Map of General Plan Conceptual Land Use from GP2001 revised to include GP amendments to 01/2015.
The Outpost (1-GP-2015) is a major General Plan amendment request to change the land use designation from Rural Neighborhoods to Commercial on a 10+/- acre site on the northwest corner of N. Pima Road and E. Dynamite Boulevard. In conjunction, the applicant requests to rezone the land from Single-Family Residential, with minimum 4.36 acres per lot, to Planned Neighborhood Center. The applicant proposes to build a center that will include a gas station, a restaurant, a general store and other “compatible neighborhood commercial uses”(project narrative) in a large-lot rural, equestrian, single-family residential area.
The site for the proposed Outpost is surrounded on all sides by Rural Neighborhoods land use as designated by Scottsdale’s General Plan (GP). The issue with the Outpost proposal is not the concept, but rather the placement. The General Plan does not support the Outpost at the proposed location.
http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/Assets/Public+Website/generalplan/General+Plan.pdf
The General Plan (GP) 2001 states under “Goals and Approaches” page 43:
- Determine the appropriateness of all development in terms of community goals, surrounding area character, and specific context of the surrounding neighborhood.
And below that, page 43:
- Ensure that all development is part of and contributes to the established or planned character of the area of the proposed location. Character can cross land uses and zoning…. The overall type of character type that these uses are a part of describes the pattern and intensity of how these uses fit together.
The General Plan 2001 identifies four Area Character types: Urban, Suburban, Rural (“large lot development, including horse privilege neighborhoods”) and Environmentally Sensitive Lands and Native Desert Character. These distinctly different areas make Scottsdale unique and continue to be defined in the draft General Plan 2035.
In the General Plan 2001 under Rural/Rural Desert Character Types, page 45:
“These districts provide a rural lifestyle that includes preservation of the desert character. The identity and natural desert character of this district should be strengthened and maintained by preventing encroachment of nonconforming uses….”
Map of 4-GP-2002 Land Use & Parcels adoptded 10/29/2002
The GP 2001 ratified by voters in March 2002, followed with 4-GP-2002 approved in October 2002, established Rural Neighborhoods land use for the entire area bounded east-to-west by Pima to Scottsdale Roads and north-to-south by Dixileta to Happy Valley Roads and beyond. Scottsdale citizens who owned homes in this defined area prior to 2002, and owners who purchased subsequent to October 2002, invested in land and homes that were in Rural Neighborhoods per Scottsdale’s General Plan. The Outpost applicant purchased the residential rural property in 2002 or 2003 with no reasonable expectation of success at that time that the City would later approve a change in land use designation to Commercial. In fact, the applicant’s request has been submitted previously (3-GP-2009 and 5-GP-2011) without materializing. The parcels located on the northeast, southeast and southwest corners of N. Pima Road and E. Dynamite Boulevard are owned by the Arizona State Land Department and are included within the McDowell Sonoran Preserve Recommended Study Boundary in the General Plan ratified by voters in 2002.
The Outpost proposal, if approved, would set a precedent as “the first Commercial designation established adjacent to Rural Neighborhoods since the adoption of the General Plan. Commercial areas are most commonly designated in locations adjacent to more intense uses, such as Suburban Neighborhoods, Urban Neighborhoods, Office, Employment, and Mixed-Use Neighborhoods.” (Planning Staff Report for 10/28/2015).
http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/Assets/ScottsdaleAZ/General+Plan/2035/Chapter1.pdf
The current draft of the General Plan 2035 commits once again to maintaining the distinct qualities of areas that define Scottsdale. From Chapter 1. Land Use & Design, page 46:
“Recognizing the unique mosaic of places that make up Scottsdale, the community has implemented character-based general planning, which provides a three-tiered planning approach: citywide, character area and neighborhood levels. This three-tiered approach to planning will ensure that community participation continues to shape the consistency of the character, land uses, and development quality in the community.”
Contained in the Character & Culture Chapter under CHARACTER & DESIGN ELEMENT (CD) Goals and Policies of the draft General Plan 2035:
Page 51
“Policy CD 1.3 Ensure that all development is a part of and contributes to established Character Types.”
