Adams.

Good evening, everyone.

Welcome to the Tempe City Council regular council meeting.

Item number one, call the order.

Council meetings can be watched in real time via Cox Cable Channel Eleven and at Tempe.gov slash Tempe Eleven.

Members of the public may also attend the meeting virtually through Microsoft Teams.

If you have signed up to speak if you have signed up to speak on items later on in the agenda, please know that as the presiding officer, I have the discretion to introduce those items out of their regular order as listed on the agenda.

So those wishing to speak on those items don't have to wait until later in the meeting or to otherwise expedite the business of the meeting.

If you wish to speak on an agenda item, and you haven't filled out a speaker card yet, please make sure to fill out and submit your completed card to the city clerk prior to the item coming forward for council discussion.

For those here regarding the Marshall on Spence project, which is item eight C One on the season's agenda, the applicant has submitted a formal request to continue their application to the December eleventh, twenty twenty-five regular council meeting.

Since the public comment portion of that hearing was previously closed, no public testimony will be taken this evening.

All right, tonight's agenda has a number of items that the city council must consider in order to conduct city business.

Guidelines for conduct to city council meetings are on the table to the entrance for those in attendance at tonight's meeting.

We will now play a video with the proper protocol for ensuring the appropriate conduct at City Council meetings.

Disruptive behavior will not be allowed.

Continued disruptive behavior will lead to removal from the council chambers.

We need to be able to hear everyone in the room.

Behavior that disrupts, disturbs, or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of any city council meeting is not helpful and is not permitted.

This includes behavior both inside and outside of the council chambers.

Should individuals inside the council chambers become disruptive so that city business is not able to be conducted.

The mayor will first ask that the individuals allow city business to be completed.

There will be time for public comment during the call to the audience portion of the meeting.

If no cooperation, the mayor will issue a verbal warning and let them know that the continued disruptive behavior will lead to removal from the council chambers.

If there is still no cooperation, the mayor will issue a second verbal warning and let them know that the continued disruptive behavior will lead to removal from the council chambers.

If there is no cooperation after asking and two verbal warnings, then the mayor will ask security officers to remove only those individuals who are causing the disruption.

Security personnel should not engage in any way, but only escort them from the council chambers.

If individuals refuse to leave, security personnel shall warn them that they are trespassing, and that the next step will be arrest by a Tempe police officer.

Tempe officers may have to arrest if individuals refuse to leave.

Charges for trespass and disorderly conduct may apply, as well as other charges.

Should anyone be asked to be removed, the mayor will recess the meeting.

Thank you very much.

Tonight we're going to go to item number four, which is meeting minutes, and I'll be assisted by Councilmember Keating.

Council Burke.

Thank you, Mayor.

I move we approve uh City Council meeting minutes.

Item 4 uh 4A1.

It's been moved by uh Council Burke.

Do you have a second?

Seconded by Councilmember Adams, please vote.

I vote yes.

Yes.

And Councilmember Bramber.

Yes.

All right.

And that item passes seven to zero.

Next up, item four B, acceptance of board commission and committee meeting minutes.

Council Member Keating.

Mayor, I move we accept the board commissions and committee meeting minutes and items 4B1 through 4B7.

Okay, it's been moved by Councilmember Keating and seconded by Councilmember Hodge.

Please vote.

Yes.

Yes.

All right, and those items pass seven to zero.

Next up, item five reports and announcements.

Uh first item here is item 5A1, new land acknowledgement reveal.

Uh, but this evening I am not going to be doing this announcement.

I'm going to turn this over to Vice Mayor Harwood.

Vice Mayor, thank you so much.

Before each council meeting, we begin um by recognizing the indigenous people whose lands we gather on.

Our land acknowledgement is an important part of honoring deep roots and continuing presence of the autumn and the peapot here in Tempe.

About a year ago, I had a few, I and a few staff members saw another organization's land acknowledgement video, and we were so inspired.

And we asked ourselves how can we make our land acknowledgement and our recognition state statement as meaningful and as memorable.

So we reached out to um the Indigenous Arts Collective Um Hicky to partner with them to bring the land acknowledgement to life in a beautiful video.

And tonight we are proud to share this piece for the first time.

So please enjoy the premier of the Tempe's land acknowledgement video.

Stretches far beyond the boundaries of our city.

Embodying cultural values that are integral to their identity and way of life.

The autumn empty posh continue to maintain a deep spiritual connection to this land.

We embrace the responsibility of caring for these places.

And Amy Dalbala.

And I also I'd also like to acknowledge the City of Tempe's diversity and equity and inclusion inclusion office and the communication and marketing office for their support to make this video.

So I also want to recognize the following guests that we have in the community in our um in our audience.

We have Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community Council Member Suk Fulwinder Wilder.

And auction Indian Community Councilmember Dennis Anton.

And I also want to um recognize three of our Tempe employees, um, Winona Miller, um Sarah Nito, and Naomi Sotsi, if they're here.

Um we're gonna ask them them to come up and get a picture with all of us in just a minute.

Um, but they are um working on launching the first um Native American or indigenous persons employee group here at the city of Tempe, where they will be focusing on promoting indigenous cultures, professional development, workplace advocacy, and providing for a community of belonging for indigenous staff and allies.

Um I just want to tell them thank you also.

Um so mayor um if it's all right with you.

Can we go down and take a picture with the group?

It is most certainly all right with me.

All right, let's go.

All of us, yes, yes.

I didn't pass up in the police.

I'm so glad you're here.

Let's punch in and make a couple lines.

Come on.

I can touch them.

I can't remember.

Yes, you certainly can see.

I can get back.

Come on, Mayor.

Put them down here in the middle.

One, two, three.

One more.

One, two, three.

Thank you so much for bringing by the good.

Thank you.

I was ready though.

All right, next up, item 5A2, Tempe Police Department Citizens Academy recognition.

So from July 23rd to September 17th, 17 community members participated in Tempe's first Citizens Academy in nearly nine years.

Over eight weeks, this diverse group of residents, faith leaders, volunteers, and retired law enforcement gained a behind-the-scenes look at how our police department serves the community.

They toured key facilities, learned about units from patrol and traffic to forensics, dispatch, and major crimes, and experienced demonstrations from canine, mounted, and firearms teams.

The class also explored school safety, community policing, and the technology that supports our operations.

Graduates were celebrated with family and friends on September 17th.

They are eager to volunteer and help launch the new Citizens Academy Alumni Association, strengthening the partnership between our department and the community.

So the following is a list of the Tempe PD Citizens Academy class of 2025.

And I was going to ask too for those of you who are here from the Citizens Academy, if you can come down and take a quick picture of the front here, but I'm going to announce you right now.

So if you are here and on this list, once I'm done with the names, please come on down.

So the following once again is the list of the 2025 class, Ricardo Bowler, Shea Dewey, Kent Doan, Ricky Lynn Glan, Ricky Lynn Gans, Janet Hamlin, Victorious Hooper, Douglas Weizo, Tanner Hurt, and there are two, I'm going to make sure I get this correctly.

Ronald Krievsky, but also I should mention that there are actually two of them because it's a father and son.

So Ronald Krayevski, and of course, also not to be outdone, Ronald Krieski.

Brian Madison, Omar Milan, Lewis Mobinari, Aidan Samantar, Ilyas Sheikh Mohammed, Elvis Tasca, and Alison Turner.

So if you are here and you are in part of that graduating class, if you could actually make your way up front here, so Jason can get a quick photo, and if the council can join us, that would be fantastic.

You can't see me, I can't see you.

One more like that.

One, two, three.

And last one for safety.

Didn't get the last time.

I'm not able to do that.

That's on tape.

Oh well.

I did.

Perfect.

So once again, congratulations to all of our Citizens Academy graduates.

Your dedication to learning and to building stronger connections with our police department truly reflects the spirit of community partnership that we value right here in Tempe.

Next up, item five A3 is for Agent Aware Asian Orange Awareness Proclamation.

And actually, what I'm going to do for these, I'm going to bring all these down to the front.

So I've got a series of them.

Yeah.

All right.

So do I have here to pick this proclamation up, Michael Garrison, Kristen Charlotte and members of the Tempe Veterans Commission, if you'd like to join us as well.

Yeah, yeah.

All right, so this proclamation reads, whereas during the Vietnam War, the United States military used Agent Orange in herbicide and defoliant as part of its tactical warfare strategy.

And whereas October is recognized as Agent Orange Awareness Month to draw attention to Agent Orange exposure that has resulted in the deaths of over 300,000 U.S.

service members, in addition to the devastating and long-lasting health effects on millions of people.

And whereas August 10th was recognized as Agent Orange Day to mark the date in 1961 when the first aerial herbicide spraying mission was conducted in VS in Vietnam with U.S.

support, an event that initiated the herbicidal warfare program that later employed Agent Orange on a massive scale.

And whereas the impact of Agent Orange extends beyond physical health, causing deep emotional and psychological scars for those affected and their families.

And whereas it is our collective responsibility to honor the courage and sacrifice of those who have suffered and died and those who continue to suffer from the consequence of Agent Orange exposure.

And whereas raising awareness about the effects of Asian Orange is crucial to ensuring that affected individuals receive the recognition, support, and justice they deserve, and to prevent such tragedies in the future.

And whereas we urge all citizens to join us in acknowledging the profound impact of Agent Orange, to support ongoing research and advocacy efforts, and to stand in solidarity with those whose lives have been forever altered by this toxic legacy.

Let us commit to educating future generations about the consequences of chemical warfare, advocating for the health and well-being of those affected, and striving for a world where such suffering is never repeated.

Together we can honor the past, support the present, and build a safer, more just future for all.

Now, therefore, I, Corey Woods, mayor of the city of Tempe, Arizona, do hereby declare October 2025 as Agent Orange Awareness Month in Tempe, Arizona.

One more like that.

Oh, mercy.

Actually, I was thinking, uh, Chris, I don't think you're going too far here.

So the next one here, we're going to do uh Chris and of course Dr.

Webster here.

Perfect.

And this one is for Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

So if you're here to receive that one, please come on down and join me.

Also explains for those of us who see uh if you see people wearing uh purple lapel pins, that's for domestic violence awareness month, just for the folks here watching at home and for the folks here in the audience here.

So this proclamation reads whereas the City of Tempe, Tempe Community Health and Human Services, Tempe Police Department, and Tempe Fire Medical Rescue, as well as the City's Family Justice Commission, are proud to recognize Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

And whereas the 2025 theme is with survivors always, which draws attention to what it means to be in partnership with survivors towards safety, support, and solidarity.

And whereas this theme is a call to action for those committed to advocating for survivors' needs and rights, and whereas by taking a stand, we remind the nation that there are still countless people, victims and survivors, as well as their children, families, friends, and communities impacted by domestic violence.

And whereas the city of Tempe offers a wide range of trauma-informed services across multiple city departments to ensure that victims are given the support and services they need from the moment of crisis through healing and recovery.

And whereas the city's family advocacy center is a model for serving victims of crime in a safe and healing environment in partnership with the Tempe Police Department and Arizona State University.

And whereas the Tempe Family Justice Commission supports the city's work and lends its expertise through education and advocacy.

Now, therefore I, Corey Woods, mayor of the city of Tempe, Arizona, do hereby declare October 2025 as domestic violence awareness month in Tempe, Arizona.

Stefan came in here.

Because he's Stefan's right there.

He's the president of the commission.

Where's he at?

All right, well, Stephanie, you've been called out by Council Mother Hodge, so come on down.

Didn't work.

Mayor Can I excuse that?

We just moved it right there.

Perfect.

Big smiles, everyone.

One, two, three.

There's plenty of me photobombing, it seems like a lot of different things.

All right, next up, 5A5, Arts and Humanities Month proclamation.

And let's see, uh, this will be received by Meredith Reeves and Josh Waffler, Rebecca Rothman, and Jacqueline Swan.

So come on down.

You don't always hear is the negotiating between the folks who come up about who's going to receive the proclamation at the end.

So consider this your behind the scenes look at what goes on at Tempe City Council meetings.

So this proclamation reads, whereas the city of Tempe affirms that arts, culture, and the humanities are essential to the vitality, identity, and well-being of our community, as they help strengthen community engagement, build cultural bridges, support lifelong learning, nurture local talent, and invite cross-cultural understanding.

And whereas the Tempe Arts and Culture Division, including Tempe Community Arts, Tempe Center for the Arts, Tempe History Museum, and Tempe Public Art, the city annually serves approximately 120,000 people with more than 400 programs, performances, exhibitions, public art installations, grants, and partnerships.

And whereas Tempe remains committed to equity and inclusion in arts access, striving to remove physical, financial, and cultural barriers so that artists, cultural practitioners, and residents of all ages and backgrounds can engage meaningfully with creative experiences.

And whereas arts and culture are also powerful economic drivers, in Arizona, the arts and culture sector totaled 15.8 billion dollars in 2023, and in Tempe itself, audience spending at arts and culture events totaled 53.6 million dollars, according to the Arizona Commission for the Arts.

And whereas these data points affirm that investment in arts and humanities is not merely symbolic, but materially supports jobs, economic vitality, tourism, quality of life, and civic identity.

And whereas October 2025 shall be recognized as Arts and Humanities Month in the City of Tempe to encourage our residents, businesses, cultural organizations, schools, artists, and community groups to take part in celebrating the arts, promoting engagement, and supporting creative expression across our city.

Now, therefore, I, Corey Woods, mayor of the city of Tempe, Arizona, do hereby declare October 2025 as Arts and Humanities Month in Tempe, Arizona.

Oh, thank you.

All right, ready?

Everybody smile, one, two, throwing.

And one more like that.

One, two, three.

Thank you.

And item 5A6 is our Hispanic Heritage Month proclamation.

So our members of the Tadyata Advisory Board here this evening.

If so, please come down and join me.

Anyone.

All right, but I'm just gonna hold on to it myself.

All right, so this proclamation reads whereas each year the United States observes National Hispanic Heritage Month by celebrating the culture, heritage, and countless contributions of those whose ancestors came from Mexico, Central America, South America, Spain, and the Caribbean.

And whereas the starting date of the annual celebration, September 15th, is the anniversary of independence of the Latin American countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

And it's followed by the independence days of Mexico and Chile on September 16th and 18th, respectively.

And whereas after the Civil War, Mexican laborers that worked along the Salt River established a camp near where the town of Tempe would soon be founded.

Other Hispanic families from Southern Arizona and Sonora joined them in homesteaded farms nearby.

These first settlers lived in several small communities that together were known as Tempe.

