves against other East Valley cities to make sure that we're frankly in line and providing a competitive experience here for all of you who live and work in the city of Tempee.

We also do the same thing as the council uh when it comes to uh our our city manager and what the pay should be for that particular position. So, I I looked up here, I pulled a list of a lot of these surrounding cities and just wanted the read off, but I'm going to round down to be a little bit more simple here, uh, what these salaries are. So, as an example here, the city of Phoenix, the city manager is paid $415,000.

Next up here, the city directly to the south of us, uh, the city of Chandler, the city manager is paid almost $375,000. The, uh, next up here, I'm looking here, the city of Scottsdale. I know their city manager was recently appointed in the last couple of months. Uh their base salary is $369,000. The U city of Glendale here uh a just a hair under $360,000. And I'll read one more uh for the town of Gilbert uh a little over $357,000.

So, the average salary for a city manager in the greater Phoenix area is exactly $384,462. That's the average. That's all public information. I'm not asking anyone to simply just believe me, but that that's data that pretty much anyone could frankly pull. And so when we think about a city manager who's leading a team of 2,000 people along with working alongside the largest public university in the country as an ASU, there are a lot of complexities to a job like that.

Uh but I for one think that Rosa has done an outstanding job of leading this community. Uh there's a lot of challenges for a city that's frankly growing as much as the city of Tempee is, whether it's in on areas like Apache Boulevard or our downtown area and a lot of the other things that our residents want in North and South Tempy alike. But frankly, uh she has from my perspective done an incredible job. I I don't believe quite honestly that she sleeps.

uh because pretty much whenever I call her whether it's morning, evening, weekend, she always picks up the phone on the first or second ring or if she doesn't, she calls me back probably within five minutes.

There's sometimes other people I can call like who are, you know, friends of mine, not city staff, I'm saying uh and I'll call them and then I can actually make another phone call in between, but I've learned with Rosa if uh she doesn't answer on the first couple of rings, uh she's going to call me back probably within two or three minutes. And I know that that's not just simply the experience for myself. uh it's the experience for all of the people sitting up here at this dis.

So when I look at the salary here for what a city manager in this in in the east valley is paid the base salary of $370,000 is perfectly appropriate for all the work that she frankly does and all the work that she will continue to do on behalf of the residents and the businesses here in the city. The other thing though I just have to speak on this that concerns me a little bit and I'm just going to I'm just going to say it.

you know, this is now um Rosa, I've been here now for 13 years, just completing year number 13 sitting up here, and I have worked with three permanent city managers during my time. And during with the our previous two managers, we did the same thing we did with Rosa. We looked at the salaries for other city managers in the East Valley at that time and always made sure that those folks were compensated appropriately based on what everyone else around was getting paid.

Because in the city of Tempe, we think it's critically important not just simply to attract top tier talent, but also to retain top tier talent. And that goes for Rosa and frankly all of our employees here in the city of Tempe. But my challenge is when I look at this, Rosa is the first, and we've talked about this when she was appointed a couple of years ago. Uh she's the first woman to ever be in this position.

She's a woman of color who's the who's the child of Cuban immigrants who came to this country. And we in the city believe, and this was actually done when I wasn't even here during the four years that I was not on council before I came back as mayor. We passed an equal pay ordinance and there were three women on our council who frankly led that effort. There are five women sitting up here on this council. The first time we've ever had a super majority of women running this city.

So myself and council member Keating always say, uh, we might be the two men up here, but we frankly know who actually runs this community. Uh it's all of the women sitting next to me and our city manager sitting directly over there to my right. Uh the fact of the matter is the equal pay ordinance is not something that we just simply voted on and passed and put in a drawer somewhere to collect dust. It is a critically important value of what this community stands for.

That women deserve to get paid exactly what qualified men deserve to get paid and not a penny less. And so, and I hear some of this chatter in the community about this. It's very concerning because whenever I've negotiated previous city manager contracts when it comes to pay, the subject of pay and base salary has never come up ever before in the 13 years I've been here. It only began to come up when Rosa was appointed city manager a couple of years ago. And I'm bothered by that.

And I'm going to put that out there for the record because I think it's really critically important that for anyone watching this meeting, whether it's women or our young women in schools, whatever, that they see that there are people who are willing to stick up and advocate to ensure that we are paying women exactly what they deserve, which is exactly what any qualified man in this position should be making. And so I am proud of the work that she has done on behalf of the city.

This base salary is completely appropriate for the work that you do. You're a phenomenal city manager for leading the city every day. I really do want you to try to get some sleep at some point and and eat a maybe more than one meal per day, but quite honestly, I can't thank you enough for what you do on behalf of the city. And I know I speak on behalf of the entire council when I say that. So, thank you. All right. All right. That's it.

If that's that is all on that uh item, I will entertain a motion on item 711. It's been moved by Vice Mayor Garwood and seconded by Council Member Hajj. Please vote. And that item passes seven to zero. All right. Next up here, I'm going to go to our non-consent agenda, which is item number eight. All items listed on the non-consent agenda will be considered separately. Agenda items scheduled for introduction and first public hearing will be heard, but will not be voted upon at this meeting.

Agenda items scheduled for second public hearing and final adoption will be voted upon tonight. Council members who may have a conflict of interest may abstain from voting on a matter and the city clerk will provide the council members with a disclosure form at this time. First up 8A miscellaneous items, bids, contracts, and resolutions.

Uh first item is uh 8 8A1 which is to hold a public hearing for an appeal of the Historic Preservation Commission's decision to deny a request for a two-story addition to the Pramer Residence aka McInness House, a Tempe Historic Property Register designated property located at 913 South Maple Avenue. The appellent and original applicant is Jared Lindberger of JCL Design Build. Also, as a note, this is a quasi judicial item.

Uh and I'll also say this uh for someone who's been up here for 13 years. I hardly ever did any of these during my first 12 years and it seems like every meeting now we have a quasi judicial item. That is just a statement of uh fact. So as a note though the city council sits as a quasi judicial body when during hearing appeals. Uh in this situation the city council will conduct the public hearing in a similar fashion to that of an appellet court.

Premeating contact with the city council on quasi judicial matters is prohibited. any materials or conversations concerning the item shall only be presented to the city council at the scheduled public hearing. Tonight's public hearing is an appeal of the Historic Preservation Commission's decision to deny a request for a two-story addition to the Pramer residence, also known as the McInness House, located at 913 South Maple Avenue. The home is designated as a Tempe Historic Property.

The applicant Jared Linberger received a use permit for the second story contingent on receiving a certificate of appropriateness from the commission. At its April 9th meeting, the HPC denied that certificate by a 6 to1 vote with Vice Chair Fler dissenting. Mr. Linberger filed this appeal on April 23rd in accordance with Tempe City Code section 14A-8.

So, first of all, I will look to our staff to see if there's any comments uh regarding the staff report that I guess Ryan, you or Jeff would like to make or you know, there Ryan is giving me the thumbs up that he's good. So, okay. So, um is there a presentation from the applicant or appellant Jared Linberger? Hello, good evening. Um, my name is Jared Limeberger. I am representing my client Erica Primer. We will make a statement after I'm done.

Uh very simply, we're just asking for um you guys to consider us to be able to uh add a second story and give us a certificate of appropriateness for what we're trying to do here. Uh we're discussing a property that is zoned R2 and is completely everything we're doing is within the guidelines of um the code references and within the ADU um agreements that we have made or you guys have made already and we just asking you to basically overturn historic pres decision to not allow us to do it.

Uh we feel like what we are offering is completely um fitting to the neighborhood and we don't think it's going to give any negative impact and we are trying to preserve the existing house as it stands and we are adding addition to the back of it but um as you can see if I can figure out how to do this here which button um the property as it is sits if you stand on Maple the only thing you see in the background is the giant um assisted living or retirement thing I think it's Marbella um that's all you see in the background and one of the conversations is is the second story on the property um appropriate as you can see in this the existing residence right now is this the small greenhouse house, but you can very clearly see what you see in the background of her house.

This photo was the upper photo was taken um while we were doing our community uh our time of letting the community comment on it. And so that's a couple months back. And the bottom photo is a rendering of what the new addition will look like. The homeowner Erica does not have any intention of taking down any of the existing trees or uh foliage. And so it's going to have very little impact from the street view.

And to say that it would somehow diminish the historic um uh nature of the house seems a little bit, you know, out of touch given what's you can see in the background there. Uh it's going to the house in the front will be preserved almost entirely as it is. The only thing we're going to be doing is removing a single window in the back.

Uh we've already have approval from uh staff to remove the old garage that's attached to the back of it, but it's not part of the exist or the original house that we're aware of. They may say something different. Um but we can't find any evidence that was like specifically part of that. Um, that aside, the homeowner would like to preserve the house as it is, uh, but she needs more space. So, her intent is to rent the space up front and then add a dwelling unit in the back for her own residence.

There's the floor plan there. And you can kind of see the other thing we want to point out is the argument from historic preservation is that it doesn't fit again with the streetscape. If you notice the house one lot over, which there's no house between hers and the next house because she owns that priest property as well. The house one lot over is also a two-story house. There's multiple two-story houses on this street.

So, there shouldn't be any real reason why a two-story addition would have a problem there. Plus the two-story addition, the two-story portion of that house is pushed almost 100 feet back from the sidewalk. I mean, if you're standing on the sidewalk, it would be almost iniccernible that it was even there or that it was even part of the same property because there's actually twotory um units behind the alleyway that you can see from that street area as well.

Um, so one of our biggest reasons for the appeal is that we actually the homeowner actually tried to get the house put on the national registry and when she contacted the national registry they said it's it's just not there's just not enough there to put it on the national registry. Yes, temp it's on Temp's registry but there's not enough to justify it being on the national registry.

um other properties in the same area have been granted, you know, the ability to put two-story additions on their property as well. And we think that it would add value to the neighborhood because if her her choice is if she if she's not granted the ability to do this on this particular property, then her only other option would then be to just build a new house on the other piece of property she owns right next to it that's currently vacant.

and and we think we're giving like a lot to say, hey, we want to preserve the existing house and just build something new on the back side of it. So, you guys have any questions? Um, yes. Uh, Council Member Adams. Uh, yes. Um, so how did you survey Maple Ash neighborhood uh to find out that they're supportive? Uh actually Maple Ash Neighborhood Association is here and they are here in support of it. Okay. Yeah.

So we actually have a couple people who have already given comment cards and they're willing to speak on the behalf of it. Okay, that would be great. Yeah, I prefer that. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else from council? Any comments or questions? Council Chin. Thank you, mayor. I just need to confirm a couple of things. Sure. Um the current livable square uh current livable space in the existing house is 570 square ft. It is indeed. Okay. I wanted to confirm that.

And the lot size is roughly 7,000 square ft roughly. Yes. Okay. Thank you. That's it. Thank you. Anyone else any comments or questions? All right. See none. Uh anything else on your record? Um Erica is here if if you'd like to hear from her. So the homeowner, that's okay. All right. Just want to make sure Quas Judicial. I got to look at Mr. Anderson first. Make sure I'm okay because if he runs and tackles me, it's going to be a problem. So yes, please. Uh hello, my name is Erica.

I purchased this house as a full-time resident in 2020, and I was a snowbird starting in 2018 in the same Maple Lash neighborhood. I love this area. It has such a distinct feeling and sense of community that I appreciate. Since purchasing the property, I've done various repairs on the home, and I can truly say that I love this property, and I have loved adding touches to it that make it my own. Since I moved here, I've seen some of these old houses torn down and new condos put up.

My desire for this lot is to protect this house and still invest in my property with an expansion that will work for me. My parents recently retired and are interested in snowbirding at my residence. The new design was done with that future in mind. I also own the lot adjacent to this property.

Within reason, I could level the trees and construct anything I want there, but I'm choosing to invest in the 9 913 side because I want to protect the original home and existing landscape that is on both lots. The beautiful and mature trees are a huge part of the maple ash community and contribute to Tempee's canopy coverage goals. My design features only one actual tree being cut down, which is already dead and has been taken over by Lantana and bushes.

I am not generally a public speaker, so being up here today is horrifying, but I love this property and design. So, I'm here in spite of that speaking to appeal to this council. I hope that my earnest plea will help you to allow the appeal go through. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Great. Thank you. All right. Next up here, uh, council members, do you have any questions for our historic preservation officer? Well, I I'm So, council, any questions for our historic preservation officer?

Council Brad's always trying to skip ahead. You know, she's she's always she's always one step ahead of me. Hey, no, no, no. Stop it. It's all good. Um, let's see here. Um, okay. Seeing none, uh, now I'm going to open up the public testimony portion of the public hearing. I'm telling you, we all do get along this well up here. We we do I just wanted to hear from Maple Ash. Absolutely.

The neighborhood inclusion is really important to me and I just want to hear from you guys that this is good with you. So, what I'm going to do here, yeah, I've got I've got a couple of names here on the sheet. If anyone else wants to come up later, we can obviously have that, too. Uh, the first speaker I have here is Joan Bahamande. Thanks, Corey. Oh, you're welcome. Of course. Good evening. Please state your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. Thank you.

Uh Joan Bamunde, Tempe, Arizona. And my husband told me speaking to the mic. All right. I'm here this evening to express my strong personal support for Miss Erica Kramer's appeal of the Historic Preservation Commission's decision to deny her application for a two-story addition at the rear of 913/915 South Maple.

As a neighbor who along with my husband has been engaged in our own home restoration in Maple Ash and as an elected council member of the Maple Ash Neighborhood Association, I am deeply committed to both the preservation and thoughtful evolution of our historic neighborhood. While these comments reflect my personal views and not as an official association position, I hope they will be given full consideration.

The Maple Ash neighborhood has been understandably cautious in recent years regarding various alterations, including two-story additions, particularly when they risk disrupting the visual scale or architectural integrity of the area. However, Miss Kramer's revised plans clearly reflect a good faith effort uh to address the commission's concerns. The design now shows significantly improved compatibility with the neighborhood's character and historic fabric.

In my view, it achieves a reasonable and respectful balance between preservation and the evolving needs of residents. The commission's role in protecting Tempe's heritage is vital, but preservation should not preclude adaptation when proposals are proportionate contextsensitive and architecturally coherent, as I believe this one is. Denying such improvements risk discouraging responsible investment and community engagement in historic preservation.

I urge the council to reconsider and support this appeal. Doing so would affirm Tempy's commitment to preservation that is practical, inclusive, and forwardlooking. Thank you. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. The next speaker I have this evening is Jenny Lucier. Please come forward. State, your name, and city of resident. You have three minutes. Is there a step there? Hi, my name is Jenny Lucier. I'm a 40-year resident of Maple Ash.

