The Economic Development and the Arts Subcommittee met on January 26, 2026, at 9:15 AM (local time) to discuss and recommend approval of the sale of three city-owned parcels of aviation noise land to Pilgrim's Rest Foundation, Inc. The meeting included a presentation by Community and Economic Development Director Ryan Tohill and Program Manager Thomas Sawyer, public comments from two speakers, and a unanimous vote to forward the recommendation to the full City Council.
Good morning and welcome to the January 26, 2026 Economic Development and the Arts Subcommittee. I'd like to call the meeting to order and then turn to our city attorney to explain public comment. Morning, Madam Chair, members of the subcommittee. During citizen comment, members of the public may speak to the subcommittee for up to three minutes on issues of concern to them, however, matters addressed within must be within the jurisdiction of the committee and the council. The citizen comment period is limited to 30 minutes. Open meeting law allows the subcommittee to listen to the comments but prohibits uh subcommittee members from discussing or acting on issues presented. However, subcommittee members may respond to criticisms. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you so much, sir, sir. And then I'd like to allow our interpreter Elsie Duarte to introduce herself. Elsie. Yes, thank you, Madam Chair O'Brien. My name is Elsie Duarte, and I will be providing Spanish interpretation during today's economic development and arts subcommittee session. I will now take a moment to address our Spanish speaking audience. Buenos días, my name is El C Duarte. Presencialmente, Babor de Passar Boronos Audífonos Ubicados Alentrada de la Sala de Camaras. Las personas registradas para ser un comentario publico sepan que podran hablar libremente sin interrupciones durante el tiempo disponible. Sous commentarios serán interpretados al momento que usted termine de hablar. Gracias. Thank you, Madam Chair O'Brien. Thank you so much, Elsie. Um we have nobody for the general call to public, so um, and joined by Councilman Stark and Councilman Robinson online. We'll go to item number one, which is approval of the minutes. Do I have a motion? Madam Chair, I am we have a second second. Okay. Councilman Robinson with a motion, Councilman Stark with a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed. Hearing none of the motion passes unanimously. So now I would like to welcome to the table, our community and economic development director, Ryan Tohill, and Thomas Sawyer, our economic development program manager to talk about aviation land reuse. Oh, you're already there. Sorry. I should pay a little bit more attention. Our aviation land reuse strategy land disposal located on Madison Street. There are three parcels within area A, and this is an item for discussion of possible action, and we do have a member of the public here to speak once you're done with your presentation. Go ahead, gentlemen. Thank you. Good morning, Madam Chair and members of the subcommittee. My name's Ryan Tuhill. I recently joined the City of Phoenix as a community economic development director. I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here today. And within this area, the aviation department owns 782 parcels of noise land scattered throughout, as shown by the colored boxes here on the screen. In December 2022, aviation received approval from the FAA to dispose or redevelop 427 parcels of aviation noise land. This was the greatest and largest 163 determination in FAA history. These parcels are specifically identified within blocks A through J, shown here on the screen. The determination also provided guidance on sale conditions for disposal of the aviation noise land.