Phoenix City Council Meeting - April 9, 2025
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Phoenix City Council Meeting - April 9, 2025
The Phoenix City Council held a regular meeting on April 9, 2025, beginning at approximately 10:30 AM. The meeting featured an invocation, approval of minutes, multiple consent items, and a lengthy planning and zoning agenda. Key highlights included the approval of a development impact fee update, several affordable housing projects, a ceremonial street naming for Mary Rose Wilcox, and a motion to issue an RFI for the Pastor Transit Center. Councilman Galindo Alvira was recognized for his service as this was his last formal meeting.
Consent Calendar
- Meeting Minutes: Approved minutes of December 18, 2024 and January 15, 2025 unanimously.
- Boards and Commissions Appointments: Approved unanimously, followed by a swearing-in ceremony for new commissioners.
- Liquor License Items (4-23, except item 7): Approved unanimously. Item 7 (new liquor license in District 2) was discussed separately after an anonymous voicemail opposition, but no substantiating records were found; approved 8-0.
- Ordinances, Resolutions, New Business, Planning and Zoning (Items 24-101, with exclusions): Approved 8-0. Items 47, 50, 51, 52, 53, 58, 59, 60, 62, 73, 83, and 93-101 were considered individually (see discussion items). Item 34 continued to May 21, 2025; Item 83 corrected address; Item 90 withdrawn; Item 93 taken out of order.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Patrick McDaniel (Phoenix Community Alliance): Spoke on the Seventh Avenue and Washington redevelopment, urging the council to consider strong affordable housing requirements in the RFP. (Also spoke during citizen comment on the downtown impact fee and the need for affordable housing.)
- Christina Tyler: Commented on the city's budget for fire department response time, advocating for the use of Pulse Point app to engage volunteer responders, citing Casa Grande's experience.
- Heidi Kimball (Chair, Impact Fee Advisory Committee): Testified in support of the development impact fee update, noting the thorough process and acknowledging the fee burden on affordable housing while recommending future revisions if costs decrease.
- Dave White (Chair, Water and Wastewater Rate Advisory Committee): Expressed support for the impact fee update, emphasizing its role in funding water resiliency infrastructure and equitable growth.
- Michael Norton (Rogers Ranch community): Supported the impact fee but urged the city to address parks underfunding, noting that over 120 acres of park land in the Southwest region will remain undeveloped by 2040.
Discussion Items
- Item 50 (Contract with AZ DES for Community Action Agency Funding): Approved 8-0. Mayor Gallego highlighted the importance of LIHEAP, which helped 2,845 residents with energy assistance, and expressed concern over federal staff cuts to the program. Vice Mayor O'Brien emphasized that these programs are federal investments, not handouts.
- Item 51 (Senior Bridge Project – Solar-Powered Shipping Container Housing): Approved 8-0. The project will provide transitional and permanent housing for low-income seniors using converted shipping containers, eliminating monthly energy bills. Councilwoman Hodge Washington praised the innovative model.
- Item 52 (Fireworks Events): Approved 8-0. Discussion focused on air quality concerns from fireworks on January 1, 2025, when West Phoenix had the worst air quality in the country. Vice Mayor O'Brien announced that the Deer Valley July 4th event and the Double Take event will switch to drone shows. Councilwoman Pastor noted that switching to drones would cost more and require community input.
- Item 53 (7th Avenue and Washington RFPs for City Land): Approved 8-0. The city will issue RFPs for redevelopment of three parcels. Mayor Gallego mentioned concepts like a gateway arch and a vertiport. Councilwoman Pastor called for high-quality architecture.
- Item 93 (69th and Thomas Redevelopment Area Plan): Approved 8-0. Councilwoman Guardado expressed support but requested staff to review raising affordable housing percentage requirements for GIPLID projects. Staff agreed to bring recommendations back.
- Item 59 (Development Agreement with 51% Affordable Housing): Approved 7-1 (Councilman Waring opposed). Councilman Galindo Alvira made the motion, noting the transformation of a blighted lot into mixed-income housing. The modification requires a minimum of 51% of units affordable to households at 80% AMI or below.
- Item 60 (Aviation Land Reuse – Disposal of Properties): Approved 8-0. Councilwoman Hodge Washington added a stipulation that city-owned parcels with three or more contiguous lots in areas F, G, H, I must go through a public offering process, with projects returning to council for approval. Staff explained that property transfer would occur only after building permits are ready to avoid land speculation.