Uh I am here to speak in support of this project for probably three main reasons. Top on the list, it preserves that house. And I trust and know Erica and I know this is a sincere and genuine desire. Another is that it preserves the lush landscaping of that lot. I don't know if any of you had a chance to go see it, but it's pretty cool and we would hate to see a development there that would change that so drastically. And the third is about the uh impact on the street view.

So over the last 40 years, I've participated in countless planning projects, right? planning processes that involved all of my neighbors, people who I've known now for 30 and 40 years. One of them was somewhat unique. All of them, of course, call for historic preservation and and preserving the main house, preserving these houses, but one of them was called doing infill in historic neighborhoods. And it was somewhat unique because it really tried to deconstruct and get at the details.

What does it mean to do historic preservation? And how do you do that when there are these um pressures uh on vacant lots or um you know these historic neighborhoods? And it was very interesting. So the process gathered architects neighbors planners staff. We got together in a room for a couple I think over at Haten Hall for a couple of days, a whole weekend it actually filled. And we started with what was called exemplars. people submitted.

I think it came down to six different exemplars that you know these are these typify the neighborhood. These typify um these historic neighborhoods and it was a really interesting thing that one of the main points that came up from that is that the rhythm of the street is really important. So you have a house, you have space, and you have a house. And there's a certain scale to those. This does that. It preserves that rhythm of the street that this uh planning process identified as so important.

Somewhere in the balls of planning, there's an actual booklet that that is titled doing historic um infill in sorry doing infill in historic neighborhoods. And and I don't know if it's used anymore, but it was a really important thing. One of the other important things about that process that came out of that process and and all of these other processes is that um you know we have multif family zoning.

How do you preserve or how do you let people take advantage of multif family zoning yet do something um uh historic preservation wise and the consensus was I'm sorry that I I can give you another 15 seconds. We'll just finish that statement though. The consensus was preserve the main house. do something in back of it. That's what this does. So, I rarely disagree with the historic preservation commission, but I do on this one and support this project. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Lucier.

Appreciate it. All right. Uh, is there anyone else who wishes to speak under this item during the public testimony portion? If so, please get my attention now. Yes, please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. Hello. Uh, my name is Jeffrey Wall. I'm a resident of Tempe. I'm a friend and neighbor of Erica's and Yes. Is that better? Thank you. Uh I'm a friend and neighbor of Ericas and wanted to come out and speak in support of this plan.

Um before doing that, I did want to address uh a Councilman Adams concern. Um I'm also an elected member of the Mana board. Um we did not vote on this. Um I think there was a miscommunication between members of Mana and um Erica in regards to our support. Several of us have voiced our personal support, but as an organization, uh we have not officially voted to support this. Um just it never came to a vote. It wasn't that we voted against it, it's just we never voted on it.

Um can I ask you a question? Yeah. Is your impression that people are supportive in general? Uh yes. Of the neighbors that I've spoken to and of the members that I know, the majority that I've spoken to have uh said that they are supportive. And I think you've seen that in the folks that have come out to today to speak on behalf of this. Um the Yeah, I think Erica has done a really good job to try and preserve the character of the house as much as possible.

Her initial plan, she wanted to build this completely separate from the front dwelling as an ADU and was told that that permitting wouldn't be possible because the ADU would be larger than the front house. I don't know the exact number. The front house is very small. Um it is less than a thousand square feet, I think much less.

Um, again, I would have to look at the documents to know the exact amount, but it is very hard to build an ADU that uh is not going to be larger than the front house given how small it is. Um, so with those restrictions, she's worked to again really maintain that, have a small connection between the front house and the addition she'd like to build in the back um in order to provide that additional uh living space and an additional uh unit of housing uh in this neighborhood, which is much needed.

We've lost several of these historic homes over the years and many of them are currently dirt lots where they're doing no good to our community. They're sitting around as, you know, stores of value for whoever happens to own that plot at the time when that could be a house that someone is living in and a place for an additional neighbor. Um, so again, I just wanted to voice my support and thank you for your time. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Is there anyone else who wishes to address the council on this item? If so, can you please get my attention at this time? Okay, seeing none, I will close the public testimony portion of the public hearing. Uh, I'm going to now look to the applicant, uh, Jared Linberger to see if you would like to come forward, uh, one more time here. Just wanted to see if you have any response to the public comments or any kind of a summary statement or are you all good? I'm good.

I think we've we've said our piece and I think that um as you can see we have the support of the neighborhood which a lot of you probably know that's rare. Um and I've been up here before you guys before with other projects that did not have that same support. So I really appreciate that support for this project and I'm hoping that we can preserve the house and as much as we can and also get her what she is ultimately wanting. Sounds good.

Council, do you have any uh comments or questions for Mr. Limeberger? Yeah, council Branberg. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

I'm not sure if this is for you, if this is for Erica, but reading the minutes, I just wanted to make sure because one of the recommendations to not approve on the the the Secretary of Interior standards was that you're going to use the exact same kind of exterior the materials so that you can't tell the difference between which was what was the new addition and what was the actual historic property.

I know in the minutes she had or maybe you did, I can't remember, expressed that you would be willing to change that so that you actually weren't matching the historic portion of the building. And I just wanted to make sure that that's accurate. Yes.

So, originally when we designed the house and we had talked to when we first initially submitted to the city, they said, "Well, we want it to look more cohesive, so we actually changed the materials to where it looked more cohesive." And then they said, "Well, actually, we'd rather it not look cohesive." So, we did in fact change the exterior of the house. So, the existing house is a kind of a green sandfinish stucco from the 40s, I guess, maybe earlier.

And the that will be preserved, that will be repaired if needed. And the rest of the house will have a um there will be stuckco on the rest of the h the addition but it will um most of the house will be a sighting. So there will be a clear distinction between the two. Sounds good. Any other comments or questions for Mr. Limeberg? Nope. Okay. Sounds good. Thank you so much. Um Jeff Ryan, I'm assuming there's probably no follow-up comments since there were no comments at the beginning.

Okay, sounds good. Uh, council members, any comments or discussion? Council member Adams, I'd like to make a motion to approve. Sounds so actually, let me do this really quickly. I need to Oh, no, no, you're good. You're good. What I'm going to do, I'll just quickly, um, I'll just read this to make sure the public understands exactly what we're doing here.

So, um, once again, just want to restate this item is an appeal of the HPC's decision to deny the applicant's request for a certificate of appropriateness for a two-story addition to the Prair residence, aka McGinness House, which is located at 913 South Maple Avenue and designated as a Tempe historic property.

So the options the council has this evening in front of us are option one which is to approve the appeal of the HPC's decision which means to find in favor of the appellant and effectively approve the request. Uh number two council can deny the appeal of the HPC's decision and effectively deny the request. Three is modify the HPC's decision or four is remand the matter back to the HPC with direction to consider issues that the council feels were not adequately addressed.

So those are our four options uh this evening. Um council member Adams you so I would like to see this project go forward. Okay. So you're looking here then to uh approve the appeal of the of the decision. So that's correct. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Okay. It's been comment. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I was going to do for first and second and then comment. Yeah. Yeah. Y'all are jumping all over me tonight. So, I didn't do it. So, all right.

It's it's been moved by council member Adams, seconded by counciling. And now discussion. Council member Chin. Thank you, Mayor. Um, as we were reviewing the details of the case and the appeal that was submitted, I was trying to be mindful of the larger picture and the work that the HBC does is very important for our community. Uh, and I kept that in mind. I also kept in mind the value of Maple Ash. Maple Ash is a fantastic neighborhood of ours. Has beautiful old homes, active neighbors.

Our goal is to preserve the essence of the Maple Ash neighborhood and be mindful and respectful of the culture and history of Tempee represented largely by the homes in that area. I noted that the owner uh on on her own initiative reached out to the National Register of Historic Homes to try to get listed. and and I know that that's a long process and when she did and according to our notes and I think Mr.

Linberger uh confirmed that um she was denied and indicated there was an indication that the home did not qualify for the National Register of uh historic homes. Um, I noted that the current livable space that she's in is 570 square ft. For some of us in that in this room, that's an extravagant closet, right?

Um, I think one of one of the the goals and objectives of understanding historic preservation is how do we honor how do we honor our past and and keep that memory alive for us, but also how do we incorporate it so that those of us in the present living here and we need to coexist both with history and current. And I noted that one of the objections from the HPC for the project was it was too large. It was going to be larger.

The livable space that was proposed and planned and designed is larger than 570 square ft on a 7,000 square foot lot.

Well, if what we're trying to do is have the owner live there and preserve and honor the the legacy of the McInness house, and if the plans uh contain a design that make the main house, the original McGinness house, the focal point of that property still, which by all designs it appears to be, then it makes sense to me to allow this build to happen and to preserve what we're trying to do in our historic areas, right? Historic homes.

Um, I had the opportunity to walk some neighborhoods in some really old cities in in DC in Washington DC and I saw some fantastic examples of coexistence of really old buildings older than ours and some really great modern buildings in the same space and it can be done and I think this could be an example of that. So, with that, I'll also support. Excellent. Thank you, Council Member Chin. Uh, anyone else any further comments or questions?

Once again, just want to restate for the record here, the motion on the table that was moved by Council Member Adams and seconded by Council Member Keating was to approve the appeal. Yes. Uh, Mr. City Attorney.

Uh, Mayor, I'm I'm I think for a good record, I think the intent uh and I'll ask Council Member Adams is to reflect that the appeal will be to um grant the appeal with the uh stipulation that the uh applicant will use the re uh preserve the original finishes on the um historic structure because the the applicant did submit revised plans. I just want to make sure that's clear if that's the council's intent to have that stipulation. So, sounds good. Thank you, Mrs. City Attorney.

Is that your intent council? Great. And council member Keing, you okay with that? Okay. So, that has been moved and seconded. Um, any further comments or questions? I have a comment question. Oh, I think Are we already closed, Mr. City Attorney? Or I'm sorry. No, no worries, Miss Gus. I'm sorry. Um, with that said, please vote. Yes. And that motion passes seven to zero. All right.

Next up here, item 8A2, which is to request a development plan review for a new 20story mixeduse development consisting of 786 dwelling units on 3.61 61 acres for Leo Temp located at 835 South Rural Road. The applicant is Snell and Wilmer LLP. Let's see. Mr. Wood, please come forward. Mayor, members of the council, Nick Woods, woman, East Washington Street Phoenix. I was here on this case back in December and um we asked you if you would kindly approve the zoning case.

Reason, of course, is we were under contract to acquire several parcels and one of the sellers wanted at least the zoning in place before the end of the year. So, you very kindly considered that. Um, and then you ask me point blank, now since you're going to bring the DPR later, are you going to bring the DPR years from now or and when you do bring the DPR, is what we see going to be different than what you're showing us tonight?

And I gave you my word um as I've done many times that uh we'll file it shortly after the first of the year. We'll come see you in six months and no, there won't be many changes um certainly no material changes to the plan. So again, it's the southeast corner of the intersection of university and rural. Um you all are very familiar with the shopping center. Um the general plan allows over 65 dwelling units per acre and you approved it as an MU4 P A.

Um on the left is the site plan that I showed you. Um and there are three changes to it. Uh one change is with respect to the rooftop of the amenity deck. Um we committed to provide 20% of the top of the garage uh to solar. So on the left side you can see there's no solar. On the right side you can see that we've added the location for the solar panels. Um the second change that we made is the area on the left side between the two buildings.

Um we had an area there cut out for loading, unloading, picking up of garbage. Um things like you know deliveries when students move in or move out etc. We've decided to cover that and put it all in the interior. So basically now garbage pickup is in the interior. students um pick up and drop off their furniturees in the interior, which I think makes for a much better project. As you can see on the right hand uh slide, it's now covered.

Uh the third change we did was just some landscaping the location of trees along um uh university. As you can see, they're a little bit more staggered, but uh we've actually made it much better from the standpoint of shade. We are still of course providing um and and building out a signalized intersection right there in the northeast corner um where the curb cut is on the university. As we know today, people just jwalk and it's like um frogger and it's very dangerous.

Um and of course cars trying to cross to the shopping center, same thing. Even cars coming out and making right and left turns from the shopping center, it's very dangerous. by putting in a signalized um uh intersection on all four uh corners. Now we create a safe area for people to cross. Um nothing else has changed on the site. We still have the same restaurant space as we showed you the last time. Um again, the only thing that's changed is we made it a little smaller.

Uh originally we had in dwelling units, we had 950 dwelling units. Now we're reducing that to 786. uh bedroom count. We're reducing that a little bit from 2391 beds to 2300. And then we're changing the mix of studios, one bedrooms, two bedrooms, three bedrooms, and four bedrooms. Um but again, the total is uh uh 2,300 beds. Building heights haven't changed. Lot coverage um actually is a little less, a little smaller coverage.

Um parking of course since we're reducing the number of beds we're reducing the parking from 767 to 921 parking ratio is still the same at.35 which is what you know the current standard is now for student housing and we still have our 14,000 square ft of uh retail space. Architecture is exactly the same thing that I showed you the last time. Very very nice finishes. Um and of course the ground level is spectacular especially on this corner. Um here's another shot of it.

This is along the rural um side. Um this is of course a long university um very wide um area for um pedestrians with even an island on in the sidewalk itself. You can see the columns are the same. uh the balcony on top, the hanging uh landscape, um all the finishes on the ceiling, but the important thing is all of the outdoor dining is all undercover. Uh here's a shot again. Same thing along rural that I showed you the last time. Um and of course, here's the corner.

We're going to put the bus stop in. We'll go ahead and put some multimodal devices here. Everything from bikes to scooters and and and other things. But again, this corner has a sense of arrival attached to it and and it's really, you know, pretty special. Um, just another shot along um rural. As you can see inside, we can see where the restaurants and things are. Um, as we mentioned, we've adopted elements of your international green construction code and I laid those out the last time.

They haven't changed. In addition, again at the bottom, we promised our 20% of parking rooftop to include solar, u car sharing services, LED lighting, 5% will be charging spaces, and then one last thing we've added is we've talked to the city about putting a wireless communication system on top of one of the two buildings. Um, it'll help for fire, police, and and again, city communications. That's for free. We're providing that for the city free of charge.

So, with that, um, not much has changed, but this is the DPR, so we would respectfully request your approval tonight. Thank you. Sounds good. Thank you very much. Uh, anyone have any questions for Mr. Wood? All right. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Uh, any comments or questions? Uh, city staff, do you have anything that you'd like to add this evening or council, any questions for staff? Okay, sounds good. And just to note, this is not a public hearing item actually.

