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TEMPE TOMORROW

GENERAL PLAN 2050

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August 2023

TEMPE TOMORROW

GENERAL PLAN 2050

Prepared by Community Development Department Planning Division

Adopted August 24, 2023 Resolution # R2023.114

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LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We wish to acknowledge that Tempe is the homeland of the Native people who have inhabited this landscape since time immemorial. Anthropological studies document large and advanced Ancestral O’Odham settlements located throughout the entirety of present-day Tempe and recognize the ancestral lands of the O’Odham (known as the Pima), Piipaash (known as the Maricopa), and their ancestors as extending far beyond our community. This land continues to be spiritually connected to the O’Odham of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and Gila River Indian Community. The SRP-MIC and GRIC, located northeast and south of Tempe, respectively, are confederations of two unique groups with their own languages, customs, cultures, religions, and histories; the O’Odham and the Piipaash. Both the O’Odham and the Piipaash are oral history cultures.

The landscape is sacred to the O’Odham and Piipaash and reflects cultural values that are central to their way of life and their self-definition. Their oral history and song culture are indelibly tied to tangible places that are associated with specific historic, cultural, and religious values. Settlement patterns, advanced irrigation practices, and other lifeways driven by a deep understanding of and respect for the landscape are directly attributable to the ancestors of the O’Odham and Piipaash and served as the template for the establishment of Tempe.

We accept the responsibility of stewarding those places and solemnly pledge to consider this commitment in every action.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Vision & Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Introduction Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Land Use & Development Chapter 38

Land Use Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Community Design Element . . . . . . . . . 59

Historic Preservation Element . . . . . . . . 75

Neighborhood Preservation & Revitalization Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Redevelopment Element. . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Housing Element. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

General Plan Amendment . . . . . . . . . . .107

Economic Development Chapter . 112

Economic Development Element . 115

Growth Areas & Innovation Hubs Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Cost of Development Element . . . 151

Circulation Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Pedestrians & Bikeways Element . 167

Transit Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Travelways Element. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Parking & Access Management Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Aviation Element. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Sustainability & Resilience Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Conservation Element. . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Diversion & Remediation Element 205

Environmental Planning Element . 213

Water Resources Element . . . . . . . . 219

Climate Change & Extreme Heat Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Open Space, Recreation & Cultural Amenities Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Open Space Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Recreation Element. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Public Art & Cultural Amenities Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Public Facilities & Services Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Public Buildings & Facilities Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Public Services Element . . . . . . . . . . 281

Municipal Court Element. . . . . . . . . . 293

Safety Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Appendices Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Appendix A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Appendix B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Appendix C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

Appendix D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

Appendix E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

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VISION & THEMES

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PRINCIPLES & VISION

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Once every ten years, Arizona cities are required to update their General Plan. The Tempe Tomorrow General Plan 2050 provides the vision for how Tempe will grow and look in 2050.

The Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) projects that between 2020 and 2050, Tempe will grow by 71,874 new residents and its economy will add nearly 72,047 new jobs (data from MAG 2023 Socio-economic Projections, see Economic Development Element). Tempe Tomorrow - General Plan 2050 will guide how Tempe will maintain a high quality of life for community members while managing to accommodate the projected growth in a well-planned manner.

The guiding principles for the General Plan 2050 include: balanced land use; enhanced quality of life, preservation of neighborhood character and tangible pieces of cultural or historic importance; increased economic vitality; enhanced mobility for all; and sustainability and environmental stewardship that includes adaptation and management of climate change and extreme heat. An abundance of good jobs and availability of varied housing types will elevate Tempe as the regional leader in urban living as a desirable place to live, work and play.

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In addition, several emerging trends have influenced the planning process nationally. Tempe will also be impacted by many of these trends that are driven by changing environmental, technological and behavioral trends in society. They include issues such as climate change, extreme heat, micromobility, remote working, new transit options and sustainability matters.

VISION

The community’s vision for Tempe in the year 2050 is one of a high quality of life and sustainability: a city with a diverse, active and engaged community; a city that is visually attractive and delightful and physically accessible by multiple modes of transportation, especially transit, walking, biking, and micro mobility options, with parks and cultural facilities that attract residents and businesses; a city comprised of and defined by vibrant mixed-use development and mobility hubs that not only provides for daily needs, but functions as a leisure destination for its residents and visitors; a city with homes of distinctive design quality and varied residential density and types, revitalized neighborhoods that are walkable, pleasant and safe, and connected within a 20-minute walk, bike or transit ride.