And whereas the cultural, educational, economic, and political influences of Hispanic residents can be appreciated in all aspects of our life, from fighting against the segregation of the 10th Street School and the Tempe Beach Swimming Pool in the early 1900s to the incredible gifted artists, vibrant businesses, and music and community festivals of the present day.

And whereas the city of Tempe is committed to recognizing Hispanic and Latino culture and heritage as an important part of our city.

It acknowledged the crucial role that the Hispanic community played in shaping the past, present, and future of Arizona and the United States.

Now, therefore, I, Corey Woods, mayor of the city of Tempe, Arizona, do hereby declare September 15th through October 15th, 2025, as Hispanic Heritage Month in Tempe, Arizona.

Actually, all right.

Next up here, item 5A7, appointments to the Tempe Arts and Culture Commission and Historic Preservation Commission.

So congratulations to Matt Ellsworth on his new appointment to the Arts and Culture Commission and to Evan Sinat on her new appointment to the Historic Preservation Commission, as outlined in item 7A1 on this evening's agenda.

Next up, item 5B, City Manager's reports of announcements.

Madam City Manager.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Given this week's storm, I was hoping that uh Chief Daryl Duty, our fire chief, would be able to come up with our emergency manager, Monique Rodriguez, and provide you and the community with an update on the recovery.

Good evening, Mayor Woods, Vice Mayor Garland, members of the council.

I'm Daryl Duty, interim fire chief, and with me here is Monique Rodriguez.

She's our interim emergency manager.

This evening we want to provide you with an update on the sort of the history of what happened with the storm and then the opening of the emergency operations center and the actions that have been surrounding that and where we are right now.

That's the goal.

All right.

So the remnants of Tropical Storm Priscilla moved through central Arizona about Monday afternoon.

An extreme weather occurred weather event occurred just after one o'clock in the afternoon.

At two o'clock, the emergency operations center, which we call the EOC, we love our acronyms.

We decided to have uh, you know, the quickly the intensity of the storm, and it was becoming very quickly apparent that there was significant damage in the city.

So we decided to put together a virtual call via Teams, and we were able to uh put that together at 215.

We had a virtual meeting with all the city leadership, uh, the city manager's office, the department directors, and uh Monique and myself.

Uh we met together, uh, discussed the extent of the damage that we knew at that time, the response that was happening, as you can imagine with the intensity of that storm, tremendous number of 911 calls coming in for service at that time.

Tempe PD was extremely busy, so were we, uh, to the point uh where we had to bring in some help from the outside from our automatic aid partners, and we'll talk a little bit more about that.

But uh so we had that meeting at 2.15.

We decided to uh continue with the response efforts and make sure that we supported those every way we could.

And then we had a follow-up meeting at 5 o'clock to kind of see where we were and come up with a plan for the next day.

So we decided in that meeting that it would be worthwhile with the extent of the damage that we knew at that time, and knowing that we needed to get a better handle on the situation at 8 o'clock the next morning, which was Tuesday, we would open the EOC in person with our personnel.

And we have been very fortunate that Maricopa County Department of Emergency Management sent uh six or seven people over that have been there all week partnering with us.

They've been a tremendous help and a big asset for us.

You can see the picture there.

That's our EOC at fire administration with a bunch of the personnel in there.

We talked a little bit about the high number of 911 calls.

You can see some of the damage here.

There will be pictures throughout of damage that's throughout the city.

So in Tempe, fire medical rescue saw 170 fire medical rescue incidents in our city.

That's more than double our normal number.

TFMR responded to 134 of those.

That's all we could get to.

We were so busy that all of our units were running from call to call, and they were taking every call that they could.

There were an additional 36 units that were covered by our automatic aid partners.

So they were there, but we weren't because we were on other calls.

So cities like Phoenix, Guadalupe, Chandler, Mesa, Scottsdale, and even Gilbert came in and ran incidents in our city, and we thanked them very much for that.

The peak hour for storm response was from noon to one o'clock hour.

We had 44 calls for our service.

And I know PD was uh even more busy than that.

Uh Monday at approximately yeah, at approximately one o'clock, we had 44 calls for service, which means every single one of our units was out for approximately two and a half hours.

They were just going from call to call.

At that point, we're really triaging calls, right?

We're we're concerned about life safety.

So when we see an incident like this with a tree on a house, yes, there's a significant amount of damage, but our priority is making sure that is anybody in the house, are they trapped?

Are they injured?

Those kinds of things.

And so that's what we do.

We go in and we and we do a search and make sure that nobody's injured.

And so on this picture right here, you can see the X over the 22.

That's the firefighter's mark that says, yes, we've already been in here and we've verified that there's nobody in there.

And this is some damage from the industrial park down on Kyreen that uh we've discussed in some of our meetings.

Just really tremendous damage down there, and it's it's devastating for the businesses there.

So our initial priorities in the EOC uh when we get together that Monday morning and we decide what are what are we worried about most?

Well, it's it's the essentials for the for the residents, the people that live here.

So it's things like shelter, food, and water.

So we knew that we had a number of people with apartments with mobile homes, and sometimes even single family residences that had enough damage that they're not livable right now.

So utilities are cut off, you know, gas, food, power, that kind of stuff.

Sorry, gas, water, and power, not food.

Uh and they have their roofs are gone in some instances, they have major holes, those kinds of things.

So it's not really safe for them to be there.

So looking for places for them to go, you know, setting up a shelter, making sure that they have food and water available to them as they need it.

And uh then we want to move after we're worried about the the base essentials, then we move to looking to see how extensive is the damage, where is it?

And we were able to uh coordinate with some other agencies.

I already mentioned Maricopa Department of Emergency Management.

Uh the sheriff's department graciously made their helicopter available to us, so I was able to go up in the helicopter and sort of do an aerial survey of the city and see where the most intense damage was, which was tremendously valuable because we came out, came back and gave some addresses to the people that went out to look at the damage that we didn't know about before.

So in our coordination meetings that we have every day, every morning in the EOC, uh every city department is represented.

I know that uh you know many of those members are here, and that's one thing that I want to stress is well, it's it's me up here standing, I'm just a representative.

It is literally a team effort of every department in the city, and they've been incredible throughout this.

In addition to that, we have over 15 partner agencies that we're working with, and I won't read them all because it's too long of a list, but I want to make sure that I mention uh county emergency management, state emergency management, county public health, Arizona Public Service, SRP, uh Southwest Gas, uh, those kinds.

The American Red Cross has been tremendous throughout this also.

Uh so I want to make sure before I go to this one that uh I turn it over to Monique and give her an opportunity to talk about uh the the base essentials.

So we talked about food, shelter, water, that kind of stuff.

So I'll let Monique talk a little bit about our shelter efforts and our partnership with the Red Cross.

So after we determined that life safety issues had been addressed, um, we quickly realized that we had a very large number of um the community that was impacted and now no longer had safe places to stay.

Um so we Monday night uh contacted the Red Cross and were able to stand up a shelter.

Um that shelter was active for about 48 hours.

We did close that shelter tonight, um, 5 p.m.

Um due to the ability to relocate the few number of people that were utilizing the shelter.

Um, additionally, we were able to make connections um through TCAA to um assist with food donations and hygiene kits, um, as those were some of the more identified needs um amongst the community of people that were not able to access some of the things that were in those damaged homes.

Um, and then additionally, we were able to partner with Tempe Community Council to work on um monetary donations so that we can start to assist financially to make an impact with things like debris removal.

We realize that the cost for that is quite high.

So getting those donations in place will help the community.

The Red Cross has additionally, so not only did they support shelter operations, um, one of the key determinations in closing that shelter is now the Red Cross can focus on other um other resources that they're able to provide.

So they do have a number of resources that they're going to focus on, those that were heavily impacted.

So shifting away from shelter operations has allowed them to now start focusing on those other needs.

All right.

So after after we get the base needs covered, then we move to how bad is the damage.

And we do that through what's a process called uh damage assessment.

And starting on Tuesday, we had representatives from the city, so we had building safety, we had fire medical rescue, Tempe Police.

They teamed up with uh county emergency management and people from the state, and they teamed up into two or three teams, depending on what day it was, and they go out into the field and they use iPads and they take pictures of damaged uh buildings and they fill out a report and they submit it to us in the EOC, and we track all of those on a map and in a database, and that helps us with uh with later on with recovery and and disaster uh declarations and things like that that we'll get into in a minute.

So at this point, uh we had as of conclusion of operations today.

The teams have conducted over 450 assessments.

We've received another 75 self-assessments, which I'll plug here in just a second from the residents and businesses.

Um damage assessments will most likely go through tomorrow.

We will continue that, and it may go into next week, but the pace of it's gonna slow down just a little bit because we've had about 30 people going out every day, and that's not sustainable for us.

So we'll make sure that we uh continue that until the the project is finished.

Um, additionally to that, um we had a storm resource and information web page was created by the public information section, who's been tremendous in this.

The communication has been outstanding to get access of all for all types of information about the storm, our response to it, and the recovery efforts.

Additional information can be found about what to do if your home or business is damaged.

Uh, there's even a QR code on there that you can scan that leads you right to the form.

So if you have a if you have damage to your home or your business, you can go to that webpage, which is tempey.gov slash tempe storm, and that will take you straight to that QR code.

You can scan it, fill out that form.

It literally takes a couple of minutes, and then that makes that lets us know that uh you have damage from the storm.

And then on uh yesterday morning, Mayor Woods signed the declaration of a local disaster.

Uh today, the county did follow with uh a signature of their own of a of a local of a disaster countywide, and they did make a formal request to the state uh to do the same to follow suit.

So it's you know, the the disaster world is a little bit interesting.

Um so if the state declares that, you know, that allows us by the county declaring that allows our uh disaster to be lumped in with the globe and other things that are going on in other counties, so those contiguous counties can go together.

So that has an impact on that.

So here is the that's the URL for the web page there.

So and uh I made sure that I copied the picture of the the QR code so you can scan it if you need to.

That's all we have for you right now.

And uh, if you have any questions, we'll be happy to answer what we can.

Thank you.

Really appreciate it.

Um, I was actually going to save this until later this evening, but given the fact that we have a bigger audience right now, and you're standing here right now.

I'm I just want to say it.

This has been an absolutely Herculean effort on the part of all of the people who've been involved in this, and I know you mentioned all of the groups, the city groups and the partners that we've had in this process.

And I will tell you, I have been just inundated and bombarded with residents texting me, emailing me, calling me, and just saying how exceptionally proud they are of the City of Tempe staff and all of the partners who've been involved in this.

I mean, it's been pretty much universal praise from everyone that I've come across, whether it's online or whether in person, I'm just saying please make sure to share with the people who work for you and the folks who are frankly partnering with you on these efforts.

Please make sure to share share our gratitude at the exceptional job that they're doing and just the highest level of professionalism that they are showing around the clock, because we recognize when it's disaster relief, it's not an eight to five situation.

It's pretty much people sitting in a room and being out in the field around the clock, doing everything they can to help people, help businesses that have been affected, clean up green waste and do everything they can to put the city back together the way it was before this microburst on Monday.

So I just wanted to say to all of the city groups who city uh staff members and the departments that have been involved in this effort, uh, along with all of our partners who I know Chief Duty mentioned.

I just want to say personally, my hats off to you.

Uh, you are an incredible group of people.

I can't think of a better team that I would want to work with of the people who work for the city and the partners that we have.

And I can tell you right now, our residents and businesses completely back me up on that assessment.

Yeah.

Council Radams.

Yes, thank you very much, Mr.

Mayor.

Um, I want to thank the first responders out there.

Uh, police fire, public works, transportation, parks.

Um, we had facilities.

We've never had such a horrible storm that I've known uh as long as I've lived here, and we probably can anticipate more as our um our climate change is more of these storms.

So I I just I mean, it was just uh an incredible response, very professional, as good as it gets response, and our residents recognize it.

And the and we have the best employees uh in the in the state, and I this that demonstrates how good you guys are.

So I just really hats off to you and all your crews and um all the employees that were out there.

I was driving in the storm, it was it was really bad.

And uh next time I'll pull over.

Um, but um uh I just really want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Adams.

Excellent.

Thank you.

Thank you for thank you.

Great work.

Mayor if I may, just a few words as a city manager.

Thank you to Chief Duty and Monique who have been heading up the emergency response, but also um to the departments.

And just to highlight a few, as he said, within that was a day off for employees, if you recall it was a holiday, indigenous people day.

And within the 50 minutes that Greg Reese, Chief Reese was calling me.

The amount I thought, well, people are out of town, who's gonna jump on, the amount of people on that virtual call that were just calling from where airports, wherever they were, transportation, public work, solid waste, 31 taking calls, over 400 calls.

Uh, community services, parks, services, recreation, police, fire, communications.

Chris Baxter has done an amazing job of communicating.

Um, but also allowing me to publicly acknowledge our partners.

Um Maricopa County, the county manager calling me, the people that we we encountered at the center, just their hearts in it to help us, American Red Cross, Tempe Community Action Agency stepping up to help us with the food bank, and then Tempe Chamber helping with the small businesses.

Um, and then last but not least, obviously my exec team and especially Greg Reese who thrives in this environment.

Uh the man was made to deal with an emergency and to calm waters.

So thank you, Chief Reese.

I know you're here and you're hiding.

Um I often have heard growing up uh adversity doesn't build character, it reveals it.

And I have to say the character of this community has revealed itself through compassion and connection, not just within the workforce, but the amount of texts and calls that I have received from residents, friends, and people who are just willing to step up whatever they need to do.

That includes all of you.

So there are no titles.

Uh, there's just people and humans wanting to help out wherever they can.

So I thank this community for its patience, its kindness, and more importantly, for uh revealing itself and its community of spirit, um, which I am always so proud of.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, that brings me to item number public, uh item number six, which is public appearances.

But before we move into public appearances, I just want to take a moment to address campaign-related activity, especially since we are now in the 2026 election season.

City council meetings are open to the public and are a vital form for civic engagement.

We welcome all individuals, including candidates to speak on matters of public concern during the public comment portion of the meeting.

However, because this is an official city council meeting that is both televised and live streamed using city resources.

We ask all candidates, including any current council members, to refrain from electioneering or campaign-related activity while participating in this meeting.

That means no discussing your candidacy, asking for votes or signatures, or displaying campaign materials such as signs, t-shirts, or literature while speaking.

Thank you for helping us maintain the integrity and neutrality of our public meetings.

Which brings me to item number six, once again, public appearances.

According to the Arizona Open Meeting Law, the city council may only discuss, respond to, or take action on matters listed elsewhere on this agenda for discussion and legal action.