Page 54 Under CHARACTER TYPES:
Map GP-2035 Draft with Character Types
“■ Rural/Rural Desert Character Types contain low-density and large lot development, including horse privilege neighborhoods and areas with particularly sensitive and unique natural environments. The rural lifestyle of these areas further emphasizes preservation of the desert and equestrian character. Building heights typically range between one and two stories. The identity and natural desert character of this Character Type should be strengthened and maintained by:
- Preventing encroachment of nonconforming land uses, higher densities, and incompatible architectural styles”
Page 55
“Policy CD 2.3 Ensure the involvement and participation of the Character Area’s residents, businesses and property owners in planning and implementation. “
In considering the greater good, the property rights of the applicant are outweighed by the property rights of the many citizens who purchased homes in the neighboring rural area surrounding the proposed Outpost site, designated as Rural Neighborhoods with low-density, large lot, Single-Family Residential zoning. The majority of local resident homeowners attending the Open Houses and Planning Commission hearings have been very clear in their opposition to a commercial, planned neighborhood center with a gas station and restaurant. Citizens living in Suburban and Mixed-Use Neighborhoods six to twenty miles away who support the proposal do not share in the Rural Neighborhoods identity surrounding the northwest corner of Pima Road and Dynamite Boulevard. These homeowners outside of the area will not have a rural quality of life or equestrian lifestyle impacted or altered.
Vice Chair Matthew Cody’s remarks at Scottsdale’s Planning Commission hearing on October 28, 2015 eloquently and thoughtfully summed up the issue:
“Predictability from the perspective of what can residents expect in their neighborhood, and what can land owners expect to do with their property. And, while the existing zoning is somewhat telling, I think the General Plan speaks clearly. And that is, the area neighbors and the North Scottsdale residents have consistently said, ‘No, No, No.’ I don’t agree with them saying ‘No, No, No’ but they have been consistent and predictable. And as a result, I think that taking a change from R1-190 which is a 5-acre lot with ESL zoning to a commercial center anchored by a gas station is simply too great of a change and I don’t think that’s what the area residents and the people who bought up there would have expected.
“And therefore, Mr. Miller, I’m really sorry, but I think you’ve got a fabulous plan. And I think it’s probably very feasible and I think it would serve the area very well. But I think we have to listen to the neighbors who have consistently fought to have a General Plan reflect the fact that it’s rural and this is not what they want. So I won’t be supporting the case. I’m sorry.”
Rural homeowners residing in the area have expressed their lack of desire or need for the proposed center, with strong opposition especially for the gas station and restaurant. These commercial uses represent the introduction of inconsistent and nonconforming uses in the Rural Neighborhoods, in opposition to the Goals and Approaches of the General Plan to determine “the appropriateness of all development in terms of community goals, surrounding area character, and the specific context of the surrounding neighborhood.” Allowing development of the Outpost does not “Ensure that all development is part of and contributes to the established or planned character of the area of the proposed location.”
Scottsdale citizens ratified the General Plan 2001 in March 2002. The General Plan, as it currently exists and as drafted in the General Plan 2035, established and renews Scottsdale’s commitments to respect, strengthen and maintain the identity of the Rural Neighborhoods character, homeownership and neighborhood planning to prevent “encroachment of nonconforming land uses.” If the City is to honor the vision, principles, goals and policies of Scottsdale’s General Plan, then the City Council should vote to deny applications 1-GP-2015 and 10-ZN-2015 for the proposed commercial Outpost.
Related Articles
Update: Summary of Scottsdale Planning Commission Outpost Meeting on Oct. 28th – Published: 11/01/2015
What is a General Plan? – Re-published 09/2015
November 15, 2015
This is a fantastic article. Is there some way to send copies of it to each City Council member
prior to the December 1 City Council meeting at which a decision will be made regarding approval
of Miller’s rezoning request? The Planning Commission member, I think it was Larry Kush who
made the motion to approve the rezoning, or Miller’s lawyer, said that the Outpost meets all the criteria contained in the General Plan and cited several examples. This article is so well researched
and written that it needs to get to the City Council members before the vote.
December 2, 2015
At its Tuesday, Dec. 1st meeting Scottsdale’s City Council approved the Outpost project. The vote was 5-2 with council members Littlefield and Phillips voting dissenting.