Further, Tempe will be known for equity (including shade equity - fair access to shade irrespective of

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income and identity), inclusiveness, economic and social diversity, and its programs for mitigation of extreme heat. Further, Tempe will create climate-friendly development, consisting of green infrastructure and buildings, and public health-friendly development that will create blue zones (healthy geographic areas) to support community health. Tempe will aim to become a cultural and transportation leader in the region.

Tempe Tomorrow - General Plan 2050 will support and advance the five City Council priorities for the community: safe and secure communities, strong community connections, quality of life, sustainable growth and development, and financial stability and vitality.

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MAJOR THEMES

The General Plan 2050’s three central themes reflect a vision defined by the community.

FOSTER SUSTAINABLE AND CLIMATE FRIENDLY DEVELOPMENT

• Champion sustainable development practices to make Tempe an attractive place to live, work and play for all ages, incomes, and abilities.
• Make Tempe a leader in climate-friendly development that helps reduce carbon emissions, and mitigates the impact of extreme heat on communities.
• Make Tempe a leader in shade equity, inclusiveness, and healthy physical environments.
• Promote green infrastructure and use low impact development approaches to manage stormwater runoff, and infrastructure whenever feasible in infrastructure and vertical development.
• Support opportunities for urban agriculture (including on roof top, balconies, and yard) and community gardens for food and encourage the use of edible landscape.
• Build upon the amenities essential to quality of life such as public art and art centers, preserving and repurposing historic places and structures, museums, library,

public transportation and biking network, walkable downtown and hubs, multi-generational centers, parks, and recreational facilities, and ensure these remain available as the community grows.

• Support neighborhoods to maintain and enhance diversity and distinct character, and support preservation and revitalization efforts.
• Promote healthy community living through choice for housing, access to recreation, fresh food, healthcare, and all daily amenities that are easily accessible by walking, biking, micro-mobility, or transit within 20 minutes.
• Create supportive environment and support system to help individuals and businesses to reach their full potential.

CONTINUE TO PROMOTE MIXED USE AND GREEN DEVELOPMENT

• While Downtown/Town Lake/ASU/Apache Boulevard Corridor will continue to be the central urban core of Tempe, new mixed use development will infuse existing commercial or employment hubs to establish appropriate density and intensity activity centers that offer goods, services, and amenities.
• Provide a healthy transition between the central urban core and its surrounding single family neighborhoods.
• Continue to integrate the

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suburban-type development in Tempe with the highly urbanized commercial and mixed use hubs in various parts of the City.

• Support the growth of industrial and commercial centers and hubs that provide a manufacturing, assemblage, and employment base for the City while enabling gradual transition to include residential development in appropriate parts of the industrial locations such as the Smith Industrial Innovation Hub and Maker Innovation District.
• Encourage and promote green infrastructure and buildings to support sustainability, environmental conservation, and climate friendly developments. These development will also support the desires of Tempe residents to live in Blue Zones (healthy environment that support

active lifestyles and longevity for the citizens).

• Encourage development of “pocket parks” for use as hubs in the City.

ENHANCE TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT WITH PEDESTRIAN AND BIKE ROUTES WITH MICRO MOBILITY OPTIONS, AND ESTABLISH MOBILITY HUBS.

• Integrate parks, plazas and open spaces as rest stops for local employment centers, commercial districts, and mixed-use developments that allow 20-minute walk or bike ride, creating breaks in the urban pattern.
• Connect transportation hub locations to achieve the 20-minute city goal.

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• Create safe and comfortable pedestrian and bike connections to schools, parks, and multi-generational centers, within a 20-minute walk, bike ride or local-serving transit.
• Ensure that new urban development contributes to creation of urban open spaces, plazas, and shaded places to relax among the urban activities.
• Make Tempe an urban leader in transit and transportation including various modes such as streetcar, light rail, bus, circulators, bikes, micro-mobility, and walking.
• These themes define and drive the contents of the chapters of the General Plan 2050 to create a vibrant, inclusive, and equitable urban community.