So that kind of concludes the presentation. So council, any comments or discussion or is there a motion? I I would like to a motion to approve it. And can I just discuss a few um first of all, I love all the trees that you've added um the green bushes up on top. That looks really nice. Uh I like I appreciate you guys following the green building code and adding solar to the project.

Uh, I think it's a beautiful project and I like it that you have the overhang and so people will have shade and I think it's a perfect location for this kind of project and I will be supporting this and I make a motion to approve. Thank you. It's been moved by council member Chin but actually council Adams, excuse me, I was thinking because council member Chin just provided a second that's why I was thinking of her so I apologize but I know you also have some comments as well. Yeah.

Uh, thank you mayor. Um, I I have to tell you, it's a personal aside. I look at that picture and I look at that map and a big part of my childhood is in that map because my parents' restaurant is that spot that I think it's going to be by the pool now. So, they would be happy with it. Thank you. Okay. Okay. Sounds good. So, it's been really quickly it's been moved by council member Adams, seconded by council member Chin. I know council member Hajj also has comments as well. Okay.

Thank you so much is I'm like you when I went to college I spent time many of nights at Gus's Pizza and Gus's Pizza is right there. So, I did say I I love it. I think it's great. I I appreciate the fact that you put the crosswalks in for the kids for our students.

Um, and I only thing I told you is I', hey, keep working on Gus because I do want to keep Gus's pizza there because even though I don't study at 3 o'clock in the morning, I might still want to be out one time at 3:00 in the morning and get some Gus's pizza. Sounds good. Uh, next up, Vice Mayor Coin. I just want to thank you, Nick. You were true to your word. You came back with not changes, crazy, anything. So, thank you so much. We appreciate that.

Um, I just want to say I'm still really really interested in what the archeological site is going to look like on this property. Um I I noticed and I'm not sure if it's on this property or the one that's next to it. The buildings are already taken down and they're just grounded ground there just dirt. And I could see the mound where when they do were doing the Eighth Street archaeological dig. They said that the structure that they found there the columns on the bottom were really really large.

And they said that the structure there was probably the same size or bigger than Kasa Grande ruins. and that that mound that we saw, they believe is the top of that when it fell, it was pushed over for the railroad. So, it's going to be really fascinating to see what you were able to find there and um and get back to the communities that that were the original people here. So, I'm really looking forward to that. So, thank you. Thank you, Council Brand. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

I was just looking through my phone because um I I too want to thank uh Nick for being willing to put that that four-way stop there. um especially since the canes is there. But whenever this came about, I'm I I took a screenshot and it was a social media post and I sent it to the mayor and basically it was some ASU students lamenting the fact at 1:00 in the morning they were no longer going to be able to stumble across the street from Devil's Advocate to go to Canes and uh get chickens.

So, as a mother of now going to be three college students starting this fall, uh, thank goodness one actually graduated, so otherwise it would be four. Um, I thank you. Thank you. Yes, Council Adams. Yes, I just have to concur with Council Member Amber and uh, Council Member Hajj about the the Thank you for the lights. That's really important, especially at this location. So, um, safety is very important to me. So, thank you. Thank you, Council Biti.

Yes, I agree with council member Amberg with regards to the accessibility to raising canes. His favorite place. I knew that was coming. All right. Any other uh comments or discussion? Well, my my grad school hangout was the IHOP where the graduate hotel is. But with that said, let's vote. And that item passes seven to zero. Yeah.

The next item under the section is 8A3, which is to approve a two-year contract renewal with Payment Corporation for a vendor hosted mobile for a vendor hosted mobile web payment processing service. Trying to get over the name Payment. Um, council members, any comments or discussion? It's been moved by council member Hajj and seconded by Council Member Keating. Please vote. And that item passes seven to zero.

The next item under the section is 8 A4, which is to approve one-year contract renewals with Allied Universal Services, Team Security, and Windham Security Strategies Today LLC for armed and unarmed security officer services at various city locations. Council members, any comments or discussion? It's been moved by Council Member Keating and seconded by Council Member Adams. Please vote. And that item passes 7 to zero.

The next item under the section is 8A5, which is to adopt a resolution authorizing a maximum dollar amount for an individual job order of up to $3,400,000 for the purpose of procuring construction services for the BOF filter rehabilitation project number 32230193. Council members, any comments or discussion? So move. It's been moved by council member Haj and seconded by council member Amber. Please vote. And that item passes 7 to zero.

The last item under the section is 86, which is to award job order number three to FPS Civil LLC for project number 3223019E SAI SRO Bofilter Rehabilitation, Southern Avenue and Priest Drive. Council members, any comments of discussion? Motion to approve. It's been moved by council member Adams and seconded by Council Member Keating. Please vote. Yes. And that item passes seven to zero. The next section on the non-consent agenda is ordinances and items for introduction and first hearing.

The votes under the section will be read and introduced tonight or should the items under the section will be read introduced tonight but no substitive votes will be taken. The second hearings and votes are scheduled for July 1st, 2025.

The first item under the section is 8B1, which is to introduce and hold the first public hearing to adopt an ordinance for a zoning map amendment from R4 and CSS to MU4, a planned area development overlay to establish development standards and a development plan review for a new sevenstory mixeduse development consisting of 105 dwelling units on 88 acres for the Marshall Run Spence located at 1026 East Spence Avenue. The applicant is CHA Consulting. Let's see.

Um, any comments from staff on this item before we get started? Okay, seeing none, I guess then we'll look to uh a presentation from the applicant. Mr. Wood, please come forward. Nice to see you again. Yeah, long time. Nick Woods, Melon, one East Washington Street, Phoenix, and I represent Aptitude. So, another student housing project. I don't know why I seem to get all the student housing projects, but um this of course is student housing central uh right along Apache.

Um the property we're here to talk about tonight, of course, is bounded by the uh the yellow rectangular area. It's an existing apartment building, a conventional apartment. It has um 38 units in it. Um all but three of them are one-bedroom units. And it's an old apartment building. It's been around a long time. It's kind of long in the tooth. And you can see that there's a parking lot behind it. The parking lot has 34 spaces. Um the owner of the property has decided it's time to sell.

And of course, there are a lot of, you know, people interested in purchasing it. Um, and the good news is that my client, um, Aptitude was able to put it under contract. Um, the reason I say it's good news is because they are the developer for the Marshall phase one that you can see just north of it, right above it. Um, that property is currently under construction. Um, I think it's up at fourth or fifth level by now. It's a sevenstory project that you approved a couple of years ago.

Um, actually it was, yeah, about two years ago, a little bit longer than that. Um so you have common ownership, you have common management, you have all the good things that you want to see um with the same owner. Um you know we were with to you with the veil. Um you can see if you go away left uh on the screen uh right along rural and fronting on uh Apache and also um on Spence. Um we did that for Gil Lane.

Um that one will probably start construction hopefully in the next year where they'll tear the Moxy down. Um fairly large project. Uh that one's actually eight stories. Uh stepping down to six, stepping down to four uh stories along Spence. Um the CVS will not be touched and that has about 865 unit uh uh bedrooms in it. Um and then about gosh, it seems like eight years ago or more, we did the district.

the district was like the first really uh vertical um student housing project that was in this area. Nobody knew how to park it. So the developer, you know, we sat there and said, "Well, you got 900 beds um as well as a lazy river, which I think is kind of stupid, but um 900 beds and then um 900 parking spaces. So you've got this huge structure that's mostly empty most of the time. Um and that of course we have seven stories along Apache and stepping down the five and stepping down to four.

Um across the street um the 922 place was an old condo uh project that didn't make it through the great recession. So they made it into student housing itself. Now we did not work on that one but we did the Carmen. Carmen is 15 stories and uh uh then right next to that is Rambler. We did not do that but that's 15 stories and then Apollo uh is six stories. Um, so you know, basically this is going to be an extension of the marshall itself, the first Marshall.

This is the one that's under construction today. This is the one that you approved a couple of years ago. As you can see, one of the things I like about Aptitude is they do great work. Um, the development has nice finishes, great architecture, uh, even at at the ground level with the streetscape, uh, lots of movement, etc. Um, and this at the time was the smallest student housing project that I think we have from the ground up built up in in Tempee.

Um, this one is even a lot smaller as you could tell by this screen. Um, it's a very small narrow lot. Um, behind, you know, what was then the smallest, now this is the smallest. Um, you went through a general plan amendment process which took a lot of time and a lot of work. And um the general plan amendment made some changes here. When we did the first phase, uh the one that I showed you is under construction right now.

We actually had to do a general plan amendment because the general plan here said it must be 65 or less. So in order to build the first phase, we actually had to do a general plan amendment. Well, during the general plan amendment process, of course, it was changed from Spence all the way north to Apache to over 65 dwelling units. So the idea of course was that this where you'll have density where you have um and corresponding uh height that of course would go along with that.

Uh the zoning um as you can see above us we did an MU4 P A couple of years ago and now uh we're changing the CSS R4 to um MU4. Um as I mentioned it's the smallest one we've ever done. It's a little less than an acre. There's only 105 dwelling units. Um, only 271 bedrooms. Uh, a nice mix of bedrooms. Um, 21 studios, 10 ones, 17 twos, 27 threes, 25 fours, and just a handful of fives. Building height, seven stories, stepping down to five, stepping down to four.

um not too dissimilar to the step downs we have of course on the veil and the step downs that we have at the um the district although those are much larger projects lot coverage 76% um the key is there's only 89 parking spaces and that's important because what we've heard from the neighbors as always is traffic you know are you going to add traffic to our lives and that's a legitimate concern I mean we all hate traffic um I know I do Um, it's one of the reasons I moved closer to my work uh from where I used to live.

Um, but there's only 89 spaces and we'll talk about that in a minute. So, the parking ratio is 31. We have 31 and the one to the north that's under construction and the one we just showed you just before is 35. So, that's kind of the new um uh medium for uh this type of development. Um, setbacks. This one's a little bit different than the other two that front on Spence. Um this is a 20 foot set back from the property line.

Uh whereas you know when you look at uh the veil and the district those are both 10 10 and 1/2 ft from um the property line. Uh but this one is 20. Um in addition um it's such a wide rightway there that we're actually 34t to the base of the building from the uh back of curb. Um so we have stepbacks, right? We have uh up the fourth fourth uh floor uh we step back 5 1/2 ft and then from the fifth to sixth floor we step back another uh 4 and 1/2 ft. Um here's the site plan. Again, long and narrow.

Uh we have an entrance in and out of the parking garage at the southeast corner. As you can see, it's a standalone building, although it's common ownership, common management. Um we have a lobby and a mail room. We have a bike room for 130 bicycles uh to be stored uh on site. Um we have two levels of parking. Uh the one level is ground level as you see here. Um and then of course there's a second level right above it for the total of 89 spaces.

Um one of the unique things about this which you couldn't have if there was any other owner than the one who owns phase one is the connectivity for two reasons. One is for cars. Um, one of the things in order to lessen the amount of traffic that goes out on the fence, we agreed to a stipulation that you we'll talk about tonight. That stipulation basically permits uh students who live in the southern building, this building to actually go north through the northern building out to Apache.

So if anyone wants to go east, you know, anywhere in in the city, rather than go down Spence and then, you know, trying to work their way around there, they can just go right through the building around a passion, they can go east. Of course, that lowers the amount of traffic that obviously can come out onto Spence. Um uh but no one in the northern building can come south. Uh other than extreme circumstances where it's emergency or something else, they can't.

So again, we're trying to limit as much as we can the amount of traffic that goes to Spence. Um, this is our landscape plan. Oh, one other thing. We not only have the ability to have cars go north through the northern building, but we also have pedestrian access. As you can see along the right side of the building, that's a sidewalk, and a building comes around the back of the building, and then they can go right through uh the one that's under construction right now up to Apache.

What's important about that is you have a street star uh street car station just right there. And of course, you got light rail nearby. So now, not only do the residents, the students who live in this building have access to go right directly up to the street car and or light rail, but anybody can. It'll basically be open to the public. So people who live down here now, they don't, you know, they don't have to go around and they can just go directly up. Um here's the architecture.

Um again it's it's a small building. Um we have the the fourstory element and then of course we have the fifth story and then the sixth and the seventh. Um we spent some time um with um CVAC and and of course Matt Salinger who's a very gifted architect and he gave us some ideas and some recommendations regarding the colors and materials.

So, for example, this the blue that you see on top, it's a corrugated metal um rather than you know some kind of other material and and the color was a good idea. The other thing is because of the building even with the step downs, you want to minimize right the visual impact of the of the property. So, these colors and articulation and other things does that as well as well as the the setback. Um you can see the setback a little bit better here.

Like I said, it's 34 feet from the back of the curb to the bottom of the building and it's 20 feet from the property line to the bottom of the building. You can see where the entrance is. You can see how we've tried to again soften the building uh with the different colors, the different articulation. Uh even adding because this is a a southern exposure. Uh we actually have fins uh shade fins around the windows in order to cut down on the potential for heat uh affecting uh the residents.

And of course you can see the trees that are there today. Um this is an example again you saw the materials on phase one when I showed you that this is a bit better shot of uh an area for residents, right? Really nice shaded landscape, but look at the materials. They're really uh you know top-notch and a and a great design.

This is more of a a realistic shot um at ground level at grade level and again you can see the materials um you can see the building you can see you know everything at grade level and above. Um so they did a really nice job with respect to this design and and it's it's gone through some significant changes.

Uh we're going to add some green construction code uh elements um regarding sustainability, reduction of light pollution, water use efficiency, irrigation, energy star, indoor environmental quality, low VOC materials, etc. And we're working on a percentage of of um parking spaces for EV. Um, I I think we're going to end up at five, but they're looking at their electric grid to make sure that they cover it, but I'm I'm expecting it to be about 5%.

And as you know, I drive a Tesla, so to me, that's important. Um, the stipulation, again, we have a stipulation that basically says um those who live in the southern building have the ability to run and and drive through the northern building out to Apache. Again, the purpose is to reduce traffic out onto uh Spence.

Um the only change we added to the the stipulation was that northern uh residents can come south to the southern building to Spence only during exigent circumstances or emergency circumstances. So if there's some emergency where they shut down because one of the issues that we have of course with Apache is it's right in right out um because you have you know street car right there so you can't make left turns onto Apache.

So if something happens, if there's a fire, then they can open it up, but only under emergency circumstances can they do that. Um, so with that, you know, I'd be happy to answer any questions that you might have. Thank you, Mr. Wood. Appreciate it. Anyone from council have any comments or questions? I know we still have a public hearing portion, but Council Member Adams. Yes. Thank you.