- Item 73 (Mary Rose Wilcox Way Ceremonial Sign): Approved 8-0. Council members gave extensive tributes to Mary Rose Wilcox, the first Latina to serve on the Phoenix City Council and later Maricopa County Supervisor. The sign will be at 2nd Avenue and Grand Street in front of El Portal restaurant.
- Item 83 (Senior Affordable Housing – Former Super 8 Conversion): Approved 8-0. The project will provide 126 units of affordable housing for seniors 55+ with very low incomes. Construction design contract awarded to Smith Group, with leasing expected to begin June 2026.
- Items 99-101 (Development Impact Fee Update): Approved 8-0 after a public hearing and extensive discussion. The update covers 11 fee categories, with the highest fees in northern growth areas. The fees are based on a 10-year, $1.6 billion infrastructure plan. Mayor Gallego noted that the program asks growth to pay for growth. Councilwoman Pastor and others asked about affordable housing exemptions; staff stated that state law prohibits waiving fees, but the council could backfill from other sources. Councilwoman Stark made a motion to approve and direct staff to track inflation and pursue outside funding for advanced water treatment.
Key Outcomes
- All consent items and most individual items were approved 8-0, except Item 58 (7-1) and Item 59 (7-1).
- The development impact fee update (Items 99-101) was approved, establishing new fees to fund $1.6 billion in infrastructure over 10 years, with a phase-in period per state law.
- The RFI for the Pastor Transit Center at Central and Broadway was approved 8-0, with a two-year initial term and potential extension.
- Council directed staff to review affordable housing percentage requirements for GIPLID projects and to report back.
- The meeting concluded with citizen comment and adjournment.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon. Thank you for attending today's meeting. If you could please find your seats, we will begin in one minute. Thank you very much. Good afternoon and welcome. We will begin with our invocation, and welcome Chaplain Rabbi Levi Lever Levi Levertoff. Jewish families will sit down to the three thousand three hundred and thirty-seventh annual Seder, and will follow your commandments to teach the children how you took us out of Egypt. You told us to answer the questions of three different kinds of children, the clever and interested, the defiant, and the younger simple, giving each the sort of answer they need. And you included a fourth kind of child who is not curious enough to ask. To this child, we are to tell them and teach them unprompted. The Lababitchar Rebbe, whose birthday is today, and whose legacy, Governor Hobbes is honored by proclaiming today to be education and sharing day. The Rebbe insisted that education is not about the pursuit of knowledge as a stepstool to a career, but rather to prepare a child for life in its entirety, a life of purpose, benevolence, justice, and morality. He pointed out that this teaching of the four children leaves out a fifth kind of child, the child who is absent and is not present to be taught. The children who have been so alienated that they drop out, or that they are so neglected that it never occurs to them to be present in the first place. They are at least present to learn. It is infinitely more difficult to teach those who are not present and don't even know that there is anything to be learned. The community can create a conducive atmosphere for learning. Letting them know that there is such a wealth of knowledge waiting for them if they will only open themselves to it. That is why, at the height of his world influence, the Rebbe would devote hours at a time to meet people of all sorts face to face. And it is why the Seder, perhaps the most important Jewish ritual, is held not in synagogues, but at home around the dinner table. On a personal note, as this is Councilman Galinda Alvira's last formal meeting, Councilman Galindo Alvira has shown and exemplified this very trait to the citizens of this great city, and particularly to those who live and work in District Seven. The councilman has gone out of his way to reach each person individually, devoting his time to better our city. On behalf of this great city, thank you, Councilman, for your service. May God grant the councilman much success as he returns to being a private citizen and effecting change and betterment of our city from the bottom up. Almighty God, bless our mayor and council members with the peace of mind to fulfill their sacred duties. Help them in their mission as they reach out to each person with care, compassion, and kindness to remind even those who are not present and have not even the wherewithal to seek that they really do matter and allow themselves to be helped. Bless our mayor and council members with health, clarity, wisdom, and compassion to do their important work. Finally, grant them success and guide them as they convene to fulfill your very guidance to establish just laws. And let us say Amen. Thank you, Rabbi Levratov, for that very special invocation. Today is also the one year anniversary of Councilman Glindal Elvira's appointment to the Phoenix City Council, and I'll ask him to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you, Councilman. I'll now call the meeting to the order. Will the clerk please call the roll? Councilman Garindo Elvida. Here. Councilwoman Guardado. Here. Councilwoman Hodge Washington. Here. Councilwoman Pastor. Here. Councilman Robinson. Councilwoman Stark. Here. Councilman Waring. Vice Mayor O'Brien. Here. Mayor Gallego. Here.
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