INTRODUCTION

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INTRODUCTION

The City of Tempe consists of approximately 40.51 square miles of land (including 0.47 square miles of county islands) located at the crossroads of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Tempe straddles the Salt River and is generally bounded on the east and west by 101 freeway, and Interstate 10 freeway, with state US highway 60 and loop 202 freeways running east-west within the City. Tempe is an integral part of the Phoenix metropolitan area and is bounded on all sides by adjacent communities: Scottsdale to the north, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC) and Mesa to the east, Chandler to the south and Guadalupe and Phoenix to the west.

Tempe is one of the oldest, incorporated, and historic communities in the Valley and one of the most densely populated. The settlement and growth of the Salt River Valley in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was largely a result of an agricultural economy buoyed by an irrigation system emanating from the Salt River and other water sources. Tempe can trace its roots from its early beginnings to a modern urban hub of high technology, and home to an internationally renowned university, sprawling offices and commercial establishments, and highly desirable residential developments all supported by an efficient infrastructure system.

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The General Plan is the overarching policy document to guide future growth for the City. It expresses the community’s vision for the future and provides policies about how the community wants to grow and change over the next 30 years.

The Tempe Tomorrow - General Plan 2050 updates the General Plan 2040 plan that was adopted in 2013 and voted in by citizens in 2014. The 2050 plan retains many forward looking concepts from the 2040 plan that are still valid today and new ideas, like:

• Mixed-use development to reduce the need for driving.
• Strategic, innovative, and connected growth areas for economic development.
• Integration of historic preservation and neighborhood enhancement.
• Alternative transportation modes for greater accessibility that emphasize transit, walking and biking.
• Availability of abundant open space, parks and recreation amenities for all to use.
• A climate friendly city with plans to mitigate the impact of extreme heat.
• A city that promotes and actively supports green infrastructure, green buildings and low impact development.
• A 21st century city that promotes and pursues sustainability and connection with nature.

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• An oasis of urban trees, community gardens, and urban agriculture.
• Equitable urban living for all with varied and diverse housing and good jobs.
• Opportunity to age in place and find affordable housing.
• Public art and cultural amenities that add to the quality of life.
• A city that incorporates public health and safety considerations.

From its founding, Tempe has provided leaders and leadership in matters concerning the whole state, most recently in the following areas:

• Compact urban infill - as the most densely populated city in the state, Tempe provides more jobs than its population.

• Bicycling - Tempe provides the highest volumes of bicycle ridership per 1,000 population in the valley, with more than 180 miles of bikeways.
• Walkability - With Mill Avenue, University Drive, Rural Road, Town Lake side pathways, ASU campus and many other areas which are noted for pedestrian-friendly environment, Tempe offers extensive opportunities for walking activity.
• Sustainability - All the new public buildings built by the City are either LEED certified or utilize green building principles. Tempe also actively practices and promotes green infrastructure activities in development.
• Tourism - Tempe Town Lake is the second most visited destination

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in the State. In addition, Tempe has several regional and national tourist attractions such as the ASU campus, Mill Avenue, Hayden Butte, Hayden Flour Mill, Tempe History Museum, several key historic and cultural buildings and sites, and a vibrant downtown and ASU Novus Innovation Corridor.

• Transit usage - ASU Light Rail stations in Tempe can boast of highest ridership on the light rail line; and Tempe provides the only modern streetcar and an extensive bus circulator system in the Phoenix Valley.
• Arts and culture - Tempe has some exemplary art and culture events and facilities, such as Tempe Center for the Arts, the History Museum, two senior centers, the annual Downtown Arts Festival, and many other events throughout the year.

The Tempe Tomorrow - General Plan 2050 envisions that Tempe:

• Produces balanced land use containing interesting, diverse, and lively neighborhoods and contains multiple mixed-use hubs with appropriate density cores of commercial, residential, entertainment/recreational, or civic activity that are infused with cultural amenities and are connected by parks, paths, or transit.
• Supports and values Tempe’s

established single family neighborhoods provide historic, cultural, and diversity in housing types that is distinctive to Tempe.