Uh, I really appreciate you uh using the green code um and and promoting the sustainable practices that you have with this project.

um that's near and dear to me as and also as a member of the Valley Metro board of directors um there's every part there's every transportation form there and so I'm so glad that you've cut back on the parking that's a big deal we don't want a bunch of cars down there they're it's not necessary when they can take light rail they can take the street car they can take orbit they can take uh all kinds of things Ubers uh whatever it may be so I I just um really like the fact that we you have instituted the things that you have in this project.

Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. W. Could you go back to the previous slide just for a quick second? Yes, I wanted to look at that at the modification. I'm just trying to understand the proposed modification to make sure I completely get it.

Um, so my only question, I know one of the concerns that was raised by some of the residents and I can get to some of the comments and questions later, but was a lot of the traffic exiting on Spence as opposed to exiting on Apache Boulevard, which is sort of a more, you know, which is a much more busier thoroughfare. Is the proposed stipulation attempting to address that issue by basically pushing the cars away from Spence onto Apache Boulevard or is it attempting to establish something else?

Um, mayor, this that's a great question. Um, our original design and maybe I can go back and picture worth a thousand words. I'm aware I get paid by the word. Um, so here we go. So, as you can see, there was a a bright red line at the top of the slide where the driveway goes from this building to the northern building. Um, and basically, we were going to shut that off just to make sure that anyone who lives in a northern building can't come south.

Um, again, with the concern even though there's only 89 spaces and obviously 89 spaces in student housing, student housing traffic generation is nominal. That's one of the reasons why we only have so many parking spaces. But 89 spaces with students, they're they don't unlike the rest of us who are in our cars all day, students aren't. Um, but in order to even reduce further the likelihood of cars out on Spence, um, we agreed to open that up to northern travel, right?

Uh, travel going toward Apache. So for the students who live in this building, if they choose, right, they're not compelled to, but if they choose to go north to Apache, they have that automatic access to do that. However, the reverse is not true. Um, unless there's an emergency where the only way for those who live in the northern building to get out would be to the south. Um, but this way we tried to create something where they end up going north.

Um, and that's and that's what the purpose of the stipulation is to allow them, you know, to to go north, but not to allow anybody to come south except in special circumstances. Okay. Yeah, sounds good. Thank you. Appreciate that. And and if I may add one other thing, um, so when you look at when we did the district, right, the district 900 beds, there's driveways on either side of the district coming south to Spence.

Um, so those residents in that huge building, the 900 beds, they can either go north or south any time of the day or night. Um, and of course we took a a good look at that in comparison to what we're doing here. And again, thank goodness students aren't in their cars all the time. Um, but yes, sounds good. I've got a couple of questions, but I'll wait till after the public hearing to ask those. But thank you for the presentation. Anyone else right now? Okay, you'll wait too. Okay, sounds good.

Thank you, Mr. Wood. All right. Um, with that said, let me go ahead and open up the public hearing portion here, which is, and actually, I should say the public testimony portion. This the entire thing is a public hearing. Um, so I'm going to go to once again the cards in the order in which I received them. The sp first speaker I have this evening is Jim Fely. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes.

Good evening, mayor and council members and fellow patriots. Um, I'm here in uh speaking against the project. Uh, I've been a resident of Tempe since 1977. Um, in 1982 I moved into that area and I was a renter from 82 to 91. Uh, going to graduate school. I'm also a graduate of ASU and a retired sixth grade public school teacher.

Um, in science, you know, there's there's a saying, you know, we used to take a a glass of water and fill it up to the brim and then put pennies in it, see how many pennies we could get till it overflowed. Well, that's kind of the situation that we're in right now. Uh Spence is uh is when they you know Hatche Boulevard used to be the highway that went through the valley and they've congested that quite a bit now with two uh two forms of light rail and and um and buildings of ASU and so forth.

And uh a lot of the traffic has moved over to Spence. Uh I'm a bicyclist. Uh, I ride bicycle all the time and I go over to the extreme bean coffee shop and there's only one way for me to get there and that's down spent one safe way and that's down Spence to Rural down rural over Vistadelero Vistadelero to Cedar and Cedar all the way to uh southern then southern down to the coffee shop. Okay. Any other way is pretty dangerous.

Uh Spence over the years has has gotten quite congested, especially with the way Apache Boulevard has gone. And I think that by adding uh 200 and some more units or 200 and some more families in there, it's going to be even more congested and even more dangerous for me and for other students and anybody that rides a bicycle down that street uh or even walks on that street. It's not very wide. And as a a photography um uh student up, you know, we used to draw maps.

Maps really don't tell the truth. Uh that map really made that area look small and inconsequential, but it isn't. It's pretty large. Um you know, it's it's a large area, but that little area that they're talking about, they're trying to cram 200 and some apartments in there. Is that what it is? Eight stories. It doesn't fit the landscape either. Um, and that's all I got to say. I know that uh there's 48 people that are going to be kind of put out.

I don't know if the city's going to compensate them, but I'm sure that there lower income people are living in those in that housing right now. Um, I don't know. Did the city ever consider that? Uh, are they going to compensate those people? because you know like after you rent for a while your rent kind of stays pretty much the same or doesn't move up. Thank you. That that's time. Thank you. And that's it. Yep. You got it. Thank you so much.

The next speaker I have this evening is Christian Curry. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. Uh good evening, Mayor Woods. Good evening, uh Mayor Vice Mayor Garland and council members. For the record, Christian Curry. I'm a resident of Tempe Micro Estates here today in opposition to the proposed project.

Um the developer really is standing before you today requesting a zoning amendment for a project that really just doesn't fit the property on which they wish to build. Uh in order to maximize the space, they are reducing the amount of parking spaces to a bare minimum. A 3.1 parking ratio is an absolute joke. Uh this kind of reckless behavior places a lifetime burden on my neighbors and myself.

Uh the developer's main argument has been that these future residents will be students and that they won't have uh vehicles. However, I want to point out that we have now heard on several occasions both at the DRC hearing as well as in 2023 um when they were approving Marshall on Apache um that the developers representative has touted that the district which is down the street um was approved on a 1:1 ratio uh and has an abundance of parking.

Uh in fact they have so much parking uh to the point where they are um leasing spots uh to the de surrounding developments on Apache. Uh this should raise some serious concerns. Um the neighboring sites were propo were approved at a ratio from anywhere from 0.5 to 0 75 and those sites are leasing spots from a 1:1 ratio. And here we are tonight requesting uh for the most extreme ratio uh in the entire corridor of only 31.

A 1 to 1:1 ratio might be an extreme on one side but I also know that 31 ratio is an absolute extreme on the other side. Um this kind of project has the potential to have a lifespan of over 40 years. The current place there was built in 1970s. We're only given one opportunity to make things right for the entire neighborhood. Um, but also the future of Tempe.

Years down the road, because parking is almost non-existent in this uh in this project, this project could never be converted over to any type of housing for the workingclass American like you and I, just simply because there isn't any parking at all um that would be available for all those residents. Uh, and we really don't look very far to see examples of that. I mean, you look at the Roosevelt Row right now. Uh, it's a vibrant place down in Phoenix.

Uh, developers had their way there, built multiple projects that were at a much lower ratio. Um, drive down there right now and you'll see cars piled into neighborhoods all around there, really ruining the lives of of those folks that purchased those homes um and didn't, you know, purchase them knowing that there'd be vehicles parked all up and down those streets.

Um, this being the first project on Spence Boulevard to be proposed at such a large such a low ratio really is the first domino um to fall and could create precedent for future significantly um future uh developments.

I'm not saying the development is bad uh and it and it can't be done down the road, but this project is how it's being currently proposed is completely favoring the developer whose sole goal is to maximize the bottom line while my neighbors like myself uh and those that are here uh tonight are left with long-term consequences. not just um not just for decades to come but for for a lifetime.

The developer is asking for a change in zoning and the onus should be on them um to uh to prove that this project will benefit the neighborhood. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. The next speaker I have is Matthew Salinger. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. My name is Matthew Salinger. I'm a resident of Tempi in Hudson Manor and I have been living there since 2020. Um, good evening mayor and council members.

I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today about the proposed student housing development along Spence. While growth is important and I am pro-development um, in general this project is deeply approp inappropriate for its location. First, the scale of the development is out of place. Every building along this stretch of Spence Avenue is four stories or fewer.

Um, and the um the buildings that are further to the west, they are four stories quite a ways back before they start gaining up to seven stories. This one does not do that. Um, this would be a seven-story complex that would tower over a neighborhood of single family homes and small uh two-story apartments mostly um and setting a horrible precedent for the kind of density that we would have on such a tiny road.

Um it's simply incomp uh incomp sorry incompatible with the existing character of the area. Second traffic con uh congestion on Spence is already a problem as you just heard. Um and this development will make it worse. The developer initially suggested that cars would not exit onto the south end. Yet the legal description tells a different story. With more than 200 bedrooms in this complex we are looking at a dramatic increase in vehicles pouring into an already overburdened roadway.

Um it gets backed up at um rural in the morning partially because ASU um maintenance people will take their carts out there and then they can't you can't get out and go right. You have to wait until the light changes which is quite a long way. So it already backs up about 200 feet um in the mornings. Um and this would just make it worse because there's going to be more traffic there.

Um, finally, responsible development should reflect and respect the communities that it joins, the communities that they're building in, not just not ignore the communities. I created a rubric for evaluating developments in Tempe that city planners have praised. Yet, if every development is going to ignore the community it sits in, this will not be a great place to live in the future. Um, the building, as uh Mr.

Wood said, you know, we I made some suggestions that they tried to implement, but the um the fourstory building we wanted 100 ft before it changed um in height, and you can see it really got all compressed. There's no way that's going to feel like a four-story building on the street. It's a sevenstory building. It's all right up against the the street. Um and it is going to feel completely out of place. Um so I urge the council to reconsider this proposal.

growth must be thoughtful, balanced, and in harmony with the community that it impacts. Um, and I hope that we can find a more agreeable way for this uh particular development to go forward. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. The next speaker I have is Philip Amarosce. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. Philosi, 50-year resident of Tempe. It's my new tagline.

Some of you might remember me from two weeks ago when I talked about this atrocious project coming down the pike because your development department can't see the big picture. They just see the big buildings. I tried sitting down and talking to them, but they're not listening. Now we're here. I don't blame the developer for this situation. They're always going to go for the most profit. It's the uh city that has to have the common sense.

And just because you have to realize that because you can doesn't mean you should. Show me another neighborhood. I I measured the street. Show me another neighborhood with a small street like Spence. It's only 26 ft wide. And they're going to get a seventhstory student housing project like this. Earlier we talked about Maple Ash. Well, Maple Ash is the same zoning as Gentilly. R4. Maple Lash has the same width streets and they're the same distance from ASU that Gentill is.

Would a developer propose a sevenstory student housing project in that neighborhood? Hell no. But it's okay in the poor Gentilly neighborhood. Why isn't your development department see the danger in this ultra high density development? Do you want an 85 foot high student housing project across the street from you? because that's what you're telling the neighbors in Gentilly that they must accept. It's not the 105 apartments.

It's the 271 beds and that means more food deliveries, more Amazon deliveries, more guests and lios that won't pull into the parking garage. They're going to clog up the street on top of the extra 89 cars. And just like add that to the 5,000 car trips that they're already getting over there. And it's ridiculous. Like I said, four stories, 66 units would also fulfill the general plan and the MU4 zoning without this horrific congestion and the monstrosity that this creates.

What kind of city are we becoming when the less fortunate neighbors have to put up with this inappropriate density and congestion while those with money and influence sit back knowing that they'll never get a sevenstory student housing apartment overlooking their backyard? Thank you. That was the only card that I had. Is there anyone else? That was the last card that I had. Is there anyone else wishing to speak on item 8B1? If so, can you please get my attention? All right.

Seeing that, I will close the public testimony portion of the public hearing. Let's see here. Uh, council members, any further comments? I guess Mr. Wood, I probably have another question for you as well. So I just, you know, I wanted to make sure we kind of got through the public comment before I asked some of my other questions because I thought they might echo some of the things that I I had a little bit of a concern about. So the height generally speaking, I know when Mr.

Salinger talked about kind of 100 ft back and basically saying that because this is not 100 feet back, even though it's you you technically say it steps down to four stories when it gets on to spent, he's basically saying his feeling is it's not going to feel like a four-story building. It's still going to feel like a sevenstory building because it's still too close to the neighborhood. How would you counter that? Sure, Mayor. If I could have my presentation back up. Thank you.

Um, and by the way, it was very kind of of um, Phil and Matt, they gave us time. Uh, we did a presentation to the CVAC board and I think February. Um, then we actually got our architects together with them. uh and again they had some very you know helpful comments and and then we spoke ahead a third time and I'm sure we'll meet with them again before we come before you for action.

Um but you know the the issue of height is because there's two issues and and I mentioned in my presentation and building height and traffic um and these are things that we deal with all the time with respect to the height in looking at the buildings that I pointed out when we started you look at Veil right now Veil is on Spence but it's also on Apache and Veil is eight stories and Veil has a step down that goes from 8 to six to four.

Um, so it's a taller building and it has about the same, our depth is a little less than Veil, but it's the same kind of style. Now, it's not built yet, so we can't see it, but it's something that you approved again last year uh to be built. Um, but it's huge. It's 865 beds. The district, of course, is 900. Now, whenever you have a large lot and a large building, you have a lot of flexibility. You can change some things around just like the project that I showed you earlier.

Um, with the DPR, I mean, we made major changes to that as we went through. Um, so here, you know, you look at, uh, the district, which is seven stories, stepping down the five, stepping down the four. Yeah, it's deeper. Um, on this one, you know, we go from seven stories down. Now the project next to us is three stories and project east of that is three stories. But you look at Parkplace Tempe and Nexa there's five stories.

So it's not like everything here along this entire area is just you know three and four stories because we start with eight stories going down to seven and then continuing to seven. Um, so one of the things we did again to soften the look is here you can see it from across the street, but I think this one gives you the best indication of what it would feel like. You know, one of the things with height, right, it's it's a personal thing.

Everyone can look at a building and think, man, that's really too tall or, you know, what's the big deal? Um, it's all different. design has a lot to do with it and design elements have a lot to do with it. Um I have a do we have the the comparison? Um yeah I I don't know how to make this work. Do I is that the Eiffel Tower? It is. Oh I thought I saw it from here. So, this is too big. Make it a smaller one. Here we go. This is better. I think all right.