The purpose of the open call to the public is to allow individuals to address the city council on any issue within the jurisdiction of the city council.

No person shall speak more than once, and there was a limit of three minutes per speaker.

In the interest of allowing all members of the public to have an opportunity to speak, in the case that there were such a large number of persons intended to speak during the meeting that it may deprive other members of the public from the reasonable opportunity to speak, the mayor may limit each speaker to less than three minutes.

Speakers present at the podium must state their name and city of residence and provide a speaker card.

Members of the public shall refrain from making personal, impertinent or slanderous remarks, and from becoming boisterous while addressing the city council or while addressing the meeting.

Speakers will be taken first come, first serve in the order in which the cards are received.

Speakers' visual aids and appearances by phone or recordings are not allowed.

The city council is prohibited by state law from discussing, responding to, or taking action on matters raised during the call to the public, even if asked to do so by a member of the public, so long as the subject discussed by the speaker is not listed as a specific agenda item for council's consideration for discussion and legal action.

Individual members of the council may respond may respond to criticism made by speakers, ask staff to review a matter, or request a matter to be placed on a future agenda.

Once again, I'm going to read these in the order in which I receive them.

This is only for item number six public appearances.

If you were speaking on another item that's agendized somewhere else, you will still get your time to speak later in the meeting.

But the first speaker I have this evening is William Herman.

Oh, yes, yeah, please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

My name's William Herman.

I moved to Tempe in 1964, having graduated from high school and started ASU.

I've lived in the Shalomar neighborhood for almost 30 years.

I know I don't look that old, but I'm older.

And uh as you know, there is a controversy.

The golf course closed, and there has been a proposal to put what we feel is an undue number of people in our on our golf course with homes and apartments, and what would appear to be about 800 people and about 600 cars on that little golf course.

And so there's a lot of anger.

Now I do not speak for the Shalomar Association.

I admire them, I work with them, I support them.

But what I'm saying suggesting to you be done about this problem comes from me, not exactly from the association.

They'll have plenty more to talk to you about, I guarantee it.

So what I'm suggesting is instead of having all of those people there, we have a lesser number of houses because as you know, Tempe is actually kind of a rich city, and there are a lot of people who make a lot of money in this town, and they get really mad when the Arizona Republic prints how much money they make at ASU, for instance.

Uh the the the couples that take home four and five hundred thousand dollars.

Anyway, there is a need for upper level homes in Tempe.

And if we just put a third as many on the Shalomar golf course as you're planning to put now, but so come for it, and we charge 1.4 to 1.7 million dollars for each of those homes, every one of which you would sell within a two-year period, I guarantee you.

Because all those people right now are living in the Arcadia neighborhood, or they're living south of here.

And it's um temping needs to have more room for these houses.

So we'll take them at Shalomar.

We'll have a third as many people on the golf on what we regard as the golf course.

It'll be a jewel in the center of Tempe with those lovely homes.

There are already many.

Am I out of time?

How am I doing?

You're good.

Okay.

Uh there are already uh many custom built homes on the Shalomar Gulf, of course.

I happen to live on one on the Sixth Fairway, and more beautiful homes would be welcome.

There, and I think your problem with a Shalomore Association would go away.

And you know you've got a problem with those guys, because I'm one of them.

All right, that's it.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Right.

All right, the next speaker I have is Sudha Doshi.

Please come forward.

State your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Um my name is Sudadershi, and I am here also to talk about Charlie Mahar Golf course.

I will um right up state that I firmly disapprove of rezoning the land belonging to the Shalimar Golf course, which borders my home at 2101 East Balboa Drive, very next to the back service gate, the only entrance to the golf course other than the main one on the Gulf Avenue.

I have lived at this premises for more than 15 years and have worked as a teacher in Tempe for several years as well.

I have raised my family near this peaceful green oasis and have made many, many happy memories.

This land is unique and vital space, rare and irreplaceable in Tempe.

Students from my school where I worked in McLent High School's golf club enjoy this space every year.

Also, various school districts, including Tempe School District, came here for their annual cross country meets.

I have fond memories of my children and my students participating in these activities.

This land is a green oasis, a vital space that is increasingly rare in Tempe, and I want to cherish my retirement years in this community and in my home.

Reasoning this green zone into a dense concrete development would be devastating, and it would mean massive pollution, noise dust, choking fumes, and carbon emissions from constant construction traffic right at my doorstep near the back service gate.

Not to mention the increased heat, intense storms, right, Miss Edams, and microbes, more and more of those.

As you might know that green spaces lower ambient temperature and humidity by up to 12.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

The elevated temperature and pollution will go on not for one year, not for two years, but for several long years, right?

At my doorstep, which I don't think I can take it.

Likewise, thousands of species from insects to birds to animals and other beautiful creatures would not be able to take it either.

They will have to run away from these house conditions, and many will be displaced into other homes in our backyards in our pools, like ducks, foxes, and OI, the scorpions.

And others like owls will fly to run away from this unbearable living condition.

Council member, I ask you the real question is I'm sorry, that's time.

Where this retired teacher will fly and go away.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Okay, the next speaker I have is Noah James Markham.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Sorry, I'm a little taller.

Aloha uh mayor and to the rest of the city council.

My name is Noah James Markham, and I live in the great city of Tempe.

Um, I would like to thank you guys on the city council for making Tempe the best city in the state.

Um Tempe.

But I know we have so much limited space in the city of Tempe.

Um, but I would ask that we build more here.

I would also like to ask if you guys would put the T coil, but this T coil is here.

I can hear it with my hearing A's already.

So that's really awesome.

But also I would like it in the auditoriums here too, and the movie theaters here.

I know we have subtitled devices in the movie theaters, but those could be updated too.

I also ask, and this is very, very important to this city, and around this country and this state and around the world.

I hope we guys can hold big events or concerts in this city that we as a city can provide a sign language interpreter to these big events.

Even in the auditoriums or plays.

We need it.

I shouldn't have to ask for a sign language interpreter.

They should always be provided, no matter if someone is there or not.

And we need to make the third spots with people that need the ASL interpreter, too.

Also, I would like to see more DEI down Arizona mills.

This is College Town.

And I'm pretty embarrassed because there's not a lot of clubs.

It just doesn't feel very hyped up here down Mila.

We need to do a better job.

If you're that annoyed with the noise in Mila, then I don't know what to say about this.

That is cottage sound.

Hopefully it makes sense to people, or maybe not.

Also, the sewer issue.

I don't want to smell the sewer while I'm walking down the streets.

So I hope you clean them up.

And again, thank you for the hard work in the city of Tempe and continue the hard work here in Tempe to what I think this is the best city in Arizona.

Mahalo, and thank you for listening to me tonight.

Thank you.

The next speaker I have this evening is Bobby Nichols.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

My name is Bobby Nichols.

I'm a Tempe resident of 25 years.

And I'm here as a here in my capacity as a private citizen to express strong opposition to Tempe's contract with a surveillance and artificial intelligence company known as FLOC.

In general, I oppose the use of artificial intelligence in the public sector.

As a professional public servant, I believe that we, the public, owe current and future generations of public servants a guarantee that their unique expertise is irreplaceable and our leaders will never automate their jobs out of existence.

Such a guarantee, if upheld, would benefit not only public servants, but also the communities which we serve.

I am particularly opposed to Tempe's contract with Flock, as it poses an unreasonable risk to the safety and well-being of more than 40,000 Hispanic and Latino residents of Tempe, who are already facing a rampant and unwarranted increase in searches, seizures, detentions, and deportations around the country.

For those who don't know, FLOC provides AI surveillance tech to cities around the country and has admitted to a troubling practice of providing the Department of Homeland Security and ICE with unrestricted access to its extensive records and the movements and identities of our residents, neighbors, families, and friends.

This is a clear abuse of our sensitive and personally identifying information, but Flock has proven itself unwilling to place restrictions on the secondary collection and use of the data it compiles through license plate readers and AI cameras that surveil our city streets.

Tempe has had a contract with Flock since 2022 and elected to purchase additional surveillance technology from Flock just this January.

Tempe still has the power to mitigate these abuses of our sensitive data by terminating its contract with Flock, and I affirmatively call on the mayor and council to do so as quickly as possible.

Thank you.

I yield my time.

Thank you.

Next speaker I have is Nori Muster.

Please come forward.

State your name and city of residents.

You have three minutes.

Hi, thank you for having me.

Letting me talk.

I I've been Nori Muster, I've been in the giveaways.

Can you hear me?

Okay, how's that?

Okay.

Um I bought my house in Alam.

Oh.

Thank you.

I bought my house in Shalmore in 1992.

And it's been uh it's a really peaceful neighborhood.

You know, it's something, it's something special.

It's it's a character area.

We want to have character in Tempe, not just lots of strip malls and you know, apartments and stuff.

Um I just I'm against the um I I am against rezoning it.

Um I think what it's the way it's set up now is fine.

We would love to have one house per uh commercial a um acre.

And um I I really hope that we'll take that into consideration for the people that live in that part in that neighborhood.

It's just been a really peaceful, good place to live for many, many years.

So thank you very much for taking it into account.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

The next speaker I have this evening is Philip Yates.

Please come forward.

State treatment city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Good morning, Mr.

Mayor and members of the council.

My name is Philip Yates, and I am the word.

Here we are.

Okay, much better.

Okay, so I'm Philip Yates, and I am the uh president for the Riverside Neighborhood Association.

I would just like to reiterate the same thing that uh Corey had to say earlier, and that is that uh everybody jumped into action.

ASAP, and that's what we needed to have happen.

The uh the Riverside Neighborhood Association for one, and just one, uh, was devastated.

There are trees still lying all over the streets.

Um, and we are still picking them up.

I'm worn out because I don't know how to use chainsaws and I broke two this week.

Um anyhow, um this is going to be a long ongoing process of uh of fixing our city.

And uh I appreciate every of the agencies that have been involved with um the fix-up of it so far.

Uh I hope that uh that is ongoing, and we need to keep that in mind because this is going to take months to do.

And uh I you know just can't give enough praise to the people that actually did um jump into action um ASAP, and um also the residents of the city uh that uh got into action as people that were just on the streets and into yards cutting down trees.

Uh there were houses that uh were crushed by trees, huge trees, and uh cars that were smashed.

Uh I for one looked out the window and saw garbage cans flying down the streets.

We have never seen a micro burst, anything of this magnitude that has ever hit our city.

It was absolutely devastating.

I mean, you can drive anywhere in the city of Tempe and you can just look around and see how much stuff there still is all over our streets.

And uh we are very appreciative of all of the stuff that everybody has done.

Uh community members and uh all the other services that have been provided as of yet, and um hopefully that will be an ongoing process.

So thank you all.

Thank you, Ms.

Yates.

Appreciate it.

Okay, that is the last card I have under public appearances.

Is there anyone else in the audience wishing to address the council under public appearances?

If so, please get my attention.

All right, seeing none, I will move on to our consent agenda, which is item number seven.

All items on the consent agenda will be considered as a group and will be enacted with one motion by the city council unless an item is removed for separate consideration.

Members of the public may remove public hearing items for separate consideration.

Public hearing items are designated as public hearing item at the beginning of the item title.

Council members may remove any item for separate consideration or to declare a conflict of interest.

If a council member would like to declare a conflict at this time, the city clerk will provide the council member with a disclosure form.

If you wish to speak on a public hearing item, please fill out a speaker card and submit your completed card to the city clerk prior to the agenda item coming forward for council discussion.

I will call your name when it is your turn for public comment.

The consent agenda is listed this evening as miscellaneous items 7A1 through 7812, awards of bids and contracts, items 7B1 through 7B15 and resolutions items 7C1 through 7C9.

Just a note, uh item 7A9 must be pulled for separate consideration to allow for a public hearing since the city has received several protest letters regarding that item.

So once again, that means 7A9 will be removed for separate consideration.

Once again, any agenda item designated as public hearing item can be removed by a member of the public for separate consideration.

If anyone would like to have a public hearing item removed, please get my attention now.

All right, seeing none, uh council members, any agenda items that you'd like to have removed from the consent agenda for separate consideration.

Okay, it's been the it's been moved by council member Hodge to uh to approve the consent agenda.

Is there a second?

Seconded by Vice Mayor Garland.

Please vote.

And that item passes unanimously, um, with the exception of item 7A9, which of course was removed for separate consideration.

So now we will get to that item.

Once again, the consent agenda is passed unanimously seven to zero.

All right.

Um item 7A9 is to hold a public hearing to recommend a no recommendation of a series 9 liquor license for legacy liquor LLC doing business as King's Liquor, located at 119 West University Drive, Tempe, Arizona, 85281.

Uh, is there any statement from staff on this item?

Or do I go right into the public testimony?

Yep, there is a staff statement.

Come on forward.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the council.

Uh, my name is Josh Bies, tax and license manager here at the City of Tempe.

Uh, we're here to discuss the no recommendation for um item 7A9, the Series 9 liquor store application for Legacy Liquor LLC, DBA King's Liquor at 119 West University Drive.

Uh recommendations on liquor license applications are based on review by city staff uh by the police, fire, and community development departments to ensure city code criteria is met.

The city staff's recommendation currently is no recommendation, as we just stated.

Uh however, recently PD did provide a conditional approval recommendation.

Um, however, we are still waiting to get back the fingerprinting uh submittals on that.

So we're still waiting on some more additional information.

I want you to keep in mind that the city is not the final approval on liquor licenses.

Uh that decision by council tonight will be sent to the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control, who has the final say.

Uh and one final note if the application is denied by at the city and state level, the applicant has has to wait 12 more months before they can reapply for a liquor license.

Um I'm here again to take any questions.

We have some other city staff here as well.

Thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

Council Burkey.

Thank you very much, Mayor.

I just want to clarify something.

You said staff's no recommendation.

I want to clarify for members of the public, staff is not making a recommendation on this.

They're not recommending a no vote.

That is correct, uh, council member.

We we have no recommendation essentially.

Thank you.

Just wanted to make that clear for people watching at home.

Thank you.

Fantastic.

Thank you.

Any other questions for Josh?

All right, thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

All right, now I'm gonna open up the public testimony portion since this is a public hearing item.

And once again, I'm gonna take these uh cards in the order in which I receive them.

So the first speaker this evening is James Benjamin Herlbu.

I every time want to do the prices right thing, but I'm gonna date myself.

So just a lot.

Thank you.

Yeah, that's very important.

City council, there's a whole herd of us, I think, from the neighborhood.

So um it's a surprise that I'm first, but but um let me do my best.

Uh so I am um Ben Hurlbutt, James Benjamin Hurlbud.