• Enables residents to comfortably and safely walk, bike, or take transit within a 20-minute distance to access any of the daily necessities and amenities and also to local employment centers and commercial and mixed-use developments.
• Provides superior public services, and housing and transportation to enable long-term residency and aging in place opportunities for everyone.
• Easily connects people in Tempe and to the region on a multi-modal transportation system along complete, functional, and attractive streets and paths; and allows residents the option to live, work, and play in Tempe without relying on a car.
• Integrates sustainable actions in the community for a circular economy to reduce, reuse and recycle, such as to use water resources wisely, reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gases, and manage extreme heat.
• Integrates the City’s utilities, infrastructure and services to a smart city system run by new technology to help reduce the use of energy and optimize utility loads.
• Incorporates sustainable practices including passive systems related

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to rainwater harvesting, shaded walkways and public spaces, therapeutic gardens, urban forestry, and urban agriculture.

• Creates a resilient city that can respond quickly and effectively to public health issues such as extreme heat events, pandemics and communicable diseases; and,
• Operates and manages effectively and efficiently a wide variety of public services and facilities.

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LINKING CITY COUNCIL STRATEGIC PRIORITIES AND PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Tempe City Council set five strategic priorities for the community. The associated performance measures have been created to ensure the City's plans and actions reflect these priorities. The performance measures are detailed in the individual chapters

• Safe and Secure Communities - Ensuring a safe and secure community through a commitment to public safety and justice.
• Strong Community Connections - Developing and maintaining a strong community connection by emphasizing the importance of open government, customer service and communication with community members.
• Quality of Life - Enhancing the quality of life for all Tempe residents and workers through investment in neighborhoods, parks, the arts, human services, and city amenities, with an emphasis on equity and diversity.
• Sustainable Growth and Development - Implementing sustainable growth and development strategies to improve Tempe’s environment, quality of life and economic outcomes. Tempe strives to make long-term generational investments in technology, infrastructure and public transit that create a safe, clean, equitable and healthy city.
• Financial Stability and Vitality - Maintaining long-term financial stability and vitality by focusing on economic development, business retention and generating employment to create a robust and diverse economic base.

Each measure is outcome-based with baselines and targets. Performance is benchmarked against high-performing cities (top 10% in the country) and industry standards. To connect the Tempe community with the City Council's Strategic Priorities, a dashboard is published on the City's website to regularly release data and performance status.

PERFORMANCE LED BUDGETING

In preparation for the annual Operating and Capital Improvement Program budget process, Council prioritizes select performance measures to accelerate achievement. Utilizing the S.T.A.R.T. tool (Strategy Tool for Aligning Resources for Tempe), Council allocates a theoretical $100 across the performance measures. While not appropriating funds, the S.T.A.R.T. tool provides the Mayor and Council an early opportunity to communicate areas of focus for the upcoming budget year. The S.T.A.R.T. tool contains opportunities for improvement identified in the city’s community, business, and employee surveys that rate of high importance yet achieves lower satisfaction. This data is presented alongside performance measure targets and status. Budget Acceleration Models are created to inform the council’s decision-making with data

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and strategies for the projected achievement of those performance measures the Council identifies for hyper-focus and acceleration.

AUTHORITY

Arizona state statutes require each city to adopt a comprehensive, and long-range General plan to guide the physical development of the community. On or before the 10th anniversary of the plan’s most recent adoption, the city is required to either re-adopt the existing plan, or adopt a new General Plan and take the document back to the ballot for citizen ratification by majority affirmative vote.

Tempe Tomorrow - General Plan 2050 provides general goals, objectives

and strategies for guiding Tempe’s planning and redevelopment efforts through 2050, with policies, goals, and strategies that enhance the quality of life and help maintain a vital, sustainable, attractive, and unique city. The goals, objectives, and strategies of the General Plan must be broad enough to be consistently applied throughout the municipality in all areas related to development, growth, and infrastructure.

The purpose of the General Plan is to assist the City Council, Boards and Commissions, staff, developers, and residents through the development process by presenting goals, objectives, and strategies by which land is planned, developed, and used. This includes high level policies for land use, circulation, recreation, public services, economic development, historic preservation, open space, environment, and other elements that impact the quality of life, and to guide how the city grows and develops.

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Tempe’s Development Review Commission (DRC) uses the General Plan as a reference to evaluate proposed developments. The City’s other boards and commissions also use the General Plan as a reference document for applicable goals and policies. The City Council uses the Plan to evaluate policy changes and to substantiate the benefit or need for programs and projects through funding and budget decisions. City staff use the General Plan for guidance in their day to day work related to planning, growth, and development.