This is a perfect illustration of what I'm talking about. So, the MetLife building is in Manhattan. Many of you may have seen it. Um, and then you look at the Eiffel Tower, right? Um, Metife is an ugly building in my opinion. It's 830 feet tall. The Eiffel Tower is almost 1100 feet tall. But when you look at them, right, they're they feel different.

Um the Eiffel Tower is very elegant and it's something that you you look at and go, "Wow, it's pretty special." Um whereas Met Light Building, you wish you wouldn't look at it at all. Well, what we tried to do, again, thank you. If we go back to my presentation, we tried to do here is soften that look, right? By adding materials, adding color, adding different different uh iterations and depth and articulation and other things. Um will some people think this is too tall? Yeah. Um me, I don't.

Now, um again, you know, can we go back and work on it some more? You know me, we always do, right? Until we come to you, we exhaust every possible detail and try and get to something, right? That that I think hopefully will make a lot of people happy. Um maybe not all the time, but we certainly give it the effort. With respect to traffic, I I heard two things, right? One, I heard you're putting too much traffic on to on dispense, and the other is um you don't have enough parking.

you should have more parking which of course creates more cars which of course ultimately puts more traffic on Spence. So it's it's kind of like I'm I'm kind of caught in between. Um but again they're all good comments. So I mean I appreciate the comments from everybody here and and I guess um you know and when we went to to DRC DRC had a lot of the same questions and of course they were unanimous recommendation of approval and of course we have staff uh recommendation as well.

And one of the things I brought up about parking, right? Um Christian showed up at at DRC and um and he and I know each other from other things. Um but you know, one of the concerns he raised, which is not an uncommon concern, and that is, you know, if you don't have enough parking, people are going to park in neighborhoods. Well, all of these dots are no parking signs, the red ones, and the purple ones are um permit parking only.

There are some spaces along Spence where somebody can park, but the bottom line is the way that student housing operates and not just ours, it's the rest of them. I mean, the district is an aberration. Um, we're parking in 0.5, for example, at the veil and where the Moxy is. And the idea is if there's spaces, right, you can bring a car. If not, you don't. Um, but they don't allow people to bring extra cars. They just don't.

Um, one of the things that a question that was asked of me, um, by council member Amberg was wait, bless you. When it comes to traffic volumes and what you're putting on Spence, there's the the the good news is there's actually a building there is generating traffic today. So, let's take a look at what the differential is, right?

So basically our project based upon again traffic that now can go north through the northern building out in Apache um we will generate in a 24-hour period 198 trips from our building as proposed um in AM peak hours which is really when a lot of the traffic happens will generate four coming in and eight going out for a total of 12 uh am PM peak hours. Again, eight coming in, eight going out for a total of 16. But again, for 24-hour periods, 198 cars.

Now, the Tempe Palm Apartments, which is one we're displacing, um that is market rate housing. So, of course, the traffic and our traffic engineer is here if you want to ask her any questions, but basically the traffic from a market rate apartment is generates more. Now, in this apartment building, you have a mix. You got some students, you've got, you know, non- studentents, you've got, you know, a whole mix of people. And, um, again, you've got 38 units with 34 parking spaces.

But again, according to our traffic engineer, that daily trip is 148. Um, in the mornings, they generate two in, 13 out, uh, for a total of 15. In PM, they generate 13 in and, and, and one out for a total of 14. So, we're adding a net difference in the 24-hour window of 50 trips, right? Um, and in the morning, right, we're adding two coming in, but actually five less going out in in peak times for a total of three fewer going out.

And the same thing in PM, you know, we're generating, you know, five fewer going in, five plus going in. So, a difference of two. I understand it's saying well there's 221 units but there's only 89 parking spaces and that means there's only 89 cars maximum. So we're displacing something that generates traffic now and we're replacing it now. So we're adding 50 cars in a 24-hour period. Now Mr. Amarosi mentioned that there's 5,000 trips a day on on um uh Spence.

So, we asked our traffic engineer to actually put the strip out and count. So, um let's see, make sure I get my numbers right. On um February 11th, which is a Tuesday, we they put a strip out and counted cars for 24 hours. Um total total count 3,717. Okay. Of that 186 go east, 1911 go west for a total of 3,717. Um, we are adding 198, right, in a 24-h hour period. That's nominal. And in in peak times, right, we're adding almost nothing.

And that's when really the aggravation is when cars are coming back and forth. So, when it comes to what we're actually creating traffic-wise, it really isn't a lot. Um, and you know, we've been asked to look at some other things that manage traffic, maybe even reduce traffic out on the fence more. We're, you know, we'll talk about that as well. But, um, again the impact the the real impact is not that significant.

Um, the other thing is there's another reality here and that is the person who owns this property is going to sell it. If you decide you you're not going to approve this, look, it's your you're the policy makers. You make the decision. Um, but then it's going to go to another developer, right? Because it's an old building. It's got to come down. It's going to be replaced. And if it's not going to be student housing, it's going to be market rate housing.

market rate housing generates a lot of traffic, certainly a lot more than student housing does. If that happens, there are several problems. Number one, you don't have cars being able to go through the phase one project to to to out to Apache. And number two, there's no pedestrian traffic that can go that way either. So, I asked our traffic engineer to give us an example. If a developer came in here and said, "We'll do three stories, 80 units. That's it." Right? should make everybody happy.

80 and of course it'll be more. Trust me, but I wouldn't, you know, you know me, I'm conservative. So 80 dwelling units, 80 dwelling units, market rate will generate 310 trips in a 24-h hour period, right? Um, and they'll generate more. That's just 80 dwelling units. 80 dwelling units will generate twice the traffic that's there today. For us, they'll generate 112 more, but they'll come with more than 80. They'll come with 100. we have 110 units, right?

Um, and for us, you know, it's it's it's a lot of bedrooms and things. So, you know, it's one of these things where there are choices, right? And I I always tell my kids, life is full of choices, right? Everything from the easy one, getting up in the morning and dressing yourself. Of course, for me, and my wife does that, so I I I have no taste in clothes. She picks them all out. But there are also major ones as well.

But whatever choices you make, they should be thoughtful considerations and and and the decision should be based upon in information and make informed decisions. So here, yeah, it's tall, but it's not the only tall building, right? It's we've got eight stories at the end. We've got um seven and uh um with a step down. This is seven with a step down. So again, height is but but we're 34 feet back unlike the 10 ft back from the other two. Yeah.

I mean, it's four stories for the for the uh district, but it's 10 ft away from, you know, the property line. And the same thing with uh the eighth story that's on the corner. But really at the heart of all this is traffic. And the traffic generated by 89 cars. Um, we've just showed you that it's just not it's just not a lot. Um, so I'm sorry for the longwinded answer, Mayor. Um, but I but I wanted to just, you know, go through those those considerations and um um Thank you.

Thank you, uh, Vice Mayor. Okay, so I have a couple things. Thank you for that explanation. Um, so the first thing is I sat on that street four times in the last three days at different times of the day to see what the traffic looked like. And I think part of part of the traffic, even though we know what the numbers may look like, it's the perception of what is going to happen to that street.

And I saw people pulling over, letting somebody else out, and the traffic going slow to let one car go because the other one's coming. I I saw that. The other thing I saw was an orbit that stopped at the light on Rural. And there was another car that was in the right-hand turn. So, they were going to turn right on rural and go north. And I'm assuming the perception from the orbit driver. He didn't pull all the way up to the front of the intersection. He sat right behind that car.

To me, I'm thinking, well, he even realizes that that's kind of a small area. The orbit stops is another thing that I think causes a little bit of the con congestion there. But it's a good thing to have that orbit there. But I think when I look at the that road specifically, I think about that perception of how much more traffic is going to be on there. And if you sit down there for a while, different times of the day, you can really see what that traffic is going to look like.

So that's one thing. Um the other one is you had said that the step back on um the Marshall is just a little bit smaller than the veil. And I I went back and watched the um when you presented the veil. The the step back for the Marshall is 5' 6 in and the next step back is 4' 6 in. So that's 9 feet. The veil is the first step back is 13 feet and the next step back is 25.9 feet. Mhm. So that's a considerable difference in the step back that I can see.

So when I was sitting on that road and I'm looking as somebody else had said when they came up is that there are all four stories right there. And that step back that you have it to me doesn't it's hard to even consider that a step back because it's really not doing what the intention and the idea of it was. when I watched you do this presentation on Octo on August 26, um you had said how important it was for you to have that far of a step back because it was respectful to the neighborhood.

Um the other thing that you had said as far as the um the traffic goes is you had said more importantly over on Spence we have no curb cuts. in working with staff, it was very important to keep curb cuts off of the residential street. And so that when I heard you say that, I'm like, well, that's kind of like what we're talking about.

You didn't want to add any additional traffic there, which I appreciate, but it's that you had the intention and the understanding of any other additional traffic on that road would be a lot for that community. Um, so those are my my two concerns. My the first one is the perception and the idea of the traffic on there as you had mentioned. So, thank you for saying all that. But the other one is really those setbacks stepbacks are really not stepbacks to me.

It it's if you're going to do it, you're going to really need to make them set back because if you're I got out of the car and if you're standing on that corner, the four stories four five feet and four feet are not going to really make a difference. You might as well make them go straight up. So I I think it would be nice to maybe think about that in consideration.

and and council member um Adams had said this a couple times tonight how important it is to listen to the residents and that you wonder how the residents I want to know have you reached out to those residents on the south side um of Spence they're not I would assume typical I would not expect them to be coming here to our meetings but I was wondering if you guys have reached out and talk to them at all about what you're planning on putting there so that's all I have yeah so a little bit if I may vice mayor um with respect to the um uh step back the yeah the stepbacks um that was is an eight-story building right so it's a lot taller and it's more massive and there's 835 you know bedrooms in there so that's one of the reasons why it was so important not to put another exit onto Spence just because I think we were parking at 0.5 so basically you got 400 some parking spaces.

That's would be a lot of traffic going. But but I appreciate your comments. Um again, it's it's it's one of those things where it's visual, but that vision vision also has a feel to it. So, um yeah. So, I appreciate that very much. Thank you. Thank you, uh Council Member Chin. Thank you, Mayor. Um Mr. Wood, you may want to pull up uh a rendering with some streets. I think maybe when the mayor was asking uh and that picture that you showed might work with the dots. No. Tell me when to stop.

Uh maybe this. Let me ask the question. Yeah, that one's probably better. I I share the similar concerns to Vice Mayor Garland's um setback uh and perception. perception is what we're dealing with in many cases tonight, right? Always. Um, so I noticed that and I shared some of the same thoughts on the veil, uh, the district and now the marshall and the setbacks and the use of those. My question starts with you are requesting for this to be changed to an MU4 zoning.

What is your plan for the retail part of the project? Um, thank you, Mayor, um, Council Member Jen. Um, it's 120 square ft and the idea would be to put an ATM machine there. It's it's such a small site. There really isn't much room for much more than that. Okay. But thank you. Now go back to that one uh picture where so the entry point and uh for the people in the south building, Marshall South, right? Mhm. Um, where would delivery and ride share, where would the trucks go?

Um, Mayor, Council Member Chin, if you can follow the arrows where it says parking entry, you follow the arrows in and just as you see with the words fire lane, to the left of that, there's a turnaround. Um, and that's where you would have pickup and drop off. So, they're coming in on Spence. That's correct. each time. Okay. So that's and that's for ride share and delivery and let's say people are moving in. Yes. Okay.

And and I I will echo my colleagues who have shared concern and our residents who share concerns about it's not just the in-n-out traffic. It's the dayto-day when you have those unplanned uh traffic stops. that slow everything up when you need to pull over and have somebody let out of the car. The Whimo that comes in that seems to take longer than most other cars, right? But it's also delivery. That's a very common uh bit of traffic or the cause for traffic in many areas.

Um and you have an audience there that are the primary targets for all of those services. And if they don't have cars themselves, they will be ordering the car service. So I think you need to account for those also in the traffic plan. Um this is why I like to ask these questions in the first read to give you a chance to work more closely with staff. And if I may say, um, our staff is here to help both the residents and you, uh, find some common ground to work together.

Uh the reason why we have the process to vet out the different details and the concerns of both the neighbors and our concerns before we get to a decision is through this through public input and through the DRC staff exists to help engage all of us. They're not ones to adjudicate and make decisions and opine on decisions on projects. They do a great job of advising and in staff review provide input and they listen to the neighbors also.

But the reason why we go through this process is so that we get you get input. The neighbors have an opportunity for input. We help shape something that works for all of us. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Brand. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, Nick, can you go back? I think it's number two, slide two, if I'm not mistaken. Yep, that's it. So, I will tell you, I am a huge advocate of putting student housing on Apache. I was a huge advocate of light rail.

um not simply just to even redevelop Apache but that is where I personally think that all of that should be having said that this is looking at the lobby the lobby is not on Apache it's on Spence so that is where your theoretical front door is um and while I understand and I appreciate that you've got the fire lane in there the number of times I've gone down Fifth Street to go home um and Whimo is blocking Fifth Street and I have to sit there for three or four minutes waiting for a student to come out because I can't go around them.

That's what's going to happen there. I mean, that's just that's just the reality of that. Uh, but looking at Veil, looking at the district, when you look south of those on Spence, I'm not seeing I'm not seeing houses. I'm not seeing single family houses. But whenever you look south of where the Marshall 2 is, that is when whenever you start getting further east on Spence, that's whenever you're starting to get into the residential area.

So to it's kind of apples to oranges to me to compare this facility to what you did on the district and what you're going to be doing um on the Moxy site. So um I love the fact that you were letting those cars go north on to Apache. I I really wish that the cars would be able to I don't know how you would do this to come south on Apache because all those cars are going to be going out but whenever they come back in they're going to be coming back in off of Spence.

um even if they're coming from that direction. So I I just I'd like to see a little bit more apples apples comparison. Uh I don't think that you can compare this project with the district and with veil. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else any comments or questions? All right. I I Oh, you can do yours up. Oh, no. You can go on. No, go. Okay. No. Okay. I was I guess all I was going to say too is I know that you know when uh you know you and I met Mr.

Wood yesterday and I know this has been kind of a similar refrain from a lot of the council members up here. Um you talked about you know you'd previously met with Mr. Amarosi, Mr.

Salinger to talk about this I think probably three times but you know I think you're hearing kind of that we would love for you to meet with them again and I know you've already committed to that publicly and I appreciate that because clearly there's there's sort of a gap between kind of what the developer in this situation wants and what the residents here feel is appropriate when it comes to car trips and building height and stepbacks and things of that nature.

So, I appreciate you committing to having that meeting with those two gentlemen because there there may be some kind of a common ground as Council Member Chin talked about in some kind of meeting of the minds that can happen here, but I I just Yeah, currently I I see the same thing. There's clearly a pretty wide gulf at this point. So, I appreciate your willingness between now and July 1st to sit back down with them and see if there's something that you can possibly hammer out. Yeah, okay.