I've been a resident of Tempe for more than 15 years, of Maple Ash neighborhood in particular.

Um, it's been a rough week for Maple Ash.

The image of the house with the tree on it is just down the street from ours on uh Maple.

Um we have a very tight-knit neighborhood.

It's a it's a um it's an exemplary of community.

Uh there are a lot of kids that live in the neighborhood, the local businesses, cartel, auto's pizza, um, etc.

are are tight-knit members of the community, and there has consistently been one sort of outlier business in the area that has been seriously problematic for the community, and that is the CVS that occupied that corner at Ash and University.

And it was much to our relief and dramatically improves quality of life in the neighborhood when that business closed several months ago, uh, because that business was a magnet for drunkenness, intoxication, misbehavior, violence, as the police will no doubt tell you, there were just sort of constant calls to that corner because of the clientele of that CVS.

In effect, I'm I'm I'm sorry, not of CVS, Circle K.

That's what I was gonna say.

Um, sorry.

The sir, the Circle K was benefiting as a business off of you know what was in effect a serious problem for the neighborhood and indeed for the city.

Um now, a new business that is essentially equivalent, has in fact gone in and is seeking a license to operate a liquor store at that corner.

We don't want it.

We don't need it.

There is an excellent liquor store merely a block away.

That's TOPS, which has been a long-standing member of the community.

There is Whole Foods across the street.

It is an absolutely unnecessary and undesirable presence, and it risks recreating exactly the same problem that has been a persistent problem in the area for many years.

So I strongly I beseech you to not simply uh not simply take a position of agnosticism and make no recommendation.

I beseech you to recommend a denial of this license.

Thank you.

The next speaker I have is Rick Hervig.

Please come forward and state your name in city of residence.

You have three minutes.

And you could lower that too, Rick if that's easy for you.

Perfect.

Thank you.

Yes, my name is Rick Hervig.

I'm a resident of Tempe.

I moved here in 81 or so.

And I'm representing the Maple Ash Neighborhood Association.

And I'm here to respectfully but firmly oppose the pending liquor license application for this property at 119 West University Drive.

And it's not because we are anti-business.

It's not some statement against responsible alcohol sales.

It's based on the conviction that a dedicated liquor store at this location does not meet the standards of public convenience, nor serve the best interest of our community.

We'd like to note, like the last speaker, that since the closure of Circle K, the neighborhood experienced a noticeable reduction in problematic activity.

Issues such as loitering, late night disturbances, and alcohol related nuisance calls significantly decreased.

Residents reported a greater sense of safety.

And the area felt more consistent with the family-oriented historic and academic character of Maple Ash.

Approving a new liquor license would reverse these gains, reintroducing the very problems the neighborhood has only recently begun to move past.

Now we have experiences that you may think they're anecdotal, but thanks to the support of the keep Tempe Beautiful group, the neighborhood attempted to clean up the alley between ash and maple one Saturday about 18 months ago.

While we did the whole alley, we focused on the alley between the Circle K and residential areas.

And we know we made a difference because we could tell it when we picked up a lot of the garbage there.

But nearly immediately within a week, the Maple Ash Neighborhood Association received reports that the mess was back.

And by the way, the neighbors refer to this area as drug alley.

One neighbor told us that the Circle K had more police calls than any other convenience store in Tempe, but that's something that your group can get the hard data on.

This location represents a lost opportunity for positive business use.

It could be contributing to the vibrancy of Tempe's urban core.

A cafe, wellness service, a neighborhood grocer.

And if they want to put a taco bar in their liquor store, that doesn't count.

A liquor store represents the lowest community value use for this unique and highly visible location.

So the Maple Ash Neighborhood Association has asked me to urge the Tempe City Council to recommend denial of this liquor license application.

Denying it will help protect the character, safety, and livability of one of Tempe's most historic neighborhoods and ensure that University Drive continues to attract businesses that enhance rather than erode community well-being.

Thank you for your careful consideration.

Thank you very much.

All right.

Yes, don't worry, Joe.

Ah, reading the sheet that I got here.

So four consonants in a row that really a trip people at.

Good evening, uh Mayor, Vice Mayor, uh, City Council, staff.

Um thank you for all that you do for the city.

I am a longtime um member of Maple, the Maple Ash community.

I have raised my or I'm raising my three daughters in the neighborhood.

Um I'm also an attorney.

Um I want to urge the council to not just be agnostic on this, but to deny or make a recommendation that this license is denied.

Um I think the statute drives you to look at the location factors and whether actually a liquor establishment is needed in that area.

And if you look at all those factors, the answer is clearly no.

I think that the city really should think about whether they want every storefront to be a liquor or marijuana store.

And I think the answer really should be no, and that those location factors are should be driving the city to carefully consider the density of those types of establishments in a small area.

So thank you again.

I know it's been a crazy week for Tempe.

I really do appreciate everything that everyone's doing, and I urge you to recommend not granting this license.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker I have this evening is Karen Gittless.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Good evening, and thank you for hearing this issue.

Thank you for all you do for the for the city and for us, especially given the circumstances we're in.

Karen Gittless, and I live in Maple Ash, and I have lived there since 1980 in the same house, which my husband and I bought in 1985, 86.

This is the only house we have ever owned, and we will leave this house for the great beyond.

It is a very small area.

It's about 50 uh acres, and it goes from university to 13th Street, and the east-west boundaries are the railroad tracks to the west and mill to the east.

So it's very small, and there really we have a bar in the neighborhood.

We have a wonderful, we have a neighborhood pub, and we're very fortunate to have that.

Uh we definitely don't need a liquor license.

Secondly, is the point of community.

Um the Circle K for whatever, you know, whatever you want to call it, did provide a service.

It was a place to execute certain daily transactions that we needed to do by a paper or whatever it happened to be.

Uh this a liquor store has no um community purpose at all.

It's uh the antithesis of neighborhood and community.

Um, and the third point is that this is an excellent opportunity to say no to a liquor store and and look for some kind of bodega or something that will serve all our resurrect residents with a good community purpose.

Um thank you very much.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

That's all the speakers I have on that item.

Is there anyone else in the audience wishing to address the council on item 7A9?

Oh, sure.

So let me just go ahead then and close the public testimony portion of the public hearing.

And yes.

Yeah, thank you, mayor members in the council.

I just want to clear something up for the record as well.

Uh the business uh King's Liquor is currently open and operating on a temporary basis.

That temporary liquor license was not um uh approved or administered by the city of Tempe that comes from the Department of Liquor, so I just wanted to make sure we clear that up.

PD had no involvement in that.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

All right.

Since there were no other speakers here.

I'm gonna look to the council here, Councilmember Adams.

Yes, I'd like to make a motion to deny this license.

Yes, yes, Mr.

City Attorney.

Did we have the applicant here to speak?

Oh, right here.

Yeah, sorry, I skipped over that portion.

Oh is the applicant here?

Yes, please come forward.

We're all actually the owners.

So no, you sure you can all come on up.

So okay.

Sorry, I didn't know I would be speaking today.

Um so uh we're actually shocked that there's um so many people opposing us.

Um it feels like we're carrying on the stigma of um circle K, which is not really a fair opportunity to us.

Since we've had the interim um liquor license, there has been no police um presence.

So there's been no violence, there's been nothing of that sort.

Um I feel that we should be given a fair chance, considering there was a liquor license existing liquor license there with um circle K.

Um, I I don't understand why it's such an issue that we're operating it now.

It's a found like we're a family, we're running it, it's a family business for us, right?

And um, we're not selling any um drug-related things like paraphernalia, whereas TOAPs liquor does sell that.

There's a vape store, two vape stores in the neighborhood that carry that.

So I don't know why what the issue is, right?

We had the we had the police come and visit us as well, and um everything went fine, they understood what was happening, and they supported us.

So I just feel like we're we're carrying the stigma of a previous business, and we're not given being given a fair chance.

Sounds good.

Yes, thank you.

Uh Council Burke.

Uh thank you.

Will you just identify yourself?

Um, my name is Karen Chergal.

I'm an I'm a co-owner.

Okay, so you you're you're an owner of this, and you have other establishments around the valley as well.

Um, we have a store in um Phoenix that I'm a part of.

So hi, my Dodge Pomogio, and I do have the three other businesses in the city of Tempe, so which I have over 10 years.

So I'm running those three businesses, never have any issue.

Yes.

Um, do you live in Tempe?

I don't live in a Tempe.

Okay, I'm just curious.

So you have other businesses around the valley.

Uh and uh yes, we have like a multiple businesses, but we have uh this is about four Tentempee.

Three has been there since 2014.

Are all three of you part owners?

So we have the part of the ownership so it's uh it's a women-owned business?

Yes, yes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, thank you, speaker.

All right, now I will turn to the council for any comments or anyone.

Um Councilmember Amber.

Yes, uh, thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Um, I'm going to move to transmit a recommendation of denial of the series nine liquor license for legacy liquor LLC DBA King's liquor at 119 Western University Drive for the reason that the density of existing liquor licenses in the area, including Topps Liquor, adequately serves the area, and therefore the public convenience will not be served by issuance of this license.

Uh additionally, there is pretty well documented um and organized opposition from the city residents that reside within one mile of the proposed site.

I second that motion.

Okay.

So it's been moved by Councilmember Amberg and seconded by Councilmember Adams.

Um other comments or questions from council?

I'll explain my vote when we do it.

Um sure.

Do you want to go right now, Councilburg?

Sure.

Yeah.

Um I will be waiting.

Wrong by one.

Got it.

Can you hear me now?

I'm good now.

So I will be voting against transmitting the recommendation for denial, and here's why.

Um, I I look at a map of that area, and I understand that you know the topps is right there, and Casey Moore's is right down the street, and then of course there's Mill Avenue, so there's plenty of places to buy liquor in that area.

But I do agree with the business owners in that I feel that they're carrying the stigma of that circle K.

And I fully understand the neighbors' concerns because that Circle K was rough.

No doubt about it.

Um, I went there a few times, never had a positive experience there.

So I would never go there if it still existed today.

But even the the statistics that we've gotten from Tempe Police show that no matter where a convenience store is, the calls of service are much much higher than liquor stores of parity.

So it's almost an order of magnitude more.

So I do think they should be given a chance to show that it wasn't the fact that alcohol was being sold there that drove the problem.

It was a problem with the circle K, not just the lot and the services that were offered in that lot.

Again, if it was the case that alcohol necessarily was driving these these calls for service, and we would see a lot more activity at Topslicker at Casey Moore's and at some of the closer establishments on Mill Avenue.

I see what clearly is three immigrant women running a business, and they are serving the city of Tempe in other ways.

And to me, I don't think it's fair to deny them that.

So I know that this is all like performative, right?

Because the state's going to make the decision in the end.

I just don't want to use my position of authority to try to put my thumb on the scale for the state to deny them their rights to do businesses in the city of Tempe, especially considering they're already doing business in the city of Tempe.

So Mayor, I'll be voting no.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

Uh yeah, Council Brevs.

Just want to follow up on my motion.

Uh I the community has clearly been very clear about not wanting this.

And I think that I respect community needs and the neighborhoods wants.

And you guys are the ones that live in it.

I don't live in it, but you do, and you experience so you're the experts.

We're not the experts, but you you are your community because you know it.

And so that is why I'm um going to vote to know to uh deny this.

Okay.

Thank you.

Uh Councilmember Amber.

Yes, thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Um, Councilmember Keating, to your point, I I agree with almost everything that you say, uh, except I'm gonna, and I've said this before when I sit up here, I sit up here knowing that there are specific laws that we're supposed to be following.

And there, if you review uh the information that we get from the state look report, there's a pretty exhaustive list of reasons why you should be denying a liquor license.

And I would say that this one probably marks off at least two or three of the uh 12 that are listed.

Yeah, to that point, you know, I reviewed the list as well, and I know that there are you know reasons why we can deny a liquor permit, and it is your prerogative, and however, this votes prerogative if they want to execute or not execute, but they agree, they agree with those reasons that have been offered to us.

Um again, I'm just not there.

I've been on council now for nine and a half years, and I don't think we've ever denied a liquor license unless there was some sort of egregious violation of law.

So for me, I'm gonna vote no, but I understand we all have our different opinions here.

Council Berchin.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, point of clarification.

Uh this is a recommendation from the city council that goes to the liquor board, correct?

Uh Mayor, council commissary.

That's correct.

The the city makes a recommendation and that will be transmitted to the liquor board, and uh based on the recommendation or protest, the liquor board will set a public hearing and then they will make their decision based on the public hearing, presumably considering the position of the city at that time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, anyone else on council?

Any further comments or discussion on this item?

All right, so once again, the motion on the floor is to recommend disapproval of the liquor license application to the DLLC, uh, which would result in a DLC public hearing.

Um any further comments or questions?

All right, if so, please vote.

Yes.

Okay.

So that motion is approved, six to one with council member Keating voting no.

All right.

That one there.

Oh, all right.

So that then brings us to our non-consent agenda, which is item eight.

All items listed on the non-consent agenda will be considered separately.

Agenda item scheduled for introduction and first hearing will be heard, but will not be voted upon at this meeting.

Agenda item scheduled for second public hearing and final adoption will be voted upon tonight.

Council members who may have a conflict of interest may abstain from voting on a matter, and the city clerk will provide the council members with a disclosure form at this time.

First up, 8A miscellaneous items, bids, contracts, and resolutions.

Uh 8A1 is to approve a concessionaire agreement with Arizona Cycle Boats, LLC, for the operation of a concession-based recreational opportunity on Tempe Town Lake, consisting of captain tour boat group activities.

Mr.

Mayor, I see you.

Do you have a presentation this evening?

I do, and I have a captive audience because I'm first.

All right, well then carry on, sir.

All right.

Um, all right.

Um, Mayor Woods, member of uh members of the council, my name is Robert Meyer, and I will be presenting to you today about Arizona cycle boats, Tempe Town Lake's own unique destination experience.

It's been in the making for a little while now, and with your support, we'll be ready to launch soon.

Uh I'm the owner of a few large tourism uh concepts, serving over 40,000 guests per year here in Arizona.

I'm local, I live right off uh the 51 in Osborne, and I'm a partner in the franchise called Tour Scale, which manufactures and franchises the cycle boat concept.

Um I'm also here today to kind of talk about the vision that we share for Tempe Town Lake, the valley's only large urban lake, a unique destination, and a powerful resource for Tempe, which can become a center for urban life in the valley and a bridge into downtown Tempe for both locals and visitors alike.

With Tempe Town Lake, there's an opportunity to activate this destination, drawing in tens of thousands of new guests every year and create memories that they will associate with their time in Tempe as an incredible place to live, work, and play.

