Phoenix, Tempe tensions rise with leisure district conferences on horizon

INDEPENDENT NEWSMEDIA

A dispute between Phoenix and Tempe over a proposed leisure district and its doable repercussions on Sky Harbor Airport has escalated forward of a number of public conferences, together with a neighborhood gathering scheduled for Saturday.

The leisure district, proposed for land at Priest Drive and Rio Salado Parkway, would come with an enviornment for the Arizona Coyotes together with residential items, retail and workplace house and different growth.

A neighborhood assembly on the challenge, organized by the developer, Bluebird Growth, is ready for 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, at Cover by Hilton, 108 E. College Drive, Tempe.

Sky Harbor officers have stated they don’t object to the skilled hockey enviornment, however Phoenix does reject the idea of getting properties “straight beneath a flight path which was designed to spare Tempe residents from the results of plane noise.”

Phoenix leaders additionally stated together with residential items as a part of the challenge violates a longstanding intergovernmental settlement between the cities.

They reiterated their opposition final week and despatched out 1000’s of mailers to Tempe residents and others stating the airport’s opposition and potential results a challenge that included housing items would have on the realm.

Tempe Mayor Corey Woods stated the mailer was an “alarmist tactic.”

“This isn’t a sport, and Tempe residents shouldn’t be used as pawns,” he stated in a launch. “Nobody ought to attempt to manipulate our neighborhood’s primary emotions of security and safety.

“As mayor, I’m calling out this outrageous tactic in hopes that it’s not repeated – and that every one events can think about this essential matter calmly and responsibly.”

Woods stated the assertion by Sky Harbor that multifamily housing within the proposed growth would violate a 1994 settlement between the cities is “considerably inaccurate.

“Individuals interested by dwelling on the proposed website can be effectively knowledgeable earlier than making selections – identical to the 1000’s of different Tempe City Lake-adjacent residents who have already got chosen to stay in an space with plane noise. Furthermore, they achieve this in developments that noticed no opposition from the airport after they had been proposed and constructed.”

Along with Saturday’s assembly, the Tempe Growth Assessment Fee will talk about the challenge at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, in Tempe Metropolis Council chambers, 31 E. Fifth St.

The chambers additionally would be the location for 2 Tempe Metropolis Council public hearings, 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 22 and 29.