By Bob Cappel
Bob Cappel
Yes, that is exactly what just happened at the April 1, 2014 Scottsdale City Council strategic planning session. It was not an April Fool’s joke! Scottsdale Vice Mayor Virginia Korte requested a moratorium on all land purchases for Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve until the city spends more time exploring the long-term costs of the preserve. Mayor Jim Lane seconded Korte’s motion, and the council approved it by a 6-1 vote, with only Bob Littlefield opposing this moratorium.
While we all agree that Scottsdale must be fiscally sustainable, this moratorium could be designed to prevent the city from buying two parcels of land designated for the preserve that the state intends to sell this year. These two parcels involve 290 acres northeast of Pima Road and Dynamite Boulevard and 215 acres east of Pima Road encompassing the western edge and embankments of the Rawhide Wash, which could be eligible for up to $700,000 from the state’s funds for land conservation.
Originally, Scottsdale residents voted to tax themselves to purchase 34,000 acres for the Preserve, of which 30,000 acres has already been acquired. The remaining 4,000 acres would be prime land for development of housing and commercial use. The voters approved two revenue streams to purchase the land for the Preserve: a sales tax of 0.2% effective through mid-2025 and a sales tax of 0.15% through 2034. The city has the ability to purchase these two parcels that the state plans to sell during the next year.
What’s the problem with this moratorium? First, it goes against what Scottsdale voters said they wanted the city to do. Second, the council just voted last September and approved a preserve acquisition strategy! Six months later, they have to change that strategy? Third, with 30,000 acres already in the Preserve, the city should already be able to estimate the long-term costs of the preserve.
Is this moratorium just a plan to allow developers to purchase this land? If that happens, will the council allow increased housing density, apartments, high-rise buildings, or commercial centers to be built along Pima Road? Should this moratorium question have gone back to the residents to decide by a vote this fall? What are your thoughts? Weigh in on our blog at gppaaz.org!
May 1, 2014
As a Scottsdale taxpayer I am disappointed in the Mayor and council. We want this land preserved. We agreed to be taxed to do this very thing. We had already agreed on 34,000 acres. The solution is simple at the next elections-get rid of those politicians that do not listen.
May 2, 2014
Hello,
I want to make a correction to your blog about the moratorium article. You said the vote was 6/1 but it was 5/2 as recorded on the scottsdaleaz.gov website.
When we were having our strategic planning session, the mayor wanted us to vote on direction to the council.. I feel that staff should weigh all our concerns, and not just the ones we all “agreed to”. If I or any other councilmember suggest something to staff, they should take it into consideration. If we vote on all suggestions, then staff will ignore the ideas that werent approved by council.. the only time we should vote is when we direct staff to an action. there wasnt supposed to be any action at the strategic planning session, yet council decided to vote anyway.
So as a protest I did not participate in any voting. Our clerk, Carolyn Jagger, informed me later that abstaining from voting was the same as voting yes. (who thought that one up??) so I told her if thats the case I would have voted no on the moratorium, and in fact after Korte suggested it, I spoke up and said it wasnt needed, that the conservancy is doing a great job, and if any money was ever needed for maintainance we could get it from the tourism bed tax since tourism benefits from the preserve. (watch the meeting online at scottsdaleaz.gov)
Our clerk noted my request and the item is marked as a 5/2 vote.
Councilman Guy Phillips
May 5, 2014
I am 100% opposed to Councilmember Korte’s proposed “moratorium” on purchases of land to complete the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. Unfortunately, this is not an idle threat – at the Council work study session where Korte proposed this, only Guy Phillips and I voted against considering it further. So, the Council will be considering this idea at our May 13th meeting. Citizens need to make it abundantly clear to our Council colleagues that they will not tolerate this breach of faith with the voters. Hopefully we can put a stake through the heart of this “moratorium” at that meeting.
May 14, 2014
From Howard Myers on May 13, 2014.
The city council tonight, in a study session, gave staff direction to continue to pursue the two parcels we were trying to acquire for the Preserve, so we are back on track with land acquisitions. A big thank you to those of you who contacted the council about the proposed moratorium as it obviously had an impact. To her credit, Councilwoman Korte apologized for bringing up the moratorium and re-affirmed the goal to acquire the two parcels of land we were going after this year. While no vote was taken, because it was a study session, they did give staff the direction they needed to continue the process to acquire land.
If you get a chance, it would be good to write the council and thank them for putting the land acquisitions back on track. Their e-mail addresses are below.
Thanks again.
Howard
E-Mail addresses:
Mayor W.J. “Jim” Lane jlane@scottsdaleaz.gov
Councilwoman Virginia Korte vkorte@scottsdaleaz.gov
Councilwoman Suzanne Klapp sklapp@scottsdaleaz.gov
Councilman Robert Littlefield rlittlefield@scottsdaleaz.gov
Councilman Guy Phillips gphillips@scottsdaleaz.gov
Councilwoman Linda Milhaven lmilhaven@scottsdaleaz.gov
Councilman Dennis Robbins drobbins@scottsdaleaz.gov
One e-mail for all: citycouncil@scottsdaleaz.gov