Council H. All right. Okay. So, for me, I I feel that I I'm like with Council Member Amber, I try to make sure that the more student housing is around the Apache corridor because of where the location, the light rail, everything, and try to get them out of the neighborhoods as much as possible because that's what we get a lot of complaints on. Um, my only thing is, you know, you know, I I can't is there any room because I I do hear now I hear my my my constituents.

Is there any room that we can kind of push it back from a little bit more? Is that something? Is that a negotiable conversation? Mayor, Council Member Hajj, everything is negotiable. Okay, that's what I wanted to hear. Um, and the the second part is the the traffic. Is that negotiable with the spits? Because I think that's where the the the the nail hits the road right there. It hits it. That's where the the niche is is the traffic on Spence. Mayor, Council Maj, everything is negotiable.

Okay, that's what I need to hear again. So, um, those are two things because like I I and I get what, uh, Phil, Phil Phil's been a longtime friend and he can go he he can tell us when he's mad at us and then, you know, we'll be friends tomorrow. Um, but also um maybe but also I do understand I understand both sides of the coin. I do I get what they're saying because Spence is very narrow, but I also get the fact that um you know that we do need student housing.

So, um there is there there's that crutch on both sides of that. So, I would love I'm like with everybody else if you can go back to the drawing board and talk to them and with our our city staff. That's I guess I'm looking at you guys so we can all get that maybe conversation more together. I know they're looking at me now. So, um I just want to, you know, because I I really want to see success. I think every all seven of us do. We all want to see success. So, thank you.

That's all I needed to say. Sounds good. Thank you. Anyone else on council? Any other comments or questions for Mr. Wood? All right. Sounds good. See you next time. Wonderful. Thank you very much. Appreciate the presentation. Uh just want to reiterate the second and final public hearing on this item is scheduled for July 1st, 2025.

The next item under the section is 8B2 which is introduce and hold the first public hearing to adopt an ordinance amending the zoning and development code consisting of new land uses for agretainment data centers and extreme water uses and within the MUED zoning and clarification to smoking establishment and tobacco retail land uses, tattoo establishments, updates to security plans and definitions. The applicant is the city of Tempee Council. Uh any questions for staff on item 8B2?

All right, seeing none, um, this is also a public hearing, so I'm going to open up the public testimony portion of the public hearing right now. I have one card here and it's from Mark Anderson. Please come forward, state your name and city of residents. You have three minutes. Hi there, mayor, vice mayor, council members. Uh, my name is Mark Anderson. I am a Tempe resident and business owner.

Um, I just wanted to voice my support for the new zoning district, specifically the agotainment district. As we all know, Tempe is the city for innovation, but there is also the strong push in the community to maintain the city's unique history. A modified agricultural zoning option will be a big step in advancing both of these goals.

This would give local business owners and incoming developers another way to preserve and honor Temp's agricultural origins while encouraging innovative commercial ventures through adaptive reuse. We've seen other cities in the valley adopt agotainment zoning or something very similar and it's led to some very popular attractions like the farm on South Mountain or Schneps in Queen Creek just for a small few examples.

The residents of Tempe would be better served with the added zoning and it will help maintain our city's status as a hub for innovation. Thank you to the council for your time and consideration. Thank you. Appreciate it. That was the only card I had on that item this evening. If is there anyone else wishing to address the council? If so, please get my attention. All right. Seeing none, I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing. Council members, any comments or discussion?

All right. Just once again want to reiterate the second and final public hearing on this item is scheduled for July 1st, 2025. All right. All right. Next item under the section is 8B3, which is to introduce and hold the first public hearing to adopt an ordinance amending chapter 33, article 7, tempy city code, relating to water conservation by amending sections 33-140, 33-141 and 33-142. Council members, any questions for city staff on item 8B3?

Okay, this is also a public hearing item, so I would open up the public testimony portion. Is there anyone wishing to speak to the council on this item? If so, please get my attention. All right, seeing none, I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing. Um, council members, any final comments or discussion? All right, hearing none, the second and final public hearing on this item is scheduled for July 1st, 2025.

Next up, the next item under the section is 8B4, which is to introduce and hold the first public hearing to adopt an ordinance amending the Tempe City Code Chapter 5 amusements article 1 related to in general by amending section 5-2 special events and amending chapter 23 parks and recreation to update rules related to parks and recreation. Council members, any questions for city staff before we uh open up the public hearing? No. Okay, sounds good.

All right, then I'm going to go ahead then and open up the public testimony portion of this public hearing. And I've got a number of cards which once again uh I will read in the order in which they were received. Um Eddie, is there a way to pull that back down? Thank you so much. I just feel like I keep seeing the Eiffel Tower. So, um All right. So, uh the first card this evening, uh is from Dave Wells. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes.

I'm I'm Dave Wells. I live in Mesa. Um and I just want to remind you, we're talking about people here. Um and I met a guy named Jason today. Um he held a sign that said spaceship crashed. Need parts too expensive. Um he's unhoused. I I introduced him to the new meal deal. Gave him a membership card and told him how to get there on Sunday.

Um, I'm a member of the Tempe monthly meeting of the Religious Society of Friends and one of the founders of the New Deal Meal, which was designed to provide an opportunity for the housed and unhoused to interact with while providing food, water, clothing, and connections to services within the bounds of the existing special event ordinance at Moore Park.

Despite the faith community originating outreach to the city manager to reach a long-term solution, the city instead never seriously engaged the faith community, eventually usurping the meetings and leading the whole group that was at least half city staff on a brainstorming effort for all the ways one could help the homeless besides working at Moore Park. If you know little about those chronically homeless, you might be fooled into thinking this was productive. We weren't.

In the middle of it, Ron Tabscott was cited on the city's contention that the New Deal meal violated the special event ordinance. When confronted that this undermined the work of our prior meetings, we were told, "No, the agenda isn't changing. If you're not comfortable participating, you can leave." The next week, the pastor who originated the outreach to the city manager, Reverend Dr. Tom Martinez, was officially warned about violating the special event ordinance. Then, the harassment stopped.

Instead, the city manager decided to work behind the back of the faith community and come up with a proposed ordinance brought before you tonight. This that is specifically designed to stop the New Deal meal. I have always argued that how you do something is more important than what you do. And the consistent lack of integrity demonstrated to the faith community through this entire process has been very disappointing.

The city manager's office has evaded rather than engage in conversations to come up with a mutually agreeable outcome. So I call on you to table this proposed change and send it back with an inclusive group brought together. If you go forward, you'll trample over the New Deal meal and endanger the lives of the unhoused members in the middle of the scorching summer months. I'm glad to answer any questions you might have. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, sounds good. Thank you so much.

The next speaker I have is Ruth Karns. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. I am Ruth Karns and I am a resident of Tempe. When my husband and I moved to Tempe 19 years ago, we joined Tempe Friends Meeting of Quakers and started feeding homeless people through the IHELP program that was begun by faith communities and later sponsored by Tempee Community Action Agency. For a number of years, I have organized the Quaker provided meal once a month.

I help can feed and house only 40 homeless at a time. And as you know, there are many more. The city has greatly expanded its work with the homeless in the 19 years I've lived here, but we need to do a better job of working together. I am disturbed that Tempe is suppressing the generous actions of good citizens who have offered to provide meals to 60 to 80 homeless persons on Sunday afternoons at Moore Park.

From what I can see, Tempe has placed one impediment after another in the path of these good people. Moore Park is not particularly childfriendly and has been an appropriate location to offer meals to hungry people. Tempe City Council should be embracing the helpers instead of turning them aside. The change in the special events ordinance should be tabled and reconsidered in a more positive light. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker I have this evening is John Escobar. Please come forward.

Stateium and city of residents. You have three minutes. Uh, good evening, Mayor Woods and members of the council, and thank you for the opportunity to address you. Uh, my name is John Escobar. Um, I currently live in Gilbert where I'm taking care of my father who has terminal cancer. Um, but Tempe, Arizona is my home. Um, I've lived here for 20 wonderful years and it's had some of the best experiences of my life.

Um, among among those experiences has been serving uh the Tempe City Council as a member of the Neighborhood Advisory Commission. Um, and anyone who's engaged in public service and invested that time and effort as you all are tonight, um, knows how much that stands as a testament to how much we care about our community. Um, public spaces and especially our parks bring people together and exemplify some of our most beloved institutions and what really is the soul of our city.

Um, and that's why I'm concerned about the ordinance that's under consideration tonight. While it's being framed as a simple uh clarification of park use rules, what it really does is capture broad new swath of um constitutionally protected expression and conduct and submits it to what we would say is arbitrary government regulation.

Um it creates a broad and vague framework that gives the city enormous discretion and does not offer it the residents clear and consistent standards to rely on when planning events. Um the ordinance doesn't spell out what constitutes an event that requires a permit. It doesn't define when or why a permit can be denied. And it does not offer meaningful recourse if groups, especially grassroots and mutual aid groups, um, like you've heard from tonight, are turned away.

That kind of ambiguity isn't just frustrating. It's also dangerous. Uh, it opens the door to selective enforcement and targets those with less institutional power and fewer resources to address it. That's not hypothetical. That's happening and that's happening right now. U, we've seen peaceful food sharing efforts face citations and intimidations from city officials. And these aren't large or disruptive events. They're neighbors offering help, connection, and care to other neighbors.

When we write rules that are this broad and this unclear, we effectively criminalize kindness, or at the very least make it so burdensome that it's driven underground, which benefits no one. And that's not how this council builds trust. It's not how you build community. And it's not how you create policy that reflects the values that Tempe residents as a whole hold dear. I urge you to vote no on this ordinance.

Moreover, in considering this ordinance, I urge you to adopt a transparent and participatory process that can take place. One that involves the people, the stakeholders who are actually impacted by these decisions. Mutual aid groups, advocates for the unhoused, and everyday residents who use our park, our parks not just for recreation, but for connection, for kindness. Thank you for your time. Thank you. The next speaker I have this evening is Sarah Kobe. or cubby I file. Both were fine.

Okay, please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. Hello. Uh my name is Sarah Kobe. Um good evening and thank you for hearing my concerns here today. Um so I'm a third generation Arizonan and a current resident of Tempee and I've volunteered at mutual aid events for the past four years. Um, and I've enjoyed the parks as a Tempe resident. I think access to public spaces is really important because that's where we learn community and kindness.

Um, I it's it's where we learn um that we can meet our neighbors, our friends, and our family. Uh, as a current organizer of mutual aid events, I've looked at the changes in the ordinance and they appear over broad, extensive, and not exactly collaborative with the community.

Um, in a time where the economy is squeezing workingclass people at every turn at in grocery carts, at the doctor's office, with rent, um, it's it's obvious that people are more insecure than ever in their housing, and there are more people that are unhoused on the streets. Um, at the mutual aid events in Tempee last week, uh, 200 people were given dinner, if that gives any illustration of, um, recent aid efforts and the scale.

Um, so like I've noticed looking on like uh government like Tempe government websites that there's maybe only 40 beds available to sleep in a night. Um, and that rental assistance from the city has run out for people. The shelters are full. Cooling centers are not going to be super available this season. Um, like with like three churches splitting one when they were normally available at each one. I understand that the budget has been kind of hard recently with cuts.

Um, but I would think that if if it appears that the city doesn't have the budget to like aid people, um, why not collaborate with Goodwilled residents who want to help? Um, I'd like to know also like what safety means in these in this regards because at the events I've been at, like I haven't really seen altercations much of ever, like maybe two times in the past like four years.

Um, and like I I would think that if public spaces are not welcome for people to get services and aid that they need just even from their neighbors that they would be driven to private spaces to seek out those things, especially in extenduating circumstances like heat or in poverty. Um, I I would I would think that it also like aid events also help prevent inmates in hospitalizations.

Like just a couple weeks ago, I watched someone at an aid event have to be taken to the hospital for heat exhaustion. So like I I'm just confused as to why like there's more um regulations going into helping people as just like a a workingass person myself organizing others to do that. Um sorry, I'm trying to paint my face in here. Um, overall on this measure, I'd like to to encourage the council to vote no and collaborate with um with the community. It's the kind of representation that I want.

That's time. I'm sorry. Yeah. No, that's okay. Um, I I thank you guys again for listening to what I have to say. I I do believe in the city council and I I would like a people first um solution. So, thank you. Thank you. The next speaker I have this evening is Steven Kissile. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. Yes. Hi. Thank you. Um, Mayor Woods and and the council members, it's it's a pleasure to be up here to speak in front of you.

I'm Steve Kell and I live in Daily Park. I've been a resident for 38 years and I am the current chairman of the Daily Park Neighborhood Association and I'm here to advocate for our residents, the safety of our residents. I have we have we have witnessed um you know fentanyl rappers on the ground for fentanyl crack.

We have witnessed um arrests in our park due to the due to the drug situation and a lot of it's because the the the homeless and God bless them the homeless have converged upon Daily Park which is a wonderful park and just about every mayor has climbed the famous historic tree in the middle of the of the park and we have a local church that loves to feed the the homeless there in our park. That's great. We've been to trying to partner with them and we're saying it's okay.

We feel that we want to feed the homeless too, but I'm I work for IHELP as well. I don't work for them, but I've done work for IHEL as well, but do it somewhere else, not in our public park. The reason for it is that the residents have come to me and said, "We do not feel safe anymore. We have um found uh needles in the in the sandbed of the volleyball park. We have um had women that have been approached by them. Not all of them. A lot of them are very safe and gentile people, right?

But they have been approached by these homeless and some of them been uh rushed out of the park. We have had um we've had zombie-like um people in our front yards. I have I was in the hour two weeks ago and had to um call the police for a homeless that was sleeping in the park. That's fine. But when we went to go clean up, there was about a 9-in knife there. I understand they have to protect themselves, too. My wife doesn't feel safe going to the park.

The neighbors don't feel so safe walking their dogs anymore. The women don't feel safe jogging in the park. I have heard time and time and time again. And we have proof. And I I I want to stop right here and say I want to thank you as a city because you've listened to us. You have listened to our concerns. You have been to the park. So many people back there have been with us in our meetings. They are concerned as well.

And you're trying to do everything you can to be compassionate for these homeless. We're just saying don't feed them in the park. Feed them combine with TCAA or someone in the Tempee that can feed the feed the homeless, but combine with them. Do it somewhere else away from the residents because we're finding problems in our park. And the residents have come to me seriously and say with tears have said we don't feel safe anymore. We need to do something about this. Thank Thank you. Appreciate it.