A unique destination needs a unique concept.

And that's what I'm here to talk about today and what we've been working on over the last few years Arizona cycle boats.

Um first, I'm very excited to be here today.

It has been a it has been a few years we've been working on it.

After the master plan was released in 2018, I submitted this concept originally during the RFI process in early 2020, just before COVID hit, um, and continue to engage with the city because I believe that Tempe Town Lake was the destination that this concept belonged at.

It truly is a unique destination with so much potential, and I wanted to be a part of it.

We've had opportunities to bring the cycle boat concept to other lakes in the region over the years, but I only want to do it here, and I'm committed to that.

So my goal with this is to help make Tempe Town Lake an extraordinary destination by actively drawing in locals and visitors alike with this unique only in Tempe experience, Arizona cycle boats.

We will then connect and extend those guest experiences into downtown Tempe, showcasing the city as a desirable place to live, work, and play, and serve as a resource for community events.

Ultimately, this is all about creating great memories for people.

And knowing that we can partner with the city of Tempe to make that impact gets me really excited about this.

So you're probably wondering where the boats.

So Arizona Cycle Boats will operate a fleet of these kind of unique cycle boats.

I'll talk a little bit more about how they work on Tempe Town Lake.

Appealing to a diverse, uh diverse groups of all ages and occasions.

Each cycle boat holds up to 26 passenger passengers plus a professional captain and first mate who directs the safety and fun of the experience.

Tours will be approximately two hours long and take guests around Tempe Town Lake.

Guests 21 and older will be able to enjoy a limited number of low ABV adult beverages on board.

The real unique aspect of the cycle boat is that it has this large paddle wheel on the back.

I'll show you a picture of that in just a second.

But everyone actually, you can see in this picture, faces each other and pedals to move the vehicle.

There's 12 pedaling seats, and then there's a there's a lot of standing room and benches that go all all around to fit those 26 people.

So it's really it's really made for socialization.

People are pedaling, having fun, it's moving the boat.

Um, but you know, there's a motor too.

So here's a good, here's a good couple extra pictures for you just showing what the experience is like for people.

So, how how we define success.

Um, I could I could give you the 97 slide version of this presentation, but we'll probably just leave it here in the interest of time.

How we define success is kind of when I look kind of kind of when I look forward in the next five to ten years in the future.

There's a few different areas that we can look at.

The most obvious is our business metrics.

Of course, we want to be successful, make it a profitable enterprise.

Um, you know, if we do that, of course, the business will be successful and continue operating.

That's obvious.

But what really gets me excited is in that medium term and long term when we're talking about community impact and that shared legacy.

So I think with this particular concept, we will achieve success by focusing on that impact.

The conversations that people will be having about it a decade from now.

Um, for example, this year alone, when we're looking at the medium term, in our first year of operations, we're aiming to host 1400 groups, totaling over 20,000 new guests who would go to Tempe Town Lake and extend their experiences into downtown Tempe.

These guests will enjoy their time on the lake, and many of them will extend their experiences enjoying lunch or dinner or other activities in town as we'll be partnering with different restaurants and other activities for them.

So reviews are birthday celebrations, conference groups, or even school field trips.

Marco Rubio moment.

So whether these are birthday celebrations, conference groups, or school field trips, Arizona Cycle Boats is really looking to make make that impact.

In the long term, it's really about that shared legacy.

I'm really I'm really humbled to have the opportunity to partner with the city of Tempe on this.

And what we're doing today is only possible because we stand on the shoulders of giants who have made this destination even possible in the first place.

So with that opportunity comes the responsibility of stewardship of that legacy, and also the trust to carry that legacy forward and eventually leave it better than we found it.

I take that responsibility very seriously.

So when I look to the future over the coming years, I think about how many delighted guests did we serve over those years.

How many of them really connected with Tempe Town Lake in downtown Tempe because of us?

Did they discover new restaurants, new activities, new places to connect with one another?

Did they love it so much that they started a business here?

Did they make Tempe their home?

So that's the power of truly memorable experiences.

And that's why I love the experiences in tourism industry so much.

That's why I've been doing it for so long.

I we really just love to make people happy.

So pursuing that North Star of that shared legacy, I think is what's gonna lead to that huge community impact for the simp for the city of Tempe over the years.

Arizona Cycle Boats is a unique concept in the metro area's most unique destination that will deliver these memories for tens of thousands of guests every year.

I'm very excited to partner with you all on this.

I will do everything I can to make this a successful partnership, make that impact, and push this legacy forward for Tempe.

On that note, you won't have to wait long.

We already we're ready to hit the ground running.

I already went ahead and got the boats.

In case you know, yeah.

I figured worst case scenario we'd have to sell them, but with tariffs and all that production, it would take about a year, year and a half.

So we've gone ahead and secured them.

We're working on other problems with staff.

By the way, who have been amazing, collaborative, so resourceful.

We've achieved so much in the last couple years, figuring out all the operations for this.

So with your approval today, um, we would hope to be ready to host our first groups and embark January 2026.

So thank you all for your time today.

I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Appreciate it.

Councilmember Adams.

I'm all smiles over here.

I've been talking about getting boats on the lake for seven years.

So you're making my dreams come true.

And I'm sure people were tired of hearing it about it.

But I'm so excited for this project.

You're gonna completely uh activate the the lake and even more.

And I can see people coming down here doing the the paddle boats and then going to restaurants and even staying at hotels, um, really getting an O Tempe.

It will help connect that area between the lake and uh, you know, where it's kind of it's there's not that much to do in that one area, so I think that will really connect it and and have the feel that the lake's not that far away because it's not, and really get in that interaction and Tempe Tourism.

I know is really excited about this also, and and um it's gonna be it's gonna be huge.

So keep ordering boats.

Awesome.

Thank you.

I'll make a motion to approve.

Okay.

Thank you.

Uh it's been moved by council member Adams to approve.

And then we think we're a little premature.

First read.

Oh Mr.

Mayor.

No, this one says it's it's it's for public.

I don't think we do we do public comment.

No, there was no public comment on this one.

It's not Disney carrying the work.

Well, no, no, no.

We're gonna sort this out first.

So Mr.

Anderson, what do you think?

I can show you what my item says.

It's a contract.

Yeah.

Right.

It's not, it's it's the first read, but normally we see if there's any public comment before we move.

But to you if you don't want to take public comment.

Well, I mean, I'll I'm I'm happy to take public comment.

Yeah, there was nothing here hinting that there was public comment necessary on this one.

But since Mr.

Anderson suggested it, uh, is there anyone who would like to address the council on this item of so please get my attention?

All right, seeing none.

We've effectively now taken public comment.

Um the it's been moved by council member Adams and seconded by Councilmember Hodge.

Please vote.

Um yes, uh well.

Okay, um, and Vice Mayor?

Yes, I and that item passes seven to zero.

Councilmember Amber.

I just wanted to uh let everybody out there know that if uh your big innings festival or boots in the park, fan, you may want to go um reserve your your paddle boat now.

Sounds good.

Sounds like a plan.

All right, the next item under the section is 8A2, which is to approve an increase to the contract amount with adjuvant technologies incorporated for the purchase of a triple quadruple liquid chromatragromatograph.

My goodness.

Mass spectral okay, I'm gonna do this again just for the record.

Hold on here.

We're going back.

We are gonna, I want to nail this in one shot here.

We're gonna approve an increase to the contract amount with adjunct technologies incorporated for the purchase of a triple quadruple liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer used for wastewater testing for Tempe's wastewater biointel program.

I don't appreciate the council member Chin didn't think I could do it.

Um just kidding.

Uh council, any comments or discussion on this item.

All right, seeing that I'm looking for a motion.

So it's been moved by Councilmember Hodge and seconded by Councilmember Keating.

Please vote.

Councilmember Hodge?

I don't know why I've already clicked that.

All right, and I that item passes seven to zero.

The next item under the section is 883, which is to award a construction contract to Felix Construction Company for project number 3224017A recharge wells, GMP 03 transmission pipelines at Ken McDonald Golf Course.

Council, any comments or discussion?

Motion to approve.

And that item passes seven to zero.

The last item of the section is 8A4, which is to award a construction contract to Felix Construction Company for project number 324017A recharge wells, GMP 02, well equipping at Ken McDonald Golf Course.

Council, any comments or discussion?

Motion to approve.

It's been moved by Councilmember Adams.

Seconded by Vice Mayor Garland, please vote.

And that item passes seven to zero.

The next section on the non-consent agenda is ordinances items for introduction and first hearing.

The items under the section will be read and introduced tonight, but no substantive votes will be taken.

The second hearing and votes are scheduled for November 6th, 2025.

So the first item under the section is to introduce and hold the first public hearing to adopt an ordinance for a co-text amendment within the Tempe zoning and development code, adding chapter 8 under part 5 establishing the middle housing overlay district.

The amendment intends to comply with Arizona revised statute 9-462.13.

The applicant is the city of Tempe.

Mr.

Payne, come join us.

Good evening, Mary and Council.

Uh Jacob Payne, principal planner with the City of Tempe Community Development Department.

So the statute was signed by the governor uh in May of 2024, House Bill 2721, as you'll see it called in the text, also known as the Middle Housing Bill.

This is one of a number of new state legislations that came through with the implicit purpose of expanding the housing supply in Arizona.

So what this one particularly does is applies to cities and towns in Arizona with a population of 75,000 or more.

And it states that we shall allow duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and townhomes on two sets of properties within our jurisdiction.

The first one of those being all lots zoned for single family residential within one mile of the city's central business district, uh, which I'll show on a later slide what that means for us.

As well as on at least on at least 20% of any new development of more than 10 contiguous acres.

Um so this statute has a deadline that we adopt an ordinance by January 1st of 2026.

Uh failure to do so results in middle housing becoming applicable on all single family lots within the city's jurisdiction.

Um and since we'll be talking a lot about middle housing, what they've defined that as in the statute is one to four um dwellings located on the same lot that are households living independently from one another.

Jacob, really quickly, just want to make sure that we reiterate the point that you just made, which I think really is critically important.

You're saying that the adoption of this is necessary by January 1st of 2026, because right now you're talking about a middle housing overlay district.

So it's obviously only a certain portion of the city.

But if this is not adopted by the council during not this hearing this evening, but the second public hearing, it would actually then just simply apply in a blanket fashion to the entire city.

That's correct.

Mayor Woods, yes, it's correct.

Thank you.

These statutes relating to housing have typically had kind of a clause that regards with whether or not cities adopted, and if you'd failed to do so, it's kind of like the ultimate version of what the statute is trying to accomplish becomes applicable across the jurisdiction.

Thank you.

So as I mentioned earlier, this is applicable in a certain radius of what they call one mile from our central business district.

The definition of the statute referring to central business district is the area that is designated by the municipality that is primarily non-industrial, attracts community activity, and includes the geographic area that we've designated as our downtown.

So on a later slide, you'll see what that is for Tempe and how we've come to that determination.

As typical with these, we see specific prohibitions on what we can and cannot do as part of our ordinance to allow what the statute is including.

So specifically, we may not do anything that would discourage the development of these middle housing in areas that they're becoming permittable through any actions regarding permitting or siting that make the construction impractical.

We also can't do anything that would restrict these middle housing projects to two floors or less.

We cannot restrict them to a floor area ratio or lot coverage of 50%.

We may not do any type of restrictions with permitting or review processes that are more restrictive than what we currently employ for single family homes in the same districts.

As well, we can't require owner occupancy of any of the units on the lot in the middle housing development, require that they comply with commercial building code, and then the final one is that we can't require that they have more than one off-street parking space per unit in the development.

Things that it specifically allows us to do or continue to do is to continue to allow single family homes to be built in our single family zoning as well.

It allows for flexibility if a city or town wants to include other types of middle housing beyond the you know duplex to fourplex range that is specifically required of us.

It also provides some exemption areas.

So those are listed here.

A couple of the ones that I've highlighted, places that are not zoned for residential use would not be affected, areas within the vicinity of a public airport, which I'll show on a map what that looks like for Tempe, as well as places that might not have sufficient urban infrastructure to support middle housing.

So what we're here today to talk about is our ordinance in order to comply with this new state statute.

As mentioned in the blurb, it is done through what's called an overlay district.

So what overlay districts do is they fall on top of the underlying zoning, but do not change the underlying zoning.

So single-family zoning will still exist, the areas where the overlay will be placed on top of.

So the provisions within an overlay are added to those provisions within the underlying zoning.

Since there's a provision in the statute relating to contiguous development of 10 acres and allowing 20% of those developments, we've also built in what's called the opt-in to the middle housing overlay, whereas any project that shows us that they're eligible for middle housing based on state statute can apply to opt-in to the overlay, even if they're beyond the one mile radius that I'll show you.

So, as mentioned, we're looking at one mile from uh city center or city central business district.

Um so what that means for city of Tempe, we looked at the languages, what they are looking for us to determine.

Um as an area that we designated as our downtown already in our zoning development code, we're using what um right we have is our city center zoning district.

Um, so it's shown there on the map, kind of the whole of the donut, if you will, um, that stretches from University Drive north to Rio Salado, and then from the railroad tracks uh east to College Avenue.

That radius that you see extending is the one mile shown.

All the yellow is our single family zone properties currently, with that red kind of blob extending from our west being the airport vicinity, which is a statutorily defined boundary being the area where the average decibel level is 60.

So the total amount of properties that would be uh affected in this overlay is 2020, which is shown here on this map.

That gives you a more direct idea of which neighborhoods and which portions of the city would fall into this radius and would be part of this overlay district.

So in the overlay, the following standards would apply.

You would be allowed one duplex, triplex, fourplex, or up to four townhomes on that property.

As required by statute, we can only require one on-site parking space per unit.

And then in tandem with the statute, how we can't restrict to more than what we do for single family, you'll see that the height is allowed to what the underlying zoning currently would allow, as well as the setbacks.

So the setbacks that exist currently for that single family property would still apply even if it develops as middle housing.

The one that does change because of the way the statute is written, we can't restrict these housing products to be less than 50% lot coverage.

So we've set that maximum at 50% for all metal housing.

So what this would look like moving forward if we uh get applications for middle housing in the overlay, uh they would apply for uh development plan review, which is an administrative review by city staff.

Um, this is currently the process that we would have on the book for a four unit multifamily um development anyway, so that doesn't change.

Um, and then following um the review from city planning staff of the development plan review, uh they would apply for building permits, which would be reviewed, inspected, and issued by city staff as well.