The General Plan is used when refining the vision and goals into more detailed plans such as master plans, character area plans, and specific plans. Master plans identify the programs and projects needed to fulfill what is envisioned in the General Plan and recommend further studies or changes to codes and regulations. For example, plans such as transportation master plan, water master plan, and forestry master plan refer to the General Plan for guidance.

Implementation documents provide detailed analysis of specific areas or provide the regulatory guidance for development. Master plans and implementation documents form the basis for seeking state or federal grants, planned capital improvements and/or budget allocations.

The General Plan is referred to when implementing zoning requests,

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Figure 1: How the General Plan is Used

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The General Plan guides how our City plans for development , land use, sustainability, transportation, transit, economic development , historic preservation, neighborhood enhancement, open space and recreation, public art, cultural amenities, and human services.

The General Plan is used when refining the vision and goals into more detailed plans such as master plans, area plans, specific plans, and character area plans. The more detailed plans identify the programs and projects needed to fulfill what is envisioned in the General Plan and recommend further studies or changes to codes and regulations. Implementation documents provide detailed analysis of specific areas or provide regulatory guidance for development. Master plans, area plans, and specific plans and implementation documents form the basis for seeking State or Federal grants, planned capital improvements and/or budget allocations.

For example, the General Plan is referred to when implementing zoning requests, for building permits, for economic development decisions, and when designing roads, parks, paths, and public facilities.

Before approving development plans, the General Plan is referred to for consistency with the goals, objectives and the projected land use and density maps.

for building permits, for economic development decisions, and when designing roads, parks, paths, and public facilities.

Before approving development plans, the General Plan is referred to ensure that the projects are consistent with the goals, objectives and the projected land use and density maps.

Residents and neighborhood groups use the Plan to understand Tempe's long-range goals in order to protect private property values and quality of life in smaller geographic areas.

TEMPE TOMORROW - GENERAL PLAN 2050 AUTHORIZATION

The Federal Standards in Planning Act and Standards in Zoning Act of 1928 enabled states to grant local jurisdictions with planning authority 9-461.05 Chapter 204 requires that every city prepare a comprehensive, long-range general plan for the future

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development of the municipality. The general plan consists of a statement of community goals and development policies. It includes maps, diagrams and text that establish the objectives, principles, and standards to guide growth and development. By State law, the plan is also required to have specific planning elements: land use; circulation; environmental conservation (including sustainability and resilience); recreation and open space; public facilities and services (including safety); water; housing; preservation, rehabilitation, and redevelopment; growth areas and cost of development. It is also required that the community participates in its development, review, and approval of the plan, through a documented public participation process. Lastly, the plan must identify processes for adoption, implementation, and revision of the General Plan, including definitions for amendments and major amendments.

GENERAL PLAN 2050 AS A LONG-RANGE GUIDING POLICY DOCUMENT

Tempe’s General Plan is based on community driven goals and objectives that address quality of life issues throughout the City. Legally, this Plan has State required elements to address local and regional issues. Tempe’s General Plan must consider the larger Valley community in its planning policies. The General Plan promotes the community's vision by establishing goals, objectives,

and strategies within the required elements. These elements also include consideration of regional issues, but are designed to be specific to Tempe. The General Plan guides community development and growth over a 25 to 30 year period. Because of this long-range view, the Plan must be general enough to apply to the whole city and flexible enough to respond to changes in the economy, environment, or community. The Plan provides high level vision, goals and objectives and is responsive to unforeseen challenges or opportunities in a dynamic urban community.

THE ADMINISTRATION OF TEMPE TOMORROW - GENERAL PLAN 2050

The General Plan is a living and dynamic document, as long-range decisions will need to be periodically reconsidered to reflect new conditions related to growth, development, and technologies. Each elected City Council will represent collective changes in the community's needs and perspectives, and modify policies to reflect their constituents. The General Plan is an important tool, reflecting changing perspectives and attitudes in the community.

The General Plan should be referenced for every proposed General Plan amendment requests. At the time of preliminary submittal, the applicant shall refer to the General Plan and its supporting goals and objectives, and complete the General Plan amendment form. This

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form provides information for staff, boards and commissions and the City Council, to review a project on its merits of meeting the goals and objectives of the General Plan.