Thank you for listening. Appreciate it. Okay. The next speaker I have this evening is Katherine Kovllis Edict. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. My name is Katherine Kuvelas Edict and I am a Gilbert resident. Um, nine years ago I founded the Aerys Foundation and I think five of the seven council members have actually been to a Tuesday night and experienced what what it means to the community.

Um, I over the last nine years, we've served thousands of homeless individuals and food insecure individuals. We're seeing more and more people coming, the elderly uh women children families living on the streets. It's a terrible time. And today I stand in front of you just incredibly sad, just really sad. On my way here tonight, I was thinking uh about the past and I was remembering a time where we were all playing in the same sandbox.

Um Mayor Woods, Vice Mayor, your title changed from the last time I saw you. Uh Garland, city manager, and Chy, we used to get together monthly in Ron Tapscott's living room and talk about how to help the homeless. Three years ago, uh, city manager in Chastity, you and I went on field trips. Where can we take care of the homeless? Where can we help the homeless? Let's do it where it's not in a community where people are scared.

We don't want them to be scared, but we want to take care of this population. Three years ago, uh, Vice Mayor Garland used to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bring them out with Tempe Women's Club monthly every month. They still come out every month, which is wonderful. Three years ago, Mayor Woods, you came out on a Tuesday night and met the mayor. Uh, he no longer comes out. Sadly, he has cancer. You were involved. And I didn't want to get emotional, but it is an emotional topic.

What happened to us? We don't talk anymore. None of the community members feel like they're being heard. What's happened in three years? We've had citations, arrests, we've had additional police presence, we've had new ordinances, we've had lawsuits. This isn't doing any any good for anybody. The pit count went up. How many millions of dollars have you invested? The numbers are going up. Until we start to work together to try and solve this problem, nothing's going to get better.

I don't want it to be us and you. It shouldn't be that way. We are trying to do good in the city. We are trying to do right by the neighbors. We are trying to do right by the homeless population. And I don't want to fight. I I have purposely not come to these events because I am emotional about it. And I didn't want it to be me versus you. That's never what it's been about. We want to work together. This isn't the way to do it. It's not the way to do it.

Please, please just come back to the sandbox, right? We can all get along and do what we need to do. You can keep the neighbors happy. We can keep our neighbors happy. Just please, please reconsider. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker I have this evening is Alex Monty. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence, you have three minutes. Yeah. Hi, I'm Alex Monty. I'm a fifth generation resident of the valley and um I have worked with New Deal Meals.

Um and I've also been coming here pretty often to speak on this um particular topic of targeting mutual aid organizations targeting the homeless. It's very clear that the city and city manager have a vendetta against the unhoused people, people on the street, and the mutual aid organizations that are attempting to provide resources to them.

Um, all if you don't know, the city is currently being sued by several Tempe residents and the Pacific Legal Fund because of their discriminatory actions um against these mutual aid organizations. and their response has been to remove the grills at Moyer Park. Petty, childish. I can't even get get into the details of that, but you're welcome to come ask me afterwards um about some of those. They're closing more cooling centers this summer, which will will mean more death.

I mean, let's be honest. Um most of those deaths will be unhoused, as we know from the numbers. you're now rewriting the event permit requirements specifically to target these organizations. Um I don't know what this power struggle is. Um like you know we have heard we used to be a more collaborative city. Um I I have my suspicions as to why that's no longer the case. And I'm wondering why with the performance of your of the city with the unhoused is going down, right?

I mean, our numbers are up. Um we're having more police violence against the unhoused in the last few years. Why you're amping up your regulations um against people and you it seems like you don't even care about the fallout. It seems like now you're you're going to be punishing not just your targets but any events in the parks over 30 people. That's the only part of this revised regulation that h holds any weight really because everything else is so subjective and broad.

So think about events you've been at the park with more than 30 people. Family reunions. My family reunion would have way more than 30 people. Yoga in the park, family picnics, nonprofit gatherings, free speech events. I wanted to hold a rally. I was told I had to get a permit. That's $500, in case you don't realize. $500 to get this permit. Clothing drives, toy drives, food drives, student organizations, labor unions, uh family recovery events.

I can go on and on about all of the different tempions that will be affected by this gross uh revision, but the city manager basically is our CEO. I know that my raise is based on performance. I work in the public benefit sector. Performance indicators. That's all. Thank you. The next speaker I have is Jack Maverick. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. Hey guys, my name is Jack. I live in Tempee. As you know, I'm an internet troll.

We're here to have some fun. This new ordinance update is very very very typical of the city of Tempe and the way you guys operate. You guys have told people that this is because we haven't updated the ordinances since the 60s and this and the population of Tempe has grown. And so this is just a a common sense ordinance to make better use of our our uh parks. But we've been here through these meetings where you're like, "Hey, we're not going to remove the art from Danell Plaza.

This is we don't plan to to tear it down. There's nothing scheduled. We just want to remove the art and then we'll tear it down later. Right. Even tonight you have said that the issues that people had with Rosa's raise is because she's a woman. The issues that are raised and the issues that's in the newspapers is that you guys appointed Rosa without proper oversight.

And so it's this twist and this obfuscation, this manipulation of the narrative where it's just like, hey, we're we're just funny little guys. We're just tweaking the little things. And it's not what you guys do. You hide behind that to hide what you guys want to do. This is clearly targeted at people like, you know, a hugs and the New Deal meal who are trying to feed the homeless in the parks.

And as much as I care for the homeless, as much as I care for people who are struggling, I care a lot about our right as citizens to take care of each other. And you guys should not insert yourself between my ability to give somebody else a slice of pizza. When I grew up as a kid, I would play on the playground.

There was this kid Kyle and I hated Kyle because we would play whatever pretend game we were playing and I'd be like, "I got you with my laser gun." And Kyle would then go, "Nuh-uh, I have anti- laser shields." And playing with Kyle sucked. And living in Tempee with the way that you guys run these ordinances is the same thing. Well, we tried arresting them and we tried bringing them to court. That didn't work. So, let's just tweak it. Let's just hide it.

Let's just hide what we're trying to do behind. Oh, it's just it's just common sense updates. It drives me crazy. Just be honest with us. Just sit here and say, "Yeah, we get a lot of people who call us who don't like the homeless in the parks and we're going to crack down on it." Sucks to be you. But you don't do that. You come out here and you glad hand and you shake our hands and you make sincere faces and you and you sit there and you and then you do crap like this.

Just be honest with your intentions and what your goals are. Have a nice night. Thank you. The next speaker I have this evening is Tom Brown. Please come forward. State your name and city of resident. You have three minutes. Uh good evening council. My name's Tom Brown. I've only been attempting 40 uh 48 years, Phil, on their catch up to Phil.

I have some fairly calm um orderly things to say, but I must say that when people speak with the motion, I do appreciate the sincerity, and it makes my my comments seem almost trivial, but I'll touch on a few items. Um so much of this ordinance is well written. It has a lot of methodical information about how to, you know, organize a bike ride or or if I came around and reminding people to use the trash cans, that sort of thing.

the subject which we're talking about is is a little bit different and this isn't the time to micro slice the parag the individual paragraphs um people have spoken uh rather well I think about some things that are disturbing I would just comment that 60 days to plan to plan a picnic for your little league team if you're have more than 30 people it doesn't work that alone is peculiar and the cost is peculiar there perhaps are other ways of um solving some of these things and I certainly appreciate the safety concern um a crime is a crime and we need to manage things and make it safe for everyone.

Um the big picture though is that things are tightening and that's what what I hear people reacting to. I'll I'll kind of repeat what I said a few months ago. People people want to feed people in the parks for a variety of reasons and it's to help people. We and I mean we me everyone in this room uh should be making it easier for that to happen not not difficult. Uh because this is kindness and action and the world for heaven's sake needs kindness.

Not everyone on the street will be comfortable in city sponsored or highly structured events. Um so please don't say we already have methods of feeding people here and there. So we don't need more options. A wide a wide variety of options. A wide variety of events will reach more people and people need will need help. So to repeat what I said a few months ago, uh the parks are for people to use and enjoy.

That includes people who um who need help who maybe need a meal and people who want to help deliver that meal. It's their parks too. homeless people are um are here in our city and in almost every city in the nation trying to push this issue to relocation does not eliminate it. So again, restudy this and choose to be kind. Thank you. The next speaker I have this evening is Ken Jacobson. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes.

Hi, my name is Ken Jacobson. I've lived in Tempe for 25 years. Um, I gradu 1982. A year ago, when I first dealt with you people, I talked to dozens of people in my neighborhood and you all told me that you are fakes. You're frauds. You're hypocrites. I didn't want to believe them. I learned by hard experience how right they were.

Since I've been helping the homeless, I've also learned by experience that you people are just as callous, as heartless, and as mean-spirited as everyone has been telling me that you are. I've also learned the public feedback we are giving you. This is to you people really a joke. You have already decided how you will vote long before your meetings in public. You pretend to be interested, but you are not behind our backs. We've seen that. We know how you are. this kind of people you are.

Thanks to the conservative Supreme Court, cities can now choose to make laws against homelessness. Most of them haven't. But you and a couple of other fellow Arizona cities have instituted the most severe antihomeless laws in the USA. Just one step below a felony. What you doing may be constitutional, but that's not what matters. What you are doing is immoral.

And now you have the new regulation that which you which we're pretending serves some vague public good which which everyone including yourself knows has no purpose but to starve the hungry out of town. That's the kind of people you are. You've already used your power to stop churches from feeding the hungry. Now you're going to use your power to stop them from giving water to the thirsty. But even that's not enough for you.

You're doing everything in your power to stop us from feeding the hungry in a city park. Maybe it's the last place left. You are so full of pity and meanness that just last week you even pulled the barbecues out. It's the kind of people you are. Rosa Parks had to sit in the back of a city bus due city regulations that have been in effect for generations, but she refused. She intentionally broke the law.

Martin Luther King was sent to prison for intentionally disobeying Birmingham's law against demonstrating from his cell. He wrote, quote, "One has a responsibility to disobey an unjust law. Just like Rosa Parks, just like Martin Luther King, we are not going to obey your proposed mean-spirited, inhuman, unjust law." Unlike Martin Luther King, we are demonstrating against your unjust behavior. We are just trying to help people who are in need. That's all we're doing.

You can keep sending us your police to intimidate us, decide us, defend us, to throw us in prison. You can keep on doing everything you want to stop us, but we the people, the little people, will not stop doing what's right because that's the kind of people we are. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker I have this evening is Ann Till. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes.

Hello, I'm Ann Till, city of Tempe resident and um I was actually hoping to see a presentation of what this ordinance was about. It's kind of like planning does when they have a change. that would have been real helpful because I didn't actually get a chance to read it all but is but I wanted to speak about it because parks are part of our community and putting limitations like this on the parks really impacts our community in more ways than the homeless.

Um for example when we installed floating islands we had more than 30 people there helping us out. When Keep Tempe Beautiful has an event, they can get a hundred people out. Um, we have neighborhood meetings and those can have more than 30 people. We have potlucks. We There's Easter and other holidays, birthdays, and even the four bench tables can end up with 30 people or more.

So, uh, you know, limiting that really limits our ability as a community to use our parks, which are very important to us. Um, as far as the homeless is concerned, there's other ways to go around this. You could there you could monitor those areas. Um, we have Mountain Park Health who has an event on Tuesdays, I think it is, and we never see any result from that at Cella. So, having the homeless around doesn't necessarily mean problems if it's handled properly.

Um, and that's I guess all I have to say other than, you know, let's not limit our parks, you know, let's solve the problem in some other way. So, thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. That's all the cards I have. Oh, Mr. Carowway, please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. Good evening. Uh, Lane Carowway. I am a 30 plus year citizen of North Tempy, 27 plus year at Cavalier Hills. Uh part of my speech has been taken away by c certain people already.

But I think what we need to understand is the impact to the neighborhoods in the community. Um oh, I'm sorry. Is that better? When Austin Davis and Arizona Hugs started feeding in Papago, not only was Papago Park, the women's park, it was trickled up into Evelyn Holman Park. They were destroyed. My neighborhood was destroyed. How would you like to have 75 to 80 plus homeless? And I I have to back up. These are not true homeless people. They're service resistance. They are drug addicts.

And that's what needs to be brought more to the light. We're not talking about homeless. Tempe does more for anybody that's homeless that wants to help in this valley. So if you're homeless and you want help, you can get it at Tempe. But the impactment to the neighborhoods has got to be addressed. I support this ordinance. I started talking to my neighbors a couple weeks ago and they're like, "Okay, why are we doing this all over again?

I thought this was a done deal." Well, you talk about working together. Um, who's suing who right now? I believe Ron Tabscott. Um, couple other people are suing class action lawsuits. That's not working together. That's just not playing fair in the sandbox as some people said, but we need to start addressing the impact to our communities, to our businesses. There are places I can't even go up in my area sometimes because of the people that are there. And once again, they are not homeless.

They are drug addicts. And they can get help if they want to get help. The city of Tempi, you guys talk about working together. I don't see Tabcott, Arizona Hugs, any of these individuals working with the nonprofits, working with TCA. Where where has that happened? It hasn't. And it's not on any part of anybody up here on this deis. It is on their side. They want to do it their way or the highway.

Well, I want to say my community and the rest of the people up there, we don't want to have a repeat of a year or two years ago in our community. Our parks are finally starting to look better. Our neighborhoods are getting less and less of having people coming to our neighborhoods. I don't see these individuals coming to my neighborhood and cleaning up the mess, getting the drugs, the fecal material.

Who's paying for the police officers that have to come in and put take these people out of our neighborhood? Because they don't. Soon as you feed them, they go home. These pe individuals are still in our parks. Then they get h I guess I'm going to walk on up there and I'm going to go shopping and go to QT or I know it's over. Thank you guys. Thank you. The next speaker I have is Paul Sako. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. Thank you.

My name is Paul Sacko, mayor, councilman. Um I'm an Arizona native. I have my law office in Tempee. I've been here since 1990. Went to ASU. I've been working with the homeless since as soon as I got out of law school, 1988, working for the uh Maricopa Mental Health Homeless Children's Men mentoring program. That's a mouthful. Um I live at Third Street in Roosevelt and I see this amendment to the ordinance as basically an attack on those that are trying to feed the homeless people at the Hill.

And what I would really like to do is invite you to come down and see what's going on there before you criminalize that behavior because that's what this ordinance will eventually do. We all know that. Come check check this out. There's nothing nefarious going on here. This is people trying to feed other people. Look, these people aren't all unhoused, but most of them are. But they all are hungry. They all are thirsty. They all are tired. And they all are desperate.