Um so as a zoning amendment, this um process required a neighborhood meeting, uh which we hosted virtually and then in person in the evening on October 4th, of which there are approximately 50 people in attendance at both of those meetings.

Um, during this period from August until now, um staff received approximately maybe seven now uh phone calls and 54 email related to this issue.

Um, some of the concerns I've highlighted below, um, specifically concerns about uh historic neighborhoods and changing character.

Um so one thing that I'll note um about that topic in specific is that the city of Tempe also when we were writing this ordinance, we in the planning department were also worried about historic preservation.

Um there was an amendment put forward by the state legislature that would exempt historic designated properties on a local register, and it did not make it to vote.

So we are a little disappointed to see that, but such amendments might come later in the future.

Um there was uh concern about stress on municipal utility utilities from this increased density.

Um we also heard from uh residents and community members about a desire to see maybe this expanded to a further um extent beyond the one mile radius, you know, citing that uh the shortage of housing is becoming a big problem, and let's um spread this out, uh provide more opportunities for middle housing, as well as kind of share the um the load, if you will, of the new housing units that might be constructed as a result of the overlay.

Um there was also some questions about the designation of our central business district and where to place it.

Um we feel strongly that using our downtown equivalent is required by state statute is the correct way to interpret the state law.

Um so as you mentioned, um moving forward from here, we'll have our second hearing on November 6th.

Um I'm here if you have any questions.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jacob.

Really appreciate it.

Uh, any questions from council for Jacob on this item?

All right.

Sounds good.

Thank you so much.

Appreciate it.

All right, now we're gonna open up the public testimony portion of this public hearing.

Uh, and I'm gonna start with the I've got one speaker this evening on this item, and it's Janilyn Greneo.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Good evening, mayor and council.

Janilyn Granillo, uh city of Tampede.

Over 30 years I've lived in this town.

I am a resident of Meyer Park neighborhood association and active in the neighborhood and active in the community.

Uh speaking to the middle housing overlay in legislation to echo what uh Jacob said earlier is that this does not protect historical neighborhoods or homes.

Does not protect historical neighborhoods or homes.

However, if not approved by law, then the whole city will be obligated to this overreach legislation.

I hope that this ordinance passes with only the requirement by law, so that we're not subject to the whole city situation as designated in the law.

Uh and moving forward, that the city does work to remedy any damage of overreach legislation.

I've asked this body before, and I'll ask you all again.

Um, as the legislative session starts up again, and as uh we get legislation bills, proposals to remedy this situation to ask for your support in advocacy, not only with your staff that you have and with the League of City and Council, but for you all to individually pick up the phone and call our city of Tempe representatives or those folks that represent an area with a city of Tempe.

Uh, it's important for the public to know and those that are listening that this overreach legislation takes away the power of city governance and is unacceptable.

So I appreciate your time and um let's see what happens.

Thank you very much.

Thank you so much.

Do I have any other speakers on item 8b1?

If so, please get my attention.

Yes, please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Yes, hello, uh, Mayor Woods and Council.

My name is Deon Romero.

I am a resident of the city of Tempe.

I am on the board of numerous historical societies and organizations across the state, including the Tempe Historic Preservation Foundation.

Um I am here to speak on this overlay amendment, which I do understand comes down from the state level.

Um, we find this to be quite disappointing since that the state has tried to implement a uh one-size-fits-all solution for all of our cities.

Um, not taking into account the various complexities of our cities.

We are all very different, and I don't believe that this uh push really offers the solution that they've are trying to alleviate.

A lot of these homes or townhouses that they're proposing most likely will not be utilized by people within the community.

They're most likely going to be utilized by this overlay will be most likely utilized by developers and individuals from out of state and not the kind of uh people within the community that we were hoping such an overlay would um assist.

That being said, I do understand that the council is kind of under an obligation to uh speak on this issue since if they don't, it will apply to the entire city of Tempe.

However, I do think that there should be that this amendment does not have to be approved.

I do think that there can be considerable push to our representatives at the state level to try to get this adjusted, and my interest is on the historical aspect.

I know that many of the houses and uh properties that this will be affected by pretty recent compared to some of the buildings in our historic core, but they still represent a pretty significant uh part of Tempe's uh legacy, which is still ongoing.

And I kind of wish that this amendment really or this proposal is um really re-examined and um uh um adjusted in some capacity, but that's that's really all I have to say on the matter.

But thank you, council members.

Thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

Is there anyone else in the audience pushing to address the council on item 8b1?

If so, please get my attention.

Yes, please come on forward.

State your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Yes, um, aloha.

My name is uh Noah James Markham.

Um, I'm here for the city of Tempe.

I live here.

Um, uh Tempe.

Wow, you guys complain a lot here.

And um that's that's ridiculous because we could be building over here instead.

Um, but I just want to know why we complain so much here.

Um, especially we should have had the liquor license too, with um I just don't understand that.

But I hope we'll approve this and stop complaining and uh tempee, but I know there's gonna be somebody always complaining.

So Mahalo and thank you for this time.

Thank you.

Is there one of the else in the audience wishing to address the council on item 8b1?

If so, please get my attention.

All right, seeing that I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing.

Uh council members, any comments or discussion on this item?

All right, hearing none, the second and final public hearing on this item is scheduled for November 6th, 2025.

The next item under the section is 8b2, which is to introduce and hold the first public hearing for an ordinance for a code text amendment for municipal administrative review, consisting of changes within the zoning and development code in compliance with House Bill 2447 and Arizona revised statute 9-500.49, changing certain duties and powers of the development review commission and city council, and designated the community development director and its designee to administratively review and approve all forms of site plans, design review of all new buildings alterations, and all forms of subdivision and condominium plates.

Is there a presentation from staff?

Jake, you want to come on back?

Long time no see.

Yes.

We have a brief presentation if the council wishes to see it.

Thank you.

Hello again, uh, Mayor and Council.

I'll just run through this very fast.

This is uh another of our uh proposed text amendments to our zoning and development code in order to comply with recent changes to state legislation.

Uh, this one relating to administrative review powers.

Um, so House Bill 2447 was passed uh also in the previous year.

This one is a very small change to statute that has some pretty big implications on the way the cities and towns operate uh their planning departments.

It changes the word uh may to the word shall in regards to really uh allowing uh the administrative approval of design related uh items as well as any type of action of subdivisions.

So it's gonna apply to any type of site plan approvals, uh, what we call development plan review uh approvals in Tempe, as well as all kinds of subdivisions.

Um, as with the previous one, there is a deadline that uh ordinate ordinance be adopted to this effect, uh, but this one by December 31st of this year.

Uh there are a couple of exemptions that this will apply to that still allow for some design related items to have public hearings for decisions.

Um, one of those is related to any type of um certificate that uh our uh historic preservation commission might issue, uh those being certificates of appropriateness when there's modifications to locally designated buildings.

Um, so those type of hearings for design related items can continue.

I'll note that this was actually uh a different House bill that passed after the one that we're talking about in order to add a protection for historic properties and historic related design review processes.

Uh the other one that affects us in Tempe is we have a body known as the joint review commission that makes decisions on um properties that are zoned.

MUED that the university owns.

Um so that body will continue to hear um design related approvals as well, um, pursuant to uh intergovernmental agreement that we have.

So uh what the changes are in our uh ordinance.

Um there's amendments made to part one of the zoning and development code, uh, which has to do with the powers of boards and commissions in the city and which uh applications that they have decision making power over.

Um there's amendments in part five, which is our overlay districts, specifically to one overlay that we have that's known as our general industrial overlay district.

Um this applies when we have industrial zoning that's immediately adjacent to single family.

Uh the way we have been working it is that design review approvals and uh in that overlay come to city council rather than going directly to our development review commission.

So we will not be able to do that any longer.

Um amendments in part six.

We have a decision making matrix, so we've modified that to reflect these changes as well.

Um, and additionally, in part six is where we lay out all of our application procedure.

Um, as with the last one, this is our introduction hearing, so we'll have our second and final on November 6th.

Then I'm happy to answer any questions about this.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Really appreciate it.

Uh, council, any comments or questions for Jacob?

All right, sounds good.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Okay, now I'll open up the uh public testimony portion of this public hearing.

Uh, I've got one speaker this evening, and that speaker is Philip Amarosi.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Phil Amorosi, uh, 50-year resident of Tempe.

I know the slow is done in the interest of expediting approval process and keeping those pesky neighbors from voicing their opinions on developments that will affect them for the next 30 years.

But I have some questions, and and maybe we can get these addressed before the final changes are made to comply with the law.

Uh, even though HB 2447 is doing away with the requirement for public hearings on site plans, development plans, design review.

Is the city still going to suggest that developers have neighborhood meetings to show their projects?

That way we can see who the developers are that respect the neighbors.

Number two, are you still going to post the big red signs on the property so that the public is aware that something's about to change in their neighborhood so individuals can reach out on their own and find out what's going on?

Number three, can the city create a web page that would post early in the process all the development requests that are coming in with addresses and contact information so that once again residents can reach out on their own to a developer and discuss what's going on.

And finally, other than the I want to know what the role of the development review commission will be, other than to approve uh MUED processes because I'm one of those people that think that the public can provide valuable input on projects that staff might not think of.

And I'm thinking about one of those continued items on your agenda, the the marshal on Spence that would have sailed through your development department.

But the DRC recommended that all traffic go out on Apache instead of Spence.

That never would have happened.

Residents would have never known that a seven-story building is going to go up in their neighborhood.

And I I can't imagine that a large project like Danielle Plaza is not going to have any public hearings before it's developed.

So HB 2447 is a horrible bill, but I'm hoping that we can try and come up with things that'll minimize its impact.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Jake Wedding, I know there were a number of questions that Mr.

Amarosi had.

I there's some that you can respond to right now, and obviously, if there's some that you need to wait for the second hearing, we obviously completely understand.

But sure.

Yeah, um, thank you, Mayor.

I'm happy to respond to some of the questions that uh Phil asked uh of you about this ordinance.

So beginning with um talking about any neighborhood meeting procedures and specifically talking about rezoning cases, uh, rezoning cases, general plan amendments, those will still go through the processes that we have currently.

So they will go for recommendation with the development review commission, they'll host a neighborhood meeting, and they'll come before this group for two hearings for adoption of the ordinance.

So those processes will remain in place with a rezoning.

Um, now that it will be separate from a design review, we'll still be looking for conceptual drawings of to some effect of a rezoning as part of completeness of an application of a rezoning, so that there can be you know discussion about certain aspects of the design of a project, even when it's just the rezoning coming through.

Um so that's how we're looking to kind of um keep that process alive in the ways that we can do is what's being prevented by statute moving forward.

Um he asked about the role of the development review commission, so they will continue to make recommendations to this body on the rezoning matters as well as um decisions on use permits, uh, as well as any appeals of administrative decisions that are made by the community development department.

So moving forward, if there's any um decisions that we uh in community development make about design review, that uh either you know it's it's a denial and then applicant appeals that will go to the development review commission.

So there's public hearings at the appeal point as well.

Um, as far as tracking uh those projects so that the public can still be aware.

Uh, this is something that we've been talking about already is to figure out what's the best way to accomplish that.

We currently do have updated on a monthly basis, what's known as the community development activity report.

Um so looking at ways to try and uh either use that as a base or kind of incorporate new activity that we'll see through administrative design applications on that.

Um, so it's something that we've we've definitely been considering as part of this moving process as to how we're changing things as a way to keep people uh in the loop and make make sure that everything that we're doing in the planning department remains open.

Thank you.

Um Vice Mayor Girl, and then Councilman Bramber.

So I can't remember how I got there, but um, I I got on our one of our websites, our GI, one of our GIS websites, and was able to look at the phases that a development property is in, um, and it gave a lot of detailed information about the the company, the developer, and things like that.

Is that the type of detail that I think that uh Mr.

Amorosi was would be able to get or our residents will be able to get access to easily to be able to see the information about the project on a wherever it is?

Um, yeah, Vice Mayor Garley.

I can't remember what it's called.

The map resource is part of our community development activity report.

So there's a map component where you can you know geographically see what projects and then it has tabs that show you kind of where they are in the process.

So right now that already starts at the they've submitted their planning documents, and then it goes through, you know, they've got approved their planning and then into their building permits too, all the way up right until they get their certificate of occupancy.

And that's where the one you have you can hover over, and that's it'll give you all the details.

Right.

So it we link that um to any documents about staff reports related to the case.

So there's a lot of information on that.

It'll have to change, you know, where that information is coming from because if if it's there's no hearing, there's no staff report.

Um, but certainly um that's kind of how we're envisioning using that tool moving forward to kind of change change its purpose as our process change.

I like the idea that uh Mr.

Amoristi said about still having those big red signs just so that residents know what changes are gonna be happening there.

I'd love to see a QR code that goes right to that location for the website so that people can see it and find it easily.

But thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Amber.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Actually, that was going to be my question because he did ask whether or not those red signs were still going to go up, whether or not it has to come to us for approval or not.

I would think that they would still need to be able to know that something is coming, correct?

Uh, Councilmember Amberg, we wouldn't be able to put a sign on the property because those the purpose of them is to advertise for the hearing.

So there wouldn't be a sign to advertise a hearing because there wouldn't be a hearing, but that's where we can come in with other resources that you know, if we can put them on prominent places on our website and let people know that you check in here periodically and see what's what's going on, what kind of applications we've received.

Like I said, we're still kind of working through how that's gonna look for us, but it is our intention to update the way that we do project tracking to make sure that we're capturing these administrative processes that used to be advertised and used to have public hearings.

Maybe not necessarily a big red sign saying there's going to be a public hearing, but a big red sign saying that something is going to be built there.

And here's some contact information if you got any questions.

Sounds good.

Thank you.

Council Brach.

Yeah, thank you.

Um, also just like with um which bill just came up and just asked those direct questions.

Is it a way possible that we put something on our website saying that outlining the bill, but also outlining what we're gonna continue to do so it can be clear to people as as they come in and look on our website that we are gonna continue to have, you know, all the information you just said, versus you know, they think that everything has changed since the bill changed.

So I was just wondering, can we do that?

And also in in our DRC meetings, actually lay that out too, because there's people who come to those but don't come to our council meetings to understand the things that we are gonna continue to do as a city versus what the state has said we do or do not do.

Yeah, council member uh Hodge, yes, absolutely.

It's uh yeah, making sure that we get out the information and the messaging that you know things are changing, and this is where you look now, and this is how things will operate, uh, is gonna be really important as we make that transition.

So for sure, like our development review commission, this item went to them um before, and we brought it to them in a study session as well, just so that they were aware, since this is you know significant part of their role in the development procedure, and it's become something that uh you know community members in Tempe expect those processes.