An annual General Plan report will be compiled to monitor the status of the General Plan implementation responsibility, and any amendments made, an assessment of the goals and objectives, and a progress statement on plan implementation. Problem areas or suggested updates should be detailed for Council consideration at an annual public hearing. At a minimum, every decade the document will be reviewed and revised through a formal public process. As with any flexible policy document, there is room for interpretation of the policies and goals in order to meet the overall objectives of the plan. Under the advisement of the Development Review Commission and City staff, the City Council has the final authority for interpretation of this document.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

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Tempe occupies an enviable position within the Valley of the Sun (Metro Phoenix Valley) due to its convenient access to all other cities, proximity to the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, its authentic walkable downtown, and as a strong employment and innovation center. Tempe is also known for its commitment to a high quality of life for its residents. These attributes along with Tempe’s established boundary (as a landlocked city) position Tempe as a great urban environment in Arizona to live, work, learn and play. Tempe’s commitment as a leader in urban living is represented by beneficial projects such as Light Rail, Tempe Streetcar, Town Lake, Mill Avenue District, Tempe Marketplace, ASU Campus, Marina Heights, Diablo Stadium, Kiwanis Park, Sports Complexes, Tempe Center for the Arts, Tempe History and Peterson House Museums, Public Library, multi-generational recreation centers, Ken MacDonald and Rolling Hills Golf Courses, bike paths and trails, desert preserves, ASU Research Park, Arizona Mills, Tempe Autoplex, and Emerald Center Retail Complex. However, it is not just about development; it is about the happiness of the people that call Tempe home for their families and businesses.

Tempe Tomorrow - General Plan 2050 will help enhance urban living by providing a long-range, strategic approach to growth and development, as well as balancing other city services and programs to ensure that growth is sustainable, and resilient, and quality of life is retained. The following guiding principles for the plan identify the means to protect, enhance and support the quality of life in Tempe.

PRINCIPLE: A BALANCED LAND USE

• Ensure that land use is balanced to provide work opportunities, housing variety and affordability, along with locations for shopping and services as well as access to recreational opportunities supported by a multi-modal transportation system.
• Establish land use and development of distinctive quality and varied density.
• Activate commercial and employment activity centers as mixed-use hubs with high density cores supplying daily needs and social gathering places while providing adequate open spaces.
• Reinforce the importance of land use and transportation relationships.
• Support growth and development that results in social, cultural, and economic benefits to the community and the City’s sustainability goals.

PRINCIPLE: ENHANCED QUALITY OF LIFE, AND STABLE NEIGHBORHOODS

• Preserve, enhance, and create conditions that keep neighborhoods desirable, safe, attractive, and healthy with a strong sense of community.
• Heighten the spirit of giving and caring with programs to serve those who are most vulnerable.

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• Enhance the opportunity for people to walk, bike and shop in areas near their homes; for workplaces, homes, or schools accessible by transit, and to preserve important historic and cultural assets of the City, which make neighborhoods unique and desirable.
• Include open space, parks, recreation, and the arts as essential parts of that desired quality of life.
• Engage citizens in the community and include them in shaping changes that affect their neighborhoods.
• Ensure equity of public investment to enhance quality of life and neighborhood preservation and ensure that they are fairly distributed throughout the city, such that all communities benefit from public investment.

PRINCIPLE: INCREASED ECONOMIC VITALITY AND SUSTAINABILITY

• Support development efforts and promote well-managed and sustainable economic growth throughout the City.
• Promote pro-business policies that are balanced with community aspirations and sustainability objectives essential for retaining existing jobs and attracting new ones.
• Enhance economic vitality and jobs within the community and for all segments of the community, allow businesses, residents, and individuals to thrive.
• Emphasize education quality and accountability as a critical component of economic vitality, providing businesses with a skilled workforce.

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• Highlight Tempe as a destination with attractive cultural, educational, and recreational attributes. Seek opportunities for economic development that build on the links between land use and transportation systems.

PRINCIPLE: SUSTAINED MOBILITY / GREATER ACCESSIBILITY

• Continue to be a leader in multi-modal transportation. No single mode of transportation, by itself, will be sufficient to meet the mobility needs of Tempe.
• Emphasize movement of people and goods instead of movement of cars only, to encourage reduction of single occupancy vehicle (SOV) trips. Ensure accessibility to transportation modes for persons of all abilities.
• Continue to make investments in rail and bus transit, improved bike and pedestrian connections, micro-mobility, technology innovations, along with asset management will all be necessary to meet the mobility needs of the community.