And because of where I live, they're my neighbors. I mean, they're all over the place there. I don't want them any more desperate. I want to help them. I've always wanted to help them. I don't really have a choice in this matter because from a great from a power much greater, I've got to do this. I've got to help take care of these people before you go any further.

Um, with this type of an amendment that will basically criminalize giving food to more than 30 people in a park, please come out and take a look at the picnic. Take a look at the location. It's in the middle of the desert. Nobody is there. There aren't any homes. There aren't any businesses. These are some really good people trying to help the homeless. And the big the big issue here is trust. Look, I go out there and these people don't really particularly like me.

My hair's too short and I don't look like somebody they dare to trust. It's just that's the way it is. But they trust people like Dave. And that trust that is the glue that is going to bring them into services. It is. It is the I don't know. I wrote it all down, but I've gone way past that. Um, what did I write here? it. Yeah.

That what the trust does is it creates hope for them and basically it it's kind of the glue that brings sort of that next steps and pushes that with the fact that they're really afraid really really afraid of services. A lot of them do have mental health issues. They do have I'm sorry that's that's time. Thank you. Appreciate it though. Okay, that's all the cards I have this evening. Uh, is there anyone else wishing to address the C? Yes, please come forward.

State your neighbor, city of residents. You have three minutes. Good evening, council members. It's Elvis again. What's being proposed tonight isn't just a policy shift. It's a response, a reaction to something beautiful. People in our community self-organizing to help others. folks who saw suffering in public and didn't look away. They showed up with food, supplies and compassion. They did what we say we want more of. Citizen care, civic responsibility, community.

Let's be clear, the language may not name unhoused or those helping them, but the intent and the impact are unmistakable. There's too many people here saying it. These rules are aimed at discouraging visibility, discouraging assistance, and ultimately discouraging constitutional acts of assembly, free expression, and mutual aid. This isn't the answer. Restricting where people can sand, sit, or serve doesn't make our city safer or stronger.

It makes it harder to see the pain and the people that are right in front of us. We all want solutions. We all want a healthier, more stable tempeed. But that will never come from punishing the symptoms or the helpers. It will come from collaboration, care, and the courage to center people who are in discomfort. Let's not be a city that silences compassion. Let's be a city that builds with it. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone else in the audience wishing to address the council on this item?

If so, could you please get my attention? All right. Seeing that, I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing. Uh council members, any comments or discussion? All right. All right. hearing them.

Then the second and final public hearing on this item is scheduled for July 1st, 2025, which brings me to the next item under the section, which is 8B5, which is to introduce and hold the first public hearing to adopt an ordinance approving a development agreement for developer owned real property located at 108E7 Street and authorizing the mayor to execute a development agreement, one or more deeds, leases, and related documents with Core Tempmp 6th LLC to affect such transaction.

I know I talked to April earlier and uh she doesn't have anything specific unless council has any questions for her on this. Okay. Um this is also a public hearing, so I'll open up the public testimony portion. Uh does anyone in the audience wish to address the council on item 85? If so, please get my attention. All right. Seeing that, I'll close the public testimony portion of the public meeting of the public hearing. Uh, council members, any comments or would you like to hear from Miss Sender?

Nope. All right. Uh, just want to note then the second and final public hearing on this item is scheduled for July 1st, 2025. The next item under the section is 8V6, which is to introduce and hold the first public hearing to adopt an ordinance authorizing the partial abandonment of the public utility easements located on the west side of Rural Road and the north side of Warner Road. This is also a public hearing item.

Uh, is there anyone in the audience wishing to address the council uh on this item? If so, please get my attention now. All right, seeing none, I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing. Council members, any comments or discussion? All right, hearing none, the second and final public hearing on this item is scheduled for July 1st, 2025.

The last item under the section is 8B7, which is to introduce and hold the first public hearing to adopt an ordinance setting a salary rate for the mayor and city council. This is also a public hearing item. If there's anyone looking to address the council on this item, uh, please get my attention now. All right, seeing none, I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing. Council members, any comments or discussion?

All right, seeing none, the second and final public hearing on this item is scheduled for July 1st, 2025. The last section on the non-consent agenda is ordinances and items scheduled for second hearing and final adoption. So, votes on these items will be taken tonight.

The first item under the section is 8C1, which is to hold the second and final public hearing to adopt an ordinance addressing public health, safety, and welfare by amending the Tempe City Code Chapter 13A by adding a new article 4 heat safety standards for outdoor workers. Any comments from council members or questions for city staff on item 8C1? Wait till after public comments. You sure can. So, all right. So, I'll go ahead and open up the public testimony portion of this public hearing.

Uh, I've got one card. this evening. It is from Christian Bearded. Please come forward. State your name and city of residence. You have three minutes. Mayor Woods Council, my name is Christian Bearden. I represent uh Iron Workers Local 75 and I reside in Phoenix. Our members have worked on plenty of job sites uh in the valley in which workers are asked to complete projects in 110 plus degree heat with no access to cool clean water, shade or a place to rest.

The lack of water on job sites has become so prevalent that we actually give water away to other uh workers from other companies uh to ensure their safety. We've already seen the positive effects this type of ordinance can have in Phoenix, Tucson, and Puma County. Since the ordinance passed in those areas, we have seen workers on job sites have access not only to water but Gatorade uh to keep up their um their electrolytes.

In addition to water year round, uh the educational aspect and how to prevent and identify heat illness is included in this ordinance and that is going to help prevent injuries and save lives. guarant uh guaranteeing workers access to water, shade, and a place to rest uh may seem like a simple fix, but please know that this ordinance is going to improve the quality of life for many of of our uh Tempe brothers and sisters that are working out in the heat, especially during these uh summer months.

So, thank you uh mayor and council and staff for all the work that you have all done on this ordinance because you have your leadership on this issue. the uh state has actually put together a heat uh safety task force and uh our business manager is a member of that task force. He's going to take this ordinance. He'll continue to build on it. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Is there anyone else in the audience wishing to address the council on item 8 C1? If so, please get my attention now.

All right. Seeing that, I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing. Council Biti. Thank you very much, Mayor. Um, yeah, I just wanted a few comments. Uh, I'll be brief because it is late and I know we're all kind of tired. So, um, you know, thank you first to Mr. Burden who originally brought this to me a little bit over a year ago as something that that, you know, we were interested in doing in Tempe.

Other cities in the valley and the state have enacted ordinance, but I'm particularly proud of Tempes because it's the most robust ordinance currently in the state. And as Mr. Bearden uh mentioned the governor has created a task force to look at heat safety throughout the state and I hope that task force seriously looks at tempes as a model for the state moving forward due to the protections it provides uh its workers um you know across the board.

Um over the last uh decade we've seen heat related deaths grow go uh grow in Maricopa County by an order of magnitude and it was pointed out earlier by again by Mr. in that these these the the kind of common sense things that we are going to be voting on in this ordinance seem like they should already be law. Whenever you mention it to people whenever I've had those conversations with indivi individuals, they're kind of stunned that it's not already a thing, right?

Like you don't have to provide your workers water, you don't have to provide shade if they're working outside. And largely that is the case. Um but it will not be the case in Tempb any longer. So I'm very pleased with this ordinance. A lot of work went into it. I really need to thank our stakeholders. We had so many of them.

We had so many meetings uh lots of Buffalo Wild Wings and among other other wing establishments throughout the valley to discuss with our stakeholders um staff staff did an amazing job on this. This is something that touches um basically every department in the city. So there was a lot of communication with staff.

I know Katon had to have two meetings where he was in front of the the directors answering questions which I'm sure was stressful on him but he did a fantastic job from beginning to end of this ordinance. In fact, I don't think this ordinance would have gone so smoothly or be ready at the time it is without uh Katon Hills dedication to it. So, thank you Katon for all the work you did on this. Uh you did a lot of heavy lifting and this council really appreciates your efforts.

I'm very proud that this letter came into the council where eight of our nine representatives at the capital have signed on in support of this ordinance as has attorney general Chris Maize. So, mayor, with that, I move we approve item 8 C1. Okay. It's been moved by Council Member Ke. Actually, actually, I'm sorry. Oh, sorry. Go ahead. I forgot to thank my colleagues, Council Member Amber and Council Member Hajj. She wants a second. It's all good. That's fine.

but they they sat on this committee with me and they helped strengthen the ordinance from from its original conception to make it the most robust one in the state. So, thank you very much very much my colleagues on this. Couldn't have done it without you. Move to approve. Okay, it's been moved by Council Member Keating and seconded by Council Member Hajj. Uh any further comments, questions? Council member Adams. Yes, I'll be brief. This is so important.

uh having worked in public works for many many decades uh it it's just um it's great to see and uh I know at the city of Tempee we always took care of our employees um but I we would notice that other independent contractors didn't always give them water and shade so we we did that for them also and and it it's really this is about saving lives that's the bottom line and safety and security should be our number one concerns and this really drives home taking care of our workers that work so hard out there.

Um, and I just really appreciate my council uh council colleagues bringing it forward and and nailing this down. I will be voting for this this evening. Thank you. Thank you very much. Any further comments or discussion? Yeah, I have one. Council Hodgej. Okay. Um, I just want to say on public Thank you, Rosa. You know even though you know people may say we do care about our employees and we do care about people in this city and so do you.

So I wanted to thank you personally on the dis that we do appreciate you and all the work that you and the city does together. So thank you. Okay. Thank you very much. Any further comments or discussion? Yes, Council Brand. Thank you Mr. Mayor.

I just want to uh reiterate how timely this is since the uh citizens of Tempee entrusted us with so much money to repave all of the streets around the city that uh this is going to be fantastic for those guys that are out there and gals that are out there doing the uh the hard work for us. Thank you. Attentive. Thank you. All right. Any further comments or discussion? All right. Once again, it's been moved by Council Member Keating and seconded by Council Member Hajj.

With that said, please vote. Are you the only one? Yeah, it won't go back. I'm abstaining. Nope, I'm not abstaining. I'm voting yes. Uh, that item passes 7 to zero. All right, then.

The next item under the section is 8C2, which is to hold the second and final public hearing to adopt an ordinance approving the conveyance of certain city-owned properties located at 904 West Tain Drive, 2543 East Manhattan Drive, and 3706 South Dennis Drive to the Tempe Coalition for Affordable Housing Incorporated, an Arizona nonprofit corporation, and authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement to convey property, covenants, deeds, and all other related documents necessary to affect such conveyances and related transactions.

questions. Uh, council, any comments or questions for staff? All right, hearing none. This is also a public hearing item, so I'm going to look to open the public testimony portion. Is everyone who uh in the audience wishing to address the council on item 8 C2. If so, get my attention now. All right, seeing none, I will close the public testimony portion of the public hearing. Council, any further comments or discussion?

It's been moved by Council Member Hajj and seconded by Council Member Keating. Please vote. And that item passes 7 to zero. The last item under the section is 8 C3, which is to hold the second and final public hearing to adopt an ordinance abandoning a portion of the alley on property located at 1328 East Apache Boulevard. This is also a public hearing item. Uh I'm going to open up the public testimony portion. Is there anyone in the audience wishing to address the council on item 8 C3?

If so, please get my attention now. All right, seeing none, I will close the public testimony portion of the public hearing. Council members, any comments or discussion? Uh, it's been moved by Council Member Haj and seconded by Council Member Keating. Please vote. And that item passes 7 to Z. That brings me to item number nine, current events, council announcements, and future agenda items.

Also, during this item, council members can request that an agenda item be added to a future council meeting during their aotted time, but in accordance with the Arizona open meeting law, there should be no discussion on the item other than to clarify the request. So, I'm now going to call upon council members to uh for their comments and or future agenda items. And I'm going to start this evening with council member Chin. No announcements. Mayor, thank you very much.

Then I'll move next to Council Member Hajj. Thank you. I want to um start off by saying we have in the city of Tempi Jun is this month and we have two great events. We have one on the 14th at 11 to 3 at the Tempe Historical Museum. If you do come, you'll get a chance to see Mayor Woods, myself and Keith Burke read to the kids and we'll see which one of us do better at that. Um and the second one is the night we have um downtown Tempe we have the block party which is um which is great.

It's going to be from 7 to 11 and also you get a chance to see us uh see um a lot of presentations. It's a great event and just come out and enjoy and celebrate. And next we have Father's Day coming up and I just want to wish everybody's father and that's my father a happy father's day. Um it'll be because we won't have a council meeting between that. So every father happy father's day and daddy I love you very much.

And my last thing is I want to just say um happy pride for everybody because it is pride month but we know we got a slide on that. Council member um Amber you're next. Uh no vice mayor. I don't have any announcements. Thank you. Uh Vice Mayor Dorian Garland you're next. So uh thank you. Um, I just want to say one thing. I want to say, um, belated happy birthday to, um, Police Chief Ken McCoy, and today is your 2-year anniversary, City of Tempe. We're so glad you're here. Happy birthday.

Next, we have uh, Council Member Kitty. No announcements. Vice Mayor, which we next up we have, Council Member Adams. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Last Saturday um was a dream come true for me because we opened the Kuanas dog park uh and uh after six years of working on this uh we finally made it happen and there were over 200 dogs and owners at that event. It was a huge success.

There's a place for large dogs, there's a place for smaller dogs, and there's an agility test or a test area that they can, you know, go off all over. And my dog would be way too scared to do it, but um other dogs were having a great time with it. Uh it it's a safe and fun place. It's a great way to meet your neighbors. It's one of the reasons I fight so hard for dog parks because you get to know your neighbors. Knowing your neighbors really helps uh with improving your feeling of safety.

Um, I want to thank staff, particularly Craig, for um, listening to me for the last six years. Um, and, uh, thanks for making my dream come true, Craig. Next slide. Um, is the Pride Party. Uh, it will be downtown Tempee is hosting. It's east of Pedal House. Um, it's going to be Sat this Saturday night from 7:00 p.m. to whenever it ends. It could be late. I don't know. We're going to have music, performances, and local art.

So, come on out and celebrate the love, diversity, inclusion that our community has at that event. Thank you very much. That's the end of my announcements, Mr. Mayor. Thank you very much. Uh, and I don't have any comments this evening, so we'll move forward to item number 10, public appearances. Is there anyone in the audience who would like to address the city council at this time? If so, please get my attention now.

All right, seeing none, I will close that portion of the meeting and go to item number 11, adjournment. The next regular city council meeting is going to be scheduled for July 1st, 2025. I'm going to adjourn this meeting, but then we also have other meetings that we have to finish. So, we'll take a minute and turn the room around.