Um, so making sure that we can you know make make known that things are changing and and the logic and the reason behind it, and you know, the new statute.

Um we'll see if if there's something we can you know put in the messaging about a development review commission on our website that tells people where things are changed and where to go.

Um, you know, instead of they go to the website and make a comment and they see that it's not there, right?

A button that tells them where they can check out what's going on.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Council Brahams.

Yes, um, when you showed that area map part of it, um if we annex that area, would that be part of the the big circle?

Um, we're working on annexing the county island, and I'm just wondering because the line stopped.

But if if we were able to annex county island, wouldn't that be part of the big circle?

Councilmember Adam, are you talking about the middle housing overlay?

Uh no.

Yes, I am.

Yeah, sorry.

No, no problem.

I just want to make sure I was somewhere.

I was yeah, yeah, okay.

Um so the middle housing overlay only applies to any single family zone property.

So if there's any annexation of county territory, if it's if it becomes zoned single family in the city of Tempe, it could.

Um, also to consider is that airport exclusion, um, which I'm pretty sure covers almost all of it, if not all of it.

Okay, thank you.

I appreciate the clarification.

Thank you.

All right, any other comments or questions?

All right, sounds good.

Thank you.

Oh, Councilmember Amberg, yes.

Uh, thank you, Mr.

Mayor, and I know I've said this so many times because I really hate short-term rentals, but I'm going to uh look at my crystal ball here as it's going to be a lot like that, like four or five years from now, and we'll be back here making changes because the real world implications of that bill, they're not going to be able to live with.

And by they, I mean the legislature.

Thank you.

All right, anyone else?

All right.

Thank you, Jacob.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Just want to make sure, too, since I didn't technically close the public testimony portion.

Is there anyone who wishes to address the council on item 8b2?

Any other people?

All right.

Seeing none, then I'll go ahead and close the public testimony portion of that public hearing.

Uh let's see.

Council uh any final comments or discussion before we move on?

All right, the second and final public hearing on this item is scheduled for November 6th, 2025.

The next item under the section is 8B3, which is to introduce and hold the first public hearing to adopt an ordinance for a city code text amendment for municipal administrative review, consisting of changes within the Tempe City Code, sections 25-43 and 25-44 in compliance with House Bill 2447 and Arizona revised statute 9-500.49.

This item is related to the zoning and development code amendments from HB 2447.

Council, any comments or questions for city staff?

Okay, this is also a public hearing item.

Does anyone in the audience wishing to address the council on item 8b3?

Please get my attention.

Yes, please.

Come forward.

State your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

I'm a tall Asian.

Aloha, my name is Noah James Markham, and I'm in the city of Tempe.

I live in the city of Tempe.

Yeah, so we need to go forward with this.

Um because uh this is a great thing for the city of Tempe because I've been hearing a lot of complaints in uh Tempe, of course.

Um, and I think because uh I'm trying to think about something else, but um maybe because we uh uh voted Joe Biden in the city.

I don't know, but um yeah, so I hope we will uh uh keep this city going.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Is there anyone else in the audience wishing to address the council on item 8b3?

If so, please get my attention.

All right, seeing none, I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing.

Council any comments or discussion.

All right, hearing none, the second and final public hearing on this item is scheduled for November 6th, 2025.

The next item under the section is 8v4, which is to introduce and hold the first public hearing to adopt an ordinance amending the Tempe City Code Chapter 2, Article 5, Division 20, relating to Tempe Veterans Commission by amending section 2-367 regarding powers and duties to add an additional benchmark to assist the city and the Tempe business community to earn recognition as Arizona Veterans Supportive Employers.

Council, any comments or questions for staff on this item?

All right, seeing none, I will open up the public testimony portion of the public hearing.

Is anyone wishing to address the council on item 8b4?

All right, seeing none, I will close the public testimony portion of the public hearing.

Council members, any commerce or discussion.

Hearing none, the second and final public hearing on this item is scheduled for November 6th, 2025.

The next item under the section is 8B5, which is to introduce an old the first public hearing to adopt an ordinance amending chapter 19, Article 8 of the Tempe City Code related to parking and electric vehicle charging spaces spaces by amending section 19-101 relating to the length of time using a charging space.

Council members, any comments or questions for staff.

This is also a public hearing item.

Does anyone wishing to address the council on this item?

Please get my attention at this time.

All right, seeing none, I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing.

Council members, any comments or discussion?

All right, seeing none, the second and final public hearing on this item is scheduled for November 6th, 2025.

The next item under the section is 8B6, which is to introduce an old first public hearing to adopt an ordinance authorizing the partial abandonment of an alley and utility easement on the west side of Priest Drive on the north side of Third Street.

This is a public hearing item as well.

If there's anyone wishing to address the council, please get my attention.

All right, seeing that I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing.

Council members any commerce or discussion.

Seeing none, the second and final public hearing on this item is scheduled for November 6th, 2025.

The next item under the section is 8B7, which is to introduce an old the first public hearing to adopt an ordinance authorizing the granting of a power distribution easement to Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District over certain city owned land located at 925 South Smith Road and authorizing the mayor or his designee to execute an easement agreement and related documents.

This is a public hearing item, so I'll open up the public testimony portion.

Anyone wishing to address the council, please get my attention.

All right, seeing none, I'll close the public hearing or the public testimony portion of the public hearing.

Don't want Mr.

Anderson to jump at me.

Um council, any comments or discussion?

All right, seeing none, the second and final public hearing on this item is scheduled for November 6th, 2025.

The last item under the section is 8B8, which is to introduce and hold the first public hearing to adopt an ordinance authorizing the granting of a power distribution easement to Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District over certain city owned land located at 1411 East McKellups Road and authorizing the mayor or his designee to execute an easement agreement and related documents.

This is also a public hearing, so if there's any public testimony on this item, uh please get my attention now.

All right, seeing none, I will close the public testimony portion of the public hearing.

Council members, any comments or discussion.

Once again, this item then is uh the second and final public hearing will be scheduled for November 6th, 2025.

All right, last section on the non-consent agenda is ordinances and items for introduct for second hearing and final adoption.

So votes on these items will be taken this evening.

The first item under the section is 8C1, and the applicant is requested to continue this item to the December 11th, 2025 regular council meeting.

Uh let's see here.

Um we are going to need a vote here since the applicant did make this request.

So I'm gonna look to the council to see if there's any comments or discussion.

So moved.

Second.

Uh it's been moved by Vice Mayor Garland and seconded by Councilmember Hodge to uh approve the continuance to the date certain of December 11th, 2025.

Council, any further comments or discussion?

All right, if none, please vote.

Yes, Mr.

Council.

Yeah.

Oh, and that item passes seven to zero.

The next item under the section is 8C2, which is to hold the second and final public hearing to adopt an ordinance for a zoning map amendment from CSS to MU4 for approximately 14 acres for Donnell Plaza mixed use, located at 3400 South Mill Avenue.

The applicant is Gambiton Burnham PLC.

I see Miss Voz and Neils coming forward.

I know how to do any I just way too.

She's been watching the tutorial all night of it going.

Yeah, I mean I know how to make a move.

All right.

Okay, well, it's gonna say we'll good evening, Ms.

Voss.

Good evening, Mayor, members of the council for your record, Mondjula Voz, Law Firm of Gamer and Burnham, uh 40 North Central, Phoenix 85004.

Um, I know we've had all had a long week as a temp you resident, but uh and we made a full presentation.

So happy to make a presentation.

I do want to make just a couple of comments.

One still left, but so just to reassure everybody, we are having meetings and full neighborhood meetings for Didell Plaza, even after this zoning is done.

Um, we will, as you know, we're about to embark on a long series of community meetings that we've been having with the community with the neighbors, with the arts groups, and everybody who has gotten us this far.

You know, this has been a long way here.

Uh, we know we have a long way to go, but we're really excited about hopefully, you know, at least beginning the part of the mixed use, getting at least the zoning in place, and to clear up something that may be um I said the the really the purpose of the mixed use is so we can bring housing to Dell Plaza.

Um the mixed use allows us to do residential there, and you know, our plan is to kind of try to work with the existing buildings, put in some retail, and then talk, you know, go talk to everybody about what they want to see at the plaza.

We talked about just just very quickly, kind of our vision is we talked about a shared vision, right?

Of workforce notatable housing, the public open space, kind of what you see here, kind of an amphitheater.

You can see a little bit here of arts and music, how we can make an entertainment venue, preserve yucca, do public art.

So that's our vision.

That's kind of where we want to go uh with your help and certainly with the community's help.

So I'm happy to answer any other questions.

Nils is here, you can answer questions.

Sounds good.

Thank you.

Uh anyone have any questions?

He doesn't have to talk.

All right.

Anyone from council have any comments or questions at this time?

No.

Okay.

Sounds good.

Thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

All right, I'm gonna go ahead and open up the public testimony portion of this public hearing, and once again, I will read the cards in the order in which I receive them.

So the first speaker I have this evening is Janelyn Grenille.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Mayor and council, Janilyn Granio, resident of City of Tampee.

Uh in addressing the uh Danielle Plaza for the mixed use.

I agree with the mixed use for commercial and residential.

Um I served on the general plan for Tempe tomorrow, and I looked at that information again.

I thought that that was approved at 45 units per acre.

And if this request is at 65 units per acre, uh, I don't agree with that.

The 45 units per acre, I believe was on the general plan.

I could be wrong.

And as discussed in the general planning process, the the density that's suggested is a potential, not a guarantee.

So those those are the frameworks for that.

Also to comment that priority should be given to the neighbors who live around the project now in alignment with the general plan and general principles, emphasis on enhanced quality of life and stable neighborhoods, neighborhood engagement to shape their neighborhoods is of utmost importance.

Let's see.

And keeping with the contract of those people who have moved in and around the neighborhood.

I think that special outreach should be done, not just having a meeting and expecting folks to come, but special outreach done to the neighborhoods that surround that area.

I'm looking forward to the to more of a concept laid out and real engagement with a professional facilitator.

I did go to one of the meetings there at the Danielle Plaza Art Space, and it was held by the developer and there are people there in the community.

I think what is needed is a professional facilitator to bridge the developer and the community folks, the art folks, and to help them frame and to get input that doesn't it's not a conflict of interest as far as with the developer there.

So that's my encouragement to see what can be done regarding that.

It does make a difference in the framing process and in getting the feedback.

What else do I have to say that would be of value here?

Oh, regarding the the residential space for a consideration, and I know we're gonna have more meetings there, is to consider having spaces for people to build that will offer an opportunity to build equity, which doesn't necessarily mean to think outside the box.

It doesn't necessarily mean that they buy in the conventional method, but maybe that they buy the the space and they still have some kind of rent.

Okay, so anyways, to think about how building equity there.

Thank you, Mayor and Council.

I look forward to the plans.

Thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

Okay, the next speaker I have this evening is virtual, and it's Talia Wolf.

Mr.

Mayor, we no longer have them.

Okay, in the audience.

Okay, thank you.

Yeah, appreciate it.

Okay, that means the next speaker I have is Robert Moore.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

This is an interesting moment in Daniel Plaza's journey with the city trying since 2011 to find someone crazy enough yet effective enough to coordinate Danielle Plaza's eclectic stew of property owners and because cohesive whole.

Rodney Hugh of Yucca Tap brought Desert Viking to the table in 2023, and three years later, here we are now.

I honestly hope approval of this rezoning ordinance tonight comes with a commitment to leverage Daniel Plaza's next chapter as a learning opportunity for the city and the community alike.

Tempe is changing quickly, and we need to continue improving how we approach redevelopment projects in our neighborhoods while exploring the ways to thoughtfully incorporate density into our suburban fabric.

Donnell is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to honestly explore ways to nurture local small business and creative scenes within our neighborhood redevelopment projects and establish new means of engaging residents throughout the development process.

And if not with Danel Plaza, then where?

Where do we draw the line and lean into finding new solutions that will help us realize Tempe's full potential within our next chapter of growth of growth?

I apologize.

Thanks for your consideration.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

The next speaker I have is Tristan Harp.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Hello.

Hello.

My name is Tristan.

And I'm a resident of Tempe.

This is like my third time now chatting for Dan L.

And last time I really talked about like how special of a place it is, but I didn't describe how much it has fostered my growth as an artist.

And just like the encouraging nature that I've received from Rob in the past and now from Jacqueline and Keelan, it really is such a unique space, and the ways that their support has helped me grow is just immeasurable.

And I want other artists in the future to experience that as well.

And so I know with the idea of this zoning stuff and the high density nature of it, it can be a little worrisome to like imagine how the wonder might be lost if it turns into something else than what it is now.

So I hope that kind of like what Rob said.

I hope that there's a lot of consideration in all of this.

And I'm sure you guys are like very well informed and have read all this stuff, but I noticed that no questions were asked, like to the developer or anything.

So I hope that that choice was made with lots of knowledge behind it and not for lack of regard because the space is just so special.

And also just because I have the space to say it, I hope in the future the community meetings with the developers and their supporters are a little bit more considerate and professional rather than like the cavalier essence that I felt at the last one.

But that's just my opinion.

So thank you all, and I guess that's all that I have.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

That's all the cards I have this evening.

Is there anyone wishing to address the council on this item?

Please get my attention.

Yes, please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Aloha.

Again, my name is Noah James Marcom.

Um I live in the city of Tempe.

And I am so excited, Tempi, that we are moving along, and we are building here because this is the good.

We don't need complaining.

Okay, I think Gen Z are especially, we need things to do.

And I don't really care about people that have been here 30 years, honey.

I I I really don't care.

We need to, I don't know if you stay in your house or I I don't know what you're doing for 30 years in the house, or I don't know what it is.

But we need to start building here more in Tempe.

So I'm Mahalo, and thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Is there anyone else in the audience wishing to address the council on this item?

If so, can you please get my attention now?

All right, seeing that I will close the public testimony portion of the public hearing.

Um just a really quick thing on my end, too, because one of the things yes, one more thing.

One more thing.

All right, you can do one more thing.

It's all good movies.

The general density on the site is actually 45, consistent with the general plan.

It is not 65.

So we're not asking for anything greater than what the voters approved on the general plan.

Okay.

Just I wanted to put that on the right.

No, very important clarification.

Thank you.

So just a note here, then I'll turn to the council.

Um, one of the things that I uh have seen many times from residents, um, just sort of conversations that people have brought up with me in person or things that I've been I've seen on social media uh during various points in time have been, you know, this has obviously been a very important space for a lot of people in our community for decades now.

