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08/30/15
Good evening, COGS E News Reader:
Mutilated horses in northern Scottsdale—how pathetic!....
City Council has several hot-seat issues this week (Downtown
Business petition...Special Events Committee and Ordinance
update...Cavalliere Flat Plat final approval....LBGT Ordinance
directive...Desert Discovery Center expenditure)
ALERT to
private barns: During the night a horse was stabbed deeply on the
nose while on private property near Pinnacle Vista and Scottsdale
Road. The horse has been sewn up
by a vet and will recover. The
police state that there have been other reports of horse
mutilations in this area and that owners need to take action.
Equestrian areas are encouraged to form a Neighborhood Watch and
to improve security systems to protect their horse(s ). Call
the city non-emergency 480 312 5000 to report any suspicious
people or cars. The police prefer to investigate your
preventative report rather than to respond to another mutilation.
Special thanks
to Councilwoman Kathy Littlefield, Scottsdale Trolley owner
Margaret Dunn, and former Councilman Bob Littlefield.
Scottsdale trolley provided the ride from Phoenix for officials
from the Veterans’ Benefit office, HUD and other support agencies
and delivered them to the Wagon Wheel mobile park. Elderly
park residents were assisted in filling out paperwork to receive
aid and unclaimed benefits. They are being displaced from their
established community of over 50 years as the owner plans other
uses for the in-town location. Both Littlefields are trying
to find them
affordable housing before the January deadline. Contact
Councilwoman Littlefield if you have any addresses.
Klittlefield@scottsdaleaz.gov
City
Council Monday 31 August 4 pm Work Study Session. The
Council will discuss the 264 signature Petition from retail,
restaurants and art-related businesses in the 5th Avenue/Stetson
District, Arts District and Old Town District that was submitted
last week. Their requests focus on the procedures of the current
Special Events Committee and recommend specific changes to the
updated Special Events Ordinance. Details are on this link:
www.scottsdaleaz.gov/Asset60734.aspxx
The COGS Board of Directors strongly supports directives from the
City Council to the City Manager to include recommendations from
the petitioners in the drafting of the new Special Events
Ordinance. Currently “special events” is poorly defined and
includes temporary vendors who compete with existing businesses
and are neither festivals nor events.. The current ordinance
allows 48 calendar days for an approved “special event” when most
cities limit these to 3 to 7 days. On the current council, the
only business owner operating from a permanent building is
Councilwoman Klapp. Hopefully the others will understand the
frustration the year-a-round merchants have expressed.
At City
Council 5 pm on the Consent Agenda is
http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/Asset60737.aspx
Cavalliere Flat Final Plat approval SE
corner North Alma School Rd/E. Pinnacle Peak Rd. Regular Agenda
items: Nominations for 13 city council appointed Board and
Commission vacancies will be made. Board of Adjustment (one
vacancy) Building Advisory Board of Appeals (one vacancy)
Development Review Board (one vacancy)Environmental Quality
Advisory Board (one vacancy) Human Relations Commission (two
vacancies) Human Services Commission (two vacancies) Loss Trust
Fund Board (one vacancy)McDowell Sonoran Preserve Commission (one
vacancy) Parks and Recreation Commission (two vacancies)
Transportation Commission(one vacancy) . LBGT Ordinance discussion
and directive to the City Manager to investigate ordinance
elements in other cities, to select appropriate elements for
Scottsdale and to report to Council in 90 days.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR THESE:
Tuesday 8 September Are all of our
readers aware that there is a plan to put a 72,972 sq.ft. complex,
called the Desert Discovery Center (DDC) , in the Preserve at the
Gateway Trail Head? The DDC is Agenda Item 11 on this
date and reads “Selection of Vendor for the Desert Discovery
Center. Presentation, discussion and possible direction to
staff concerning negotiations on a scope of work with Desert
Discovery Center and possible direction to the City Treasurer to
evaluate sources of funding for Phase 1 consulting services.”
...This is a sleeper item and requires careful tracking by our
COGS Readers. This facility has morphed from a 1999 proposed
small, 15,800 square foot discovery facility ($4,330,000 est.) to
the current 72,972 sq. ft. complex “destination tourist
attraction” ($74,041,936 est.).
Four serious concerns are being voiced
by Scottsdale residents:
(1) LOCATION at the major Gateway
Trailhead in the Scottsdale McDowell Sonoran Preserve and
significantly into the Preserve has met opposition from the
Preserve Commission. It requires modification of the Preserve
Ordinance as this location could violate many rules. Is the
heavily used Gateway to the Preserve an appropriate location for a
facility such as this?
(2) INITIAL COST is staggering in a city
strapped to fund basic infrastructure if voters don’t approval
this November Bond election. To be built, the DDC would require
public funding along with private sources as endowments, grants,
gifts and fund raising. If not the DDC larger complex, would
taxpayers be accepting of a smaller, more environmentally friendly
facility?
(3) OPERATING COSTS in the Phase
II Feasibility Study estimated the loss in year one as $ 1,394,219
plus, and in year three $ 1,489,659. How should
the projected annual operating deficit be financed?
(4) PUBLIC OUTREACH— Southern city
voters support for more funds for the Preserve has decreased with
each election. What support can be expected for the DDC?
Should the City Council continue to move forward with this
without gaining Scottsdale voter approval ?
Thursday
September 10th Back for the 4th time is the Outpost commercial
development with gas station proposed for the NW corner of Pima
Road and Dynamite. The corner is currently zoned for five acre
lot, single family residential so that would allow only two homes
on the 10 acres. Strong residents’ opposition has defeated this
proposal the last 3 times they have submitted it. Please attend
the city-hosted open house on Thursday from 5 to 8 PM at the
Copper Ridge School cafeteria. The city’s website for this
case originally had a September 9th date for an offsite Planning
Commission hearing, but that was wrong.
Projects in the public hearing process
include 3-TA-2015 to add “support retail to the list of
permitted uses in the Commercial Office zoning district. will be
heard at the Planning Commission on September 16th at 4 PM.
GET INFORMED if you live near Miller/Pinnacle Peak Rd in
Pinnacle Peak 1, Scottsdale Rd/Deer Valley Rd in North Scottsdale
2, Grayhawk, Sweetwater Ranch, Scottsdale Ranch, DC Ranch,
136th/Shea in North Scottsdale 6, Mountain View/92nd-96th St and
Stonegate, Gainey Ranch and McCormick Ranch, Via de Ventura/Gainey
Center Dr. or Via Ventura/Pima then you need to track this case.
If this is approved then ALL of your areas will be potential for
the change. CVS at Shea and 96th Street is requesting a list
of other uses to be permitted in their Commercial-Office zoning.
and effective citywide on other 15 acre parcels. Those are
more intense uses including retail that are currently C-1.
Impacted HOA Boards have been alerted and are expected to inform
their residents. In the next COGS Newsletter we will provide you
with more details.
Preliminary-Application Case No
559-PA-2015 is a request to amend the Planned Block Development (PBD)
zoning district to exclude rooftop appurtenances from building
height and to allow “reasonable appurtenances (no more than 6 feet
in height on no more than 20% of the roof area and setback a
minimum of 15 feet from the face of the building)” While the
applicant states this is not a request to change the allowable
building height in the PBD district, that building height is and
will continue to be capped at 66 feet ( 90 feet with bonus
provisions) and that the request only affects standard building
appurtenances. What is the reality? If approved, it will add
6 feet to building heights that have already been increased beyond
what was in place for years AND there is no provision that the
appurtenances be architecturally integrated into the building
design.
REMINDER:
Register for Docent Training Classes by Friday, September 4th
if you are interested in volunteering for the Museum of the West..
The fall docent training courses will be held from 9 a.m. to 12:30
p.m. on six consecutive Wednesdays, September 9 through October
14. Attendance at all six sessions is required of prospective
docents.Volunteers are also needed to welcome museum visitors,
answer general questions and provide directions within the museum.
Volunteers interested in staffing information tables at community
events or providing administrative support are also encouraged to
apply. A minimum of two, three-hour sessions per month are
required of volunteers.Interested individuals should respond no
later than Friday, September 4 online at
http://scottsdalemuseumwest.org/support/volunteer/
or by contacting Education Manager Wade Weber at
wweber@scottsdalemuseumwest.org
or 480-686-9539, ext. 212.
For the Coalition of Greater
Scottsdale (COGS) Board of Directors,
Sonnie Kirtley, Chair e-mail
sonniek@cogsaz.net
Coalition of Greater Scottsdale
7904 E. Chaparral Rd., Suite 110, PMB 127
Scottsdale, AZ 85250
If you wish to support our all-volunteer group the
"dues" are $10 per year. Click
HERE
to join or
HERE to
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