And frankly, especially when it comes to sort of cultural aspects and live music and art.

And a lot of folks have said to me, or I've heard them talk about well, what guarantees do we have that this is actually going to be done?

Um, one of the things I know I said during the previous meeting is how much I trust the folks who are involved in this project and their histories, frankly.

I know with uh with Eric and Nils, they've got a long history of working with the community and frankly working with folks who are uh creatives and folks in the arts community.

So I definitely look at sort of past track record when it comes to um you know, do I want to move forward with this kind of rezoning?

I mean, obviously the rezoning, you know, is the is necessary because currently the site is only zoned for a commercial shopping center, and in order to deliver the promise that we all talked about of wanting to make sure that we can add some affordable and attainable housing to this site, we have to make sure to officially change the zoning from its current commercial shopping center designation uh to something with mixed use to allow for the presence of residential on that site.

But this actually gets um as well.

I was really glad that Tristan asked this question because this actually gets to the point about the art and the music.

And so just as a note, um, this development agreement is actually online.

We have a whole section on the city's website that actually is very that is completely devoted to the Danel Plaza project because we realize how important this is to the people in our community, especially a lot of the longstanding members of our community.

And just uh in the recital section, I want to just read this really quickly.

Uh page two, section F.

And this is in the development agreement, so it's not just a matter of, I know there's concern sometimes.

People will come up, they'll show us a lot of slides, or they'll show us renderings.

But how do I know these things are actually in the legal document to ensure that they actually get properly executed when the project comes to pass?

So this section actually says, notwithstanding its general condition, a few of the businesses have survived at Danel Plaza, including the community's long-appreciated Yucca Tap room.

The Yucca Tap room has supplied the city with a hospitality and music venue that has supported the development of local music talent into nationally and even internationally acclaimed artists.

The Yucca Tap room continues to be viewed as an important cultural amenity for the city, and accordingly, the party seek to retain its presence in any redevelopment of Danel Plaza.

The parties seek to use the Yucca Tap room's presence to create a music and arts driven project that also serves other community needs as more fully described below.

So that's in the language of the development agreement that we recognize how important the Yucca Tap room is, but we want a project that is once again a music and arts driven project.

So not just simply an apartment complex, but something that encompasses all of those elements that have made Danel Plaza such a special place for so many artists and creatives over the years.

Um when I go even deeper, here's one here, sec recitals page five, section T.

The city and developers seek to incorporate art walls to make available canvases for the relocation of those current murals that they may be relocated, the re-establishment or recreation of existing visual art as possible, and the creation of new visual art within the project.

And then the last thing I'm gonna read here is there's a section on page 18 under the section of proposed community benefits, because that's been one of the things that's been brought up tonight, but it's also been brought up at many previous meetings, where the community benefits is part of the project, and how do we know that the community is going to have the opportunity to be involved if this moves forward?

And this is under the sections at C all wall canvases.

Developers may construct art wall canvases for the display of public art at various locations throughout the project to be more fully determined by the city and developers, inclusive of community input during the planning phase.

So, yes, it will be led in a sense by some of the folks in the development community, but at the same time, inclusive of community input means that we want to make sure that the community is involved in every aspect of this project and frankly provides us with a lot of recommendations and a lot of guidance on what they would like to see when it comes to these art canvases or just generally what they would like to see in terms of art, music, and culture at this future development.

So just want to note the this this develop this document actually, this development agreement is actually online and can be looked at by anyone or downloaded it to take a look.

But I just wanted to make sure to read that just because I know some of the folks who've been very involved in this project.

A lot of you have come to the community meetings.

There are a lot of this folks here like Jacqueline from the Tempe Arts and Music Coalition, who I know have actually read this document and they've seen this language.

But I just wanted to make sure, just for the benefit of the public, since we're having this meeting this evening, that I could actually read these sections that are pulled directly from the development agreement, and just to let everyone know this is a fully transparent agreement, and you can pull this off the off the web right now and take a look just to make sure that you know that this is the project that not only the developers want, but it's also the project that this council's frankly going to stand behind, and we want it to be something that really is going to reflect the true spirit of not only Danel Plaza, but frankly, of the city of Tempe and what makes this such a great place to live, work, and raise a family.

So I just wanted to make sure to put that out there for the record.

Um anyone else from council, any comments or questions or discussion on this item?

Uh it's been moved by Councilber Keating, seconded by Councilmember Adams.

Uh, any further discussion or comments?

No.

All right, seeing none, let's vote.

Council.

Oh, and that item passes seven to zero.

The next item under the section is HC3, which is to hold the second and final public hearing to adopt an ordinance for an amended plan area development overlay for minima, one of my favorite things to say, located at 5454 South Beck Avenue for a new mixed use development, consisting of 72 dwelling units and commercial uses on 2.9 acres.

The applicant is with the Morris Ball, L PLC.

Is there any presentation this evening?

Good evening, Miss Bleam.

Hi, Hannah Bleam with the which sorry.

Which one?

Okay.

Hannah Bloom with the Morris Ball.

I did do a full presentation at the intro, so yes, happy to.

Um, but I'm happy to answer any questions you guys have on the good.

So just once again, thank you, Ms.

Blaine, just for the benefit of the public.

There was a full presentation at the first public hearing just for uh public transparency.

Uh anyone on council have any questions for Ms.

Bleam.

Okay, well, I got to do the public hearing first, so I need to withdraw that.

So that's true, right?

We got it.

We're on the same page.

We got this.

All right, so um, this is a public hearing item.

So I'm gonna open up the public testimony portion.

Is there anyone who wishes to address the council on item 8C3?

Seeing none, I will close the public hearing and now I will turn to my council colleagues.

I'll move to approve.

Second and moved uh by council member Keating and seconded by council member Hodge.

Please vote.

Sorry, it has been challenged to get a full seven this entire time.

So but the vote is unanimous at seven nothing.

So all right.

Next, oh no, no, it's fine.

It's just it's just actually kind of funny.

This um the next item under the section is 8C4, which is to hold the second and final public hearing to adopt an ordinance for an amended planned area development overlay for Hayden Lane Townhomes located at 1825 East Hayden Lane for a new three-unit single family residential town home development with three accessory dwelling units.

The applicant is JCR Collective.

Is there a presentation from the applicant this evening?

Good evening.

Um, I did do a presentation previously, so I guess at this point I would open it up for questions.

Um and go from there.

Sounds good.

Once again, thank you very much.

Appreciate the presentation uh for the during the first public hearing for public transparency.

Council, any comments or questions for the applicant?

Okay, then this is also a public hearing item as well.

So I'll open up the public testimony portion of the public hearing.

If there's anyone in the audience wishing to address the council on this item, uh please get my attention at this time.

Yes, please come forward, state your name and city uh of residents.

You have three minutes.

I don't know why I couldn't get that out.

Uh aloha uh city council again.

Um my name is Noah James Markham, and um I live in the great city of Tempe.

Um, I am so excited for this too.

Um I yeah, we need to continue building here.

Um, and yeah, I think we should be continued to build with section eight.

Um, because we really need that stuff too, especially.

Um I'm living with my mother right now.

Um, and there's not a lot of section eight out there for people with disabilities, especially.

Um, so I hope that we will continue that work here too.

Mahaloan, thank you very much.

Thank you.

Is there anyone in the else in the audience wishing to address the council on this item?

If so, please get my attention.

All right, seeing that I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing.

Council members, any further comments or discussion?

Move by council member Hodge, seconded by council member Adams.

Please vote.

And that item passes seven to zero.

Next up, item eight C five has been removed from the agenda at the request of staff, which takes me to the next item 8C6, which is to hold the second and final public hearing to adopt an ordinance authorizing the city manager to negotiate and execute a lease agreement for a lease of city-owned commercial property located at 525 South Mill Avenue in Tempe, Arizona, subject to the approval of the lease terms by the city attorney.

This is also a public hearing item.

There's any public testimony on this item.

Can you please get my attention now?

Seeing that I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing.

Council members, any comments or discussion?

So moved.

It's been moved by councilmember Hodge.

Seconded by Councilmember Chin, please vote.

And that item passes unanimously seven to zero.

The last item under the section is eight C seven, which is to hold the second and final public hearing to adopt an ordinance authorizing the water line easement abandoned, located at the south side of University Drive, east of rural road, and north of the 8th Street alignment.

This is also a public hearing item.

So if there's any public testimony in this item, please get my attention at this time.

Seeing that I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing.

What was it going on over there?

Who said that?

So I'm going to have a seven.

Okay, so we moved by council member Amberg and seconded by Councilmember Chin.

Please vote.

And that item passes seven to zero.

Obviously, though, so in the middle of my spiel, I couldn't tell where the voices were coming from.

I couldn't tell.

That brings me to item number nine current events, council announcements, and future agenda items.

So also council members may request that an agenda item be added to a future council meeting during their allotted time, but in accordance with the open meeting law, there should be no discussion on that item other than to clarify the request.

I'll turn to the council members for their comments.

And this evening I will start with Councilmember Keating.

No announcements, Mayor.

Thank you very much.

Next up, I'll go to Councilmember Adams.

Yes, uh, this Sunday is Phoenix Pride from 10 a.m.

to 2 p.m.

at 3rd Street and Thomas.

And our Tempe Pride Allow Alliance has three vehicles this year in the in the parade, which I'm very excited about.

One is uh our Tempe float that we have every year, and then we also have a vintage fire truck, and it's really fun to ride on.

And then we're gonna have a Tempe circular bus, so like an orbit bus in the parade.

And it's we're gonna decorate all of them up.

So super excited about this event.

Come out and um show your support for folks, and and uh we'll have a good time.

10 a.m.

to 2 p.m.

3rd Street and Thomas in Phoenix.

Thank you.

No other announcements.

Thank you.

Next up, Councilmember Chin.

No announcements.

Thank you.

Next up, Councilmember Hodge.

Yes.

Um, this um Saturday, October 18th, is my breakfast with Redetta.

It's gonna be at Timpe Beach Park, and this is gonna be a United Movement 5K run walkslash walk, honoring domestic violence and cancer survivors.

We also have about we have 50 different community resources on site, a blood drive, a memogram truck, and a food truck.

And um please come out and enjoy yourself and have a great time with that.

And I also want to just uh wish a congratulations to Angie Taylor on receiving the 2025 Don Carlos Humanitation Award.

Um of all the Don Carthos uh people who have received that award.

I I truly believe she's probably won the embodies that award more than anybody else I've ever seen.

So I just want to say congratulations and and that I love her.

And also, I want to wish everybody a happy and safe Halloween and welcome back our kids to school because they just got back from fall break.

And also um, I want to say a put a prayer out for everyone who's been hit or affected that what's happened out in the last on Monday with our um with um uh I can't I'm getting so choked up I can't even say it.

What what happened with our storm?

So just um we're all in this together, and we'll keep everybody in our prayers.

Um it just chokes me up to even say it.

It affected all of our communities, not just our communities, it affected our schools.

Some of our schools are shut down, our kids are online.

It's just um this is the time that shows how strong we are together.

No fighting without it's love within.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Next up, Councilmember Amberg.

Yes, thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Um, I just have one, which is uh happy birthday to my mother.

She is one of my favorite people in the world, and uh she her birthday is actually on Saturday.

And what type of person she is, is to let you know.

Like her best friend called her two days ago and said, I need you.

So she put herself in her car and she drove to San Antonio.

So, and that's where she is right now.

So that's probably where she'll be for her birthday.

But uh, happy birthday, mom.

Love you.

Excellent, thank you so much.

Vice Mayor Garland.

I don't have a slide, but I so I got a little emotional earlier, and I forgot to say something.

Um, when our um our uh land acknowledgement was telling, but um was we we were showing it, but let me just first say this is uh on Monday.

I did a speech in Flagstaff um to for their local indigenous or for their indigenous people's day, and then on Tuesday I was at an event for suffrage in both of those places.

I I talked a little bit about dates and why it's like impacting um uh the tribal communities and why Indigenous People's Day is important to be talking about.

So just in reference to suffrage, um, women got the right to vote in 1920.

The Native Americans in this country received citizenship in 1924.

In 1928, the federal government passed something called the guardianship law, which meant that no tribal members were allowed to vote because they lived on a reservation, so they were under the guardianship of the United States government.

My grandfather was uh Navajo Navajo code talker and fought in World War II, like a lot of Navajo men did.

He was also one that was taken from his home and whipped at the Phoenix Indian School every time he spoke Navajo, but still joined the Marines to speak that language to save the country.

Two men who came back from World War II, um, they are from and lived in Maricopa County, but they were Yavapai from the Yavapai Nation.

They went to go register to vote in the Maricopa County and they were denied the right to vote.

They fought that all the way to the Supreme Court, and it wasn't until 1948 that they were allowed to vote here in the state of Arizona.

My my grandmother at that time was 38, my mom was three.

So a little bit of that emotion came through when I was trying to read and talk about what we were doing earlier with this land acknowledgement because it is a really important document.

Um so what I forgot to say earlier was if anybody is interested in downloading that video that we had or pulling up the land acknowledgement, you can get that off of the city of Tempe's website at Tempe.gov forward slash land acknowledgement.

And there's a website there, you can get it in.

This is um one of the you can download this.

This is the land acknowledgement here.

It's absolutely spectacularly beautiful.

So you can download that if you would like.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Appreciate it, Vice Mayor.

And I don't have any comments this evening, actually.

I gave mine earlier, so that brings me to item number 10 public appearances.

Is there anyone in the audience who uh wishes to address the city council?

If so, could you please get my attention?

Yes, please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Aloha.

Um, and to the rest of the city council, my name is Noah James Markham, and uh I live in the city of Tempe.

Um Doreen, I I I really appreciate you talking about World War II because um World War II is a big thing for me with the Japanese Americans.

Um, there was an internment camp here that happened um with the Japanese.

One of my um my great-grandfather, um, he was interned in one of the camps.

Um, and then my great great uncle fought in World War II, died um flying a plane, um, and then yeah, so um my my great-grandfather, he um he fought World War II and the Korean War.

Um, so yeah, it's a uh big uh moment in history, and I hope that we never have interment camps again with the Japanese American um because it should have never happened in America.

Um, it's pretty close to the Hitler time, and um I hope we get this remembered um in Arizona.

Muhammad, thank you.

Thank you.

Is there anyone else in the audience wishing to address the council?

If so, can you please get my attention?

All right, seeing none, I will move on to item number 11, which is adjournment.

The next scheduled regular city council meeting will be on November 6th, 2025.

We are adjourned at 8:56 p.m.

Thank you, everyone.

Have a great night.