PRINCIPLE: SUSTAINABILITY, CLIMATE FRIENDLINESS, AND ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP

• Focus efforts on stewardship of resources (that includes air, water, land, desert and riparian habitat), and human behavioral practices (energy conservation, recycling, on-site water harvesting, low impact development, green building, and alternative transportation modes).
• Pursue planning approaches that maintain or improve community public health.
• Provide balance between social, environmental, and economic components of sustainability and resilience.
• Continue to promote climate resilience as per Tempe’s Climate Action Plan.
• Practice a circular and regenerative economy, where resources should be used and reused in a sustainable manner to make them available for future generations.
• Support the principles of Blue Zones, which provide opportunities for people to live a healthy, active, and long life.
• Foster the establishment of Resilience Hubs and Resilience Infrastructure Hubs.

PRINCIPLE: HOUSING AFFORDABILITY, ACCESS, AND DIVERSITY OF TYPES

• The citizens of Tempe have spoken loud and clear on this topic, placing affordable housing as one of the top priorities for the City and on any annexed lands.
• In 2021, Tempe initiated the Hometown for All, program that helps accelerate the building of affordable housing through a sustainable funding stream.

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• The initiative ensures that Tempe can continually support affordable and workforce housing opportunities in the City.
• Tempe will continue to promote housing that is affordable and accessible to a variety of individuals who call Tempe home. This should be achieved by promoting and encouraging a wide array of dwelling units that include the missing middle (duplex, triplex, fourplex, townhomes, 3-4 story walks ups, courtyards, live-work, smaller multi-unit complexes and similar types that cover the middle range between single family homes and large mid to high rise multi-unit buildings.
• Through appropriate policies and plans, the City should also help people age-in-place if they wish.

HOW THE PLAN RELATES TO OTHER PLANNING TOOLS

The General Plan is one of many tools used to guide decision making. It is the umbrella document over many other plans that address land use, infrastructure, open space and growth. A General Plan may include references to master plans, which often relate to infrastructure such as a Water/Wastewater Master Plan, Park Master Plan, or a Transportation Master Plan. These plans address the specifics of one issue (e.g., water) or a group of related issues (different forms of transportation) as the issues pertain to the entire city. Likewise, a General Plan also builds on many other plans that Tempe has adopted such as Climate Action Plan, Forestry Master Plan, Historic Preservation Plan and Affordable Housing Strategy. The General Plan

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will guide the preparation of strategic, specific, and redevelopment plans that apply to smaller areas of the community. However, these plans are not exclusively the policy statement for a specific area; they work in conjunction with the General Plan and other plans. The General Plan is a comprehensive policy document that serves as the broad foundation for all plans and references them as tools for implementing long-range community goals.

RELATION TO ORDINANCES AND ZONING

In addition to the different types of plans described, the Zoning and Development Code is the primary tool used to implement the General Plan. The basic purpose of zoning is to segregate seemingly incompatible uses. The code includes a zoning map, and describes the intent, character, and composition of each of the zoning districts and provides detailed development requirements. It regulates how a site is developed and describes allowed uses, densities, heights, building setbacks, site coverage and other development standards. The zoning map is also distinct from the General Plan's projected land use map, which is a vision for general land uses in the future. To change zoning, a property owner must apply to re-zone and go through a public notification and hearing process that follows prescribed rules. If a requested rezoning request is not compatible

with the General Plan, map the General Plan must be amended first. The strategies in the General Plan also guide the policy decisions made with the code, such as variance approvals or denials.

The City uses codes and ordinances and programs as implementation tools to meet the goals and objectives of the General Plan. Each reflects the General Plan, and can be modified as necessary to reflect new General Plan policies. These codes, and programs are defined in more detail in the Land Use Element.

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DOCUMENT ORGANIZATION

The Tempe Tomorrow - General Plan 2050 document is divided into chapters representing different planning issues. These chapters generally group the elements consisting of similar topics. While state law requires the majority of these elements, the other elements are reflective of community values for the expected quality of life in Tempe. (Elements shown in parentheses are required by state law).

• INTRODUCTION
• LAND USE AND DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER (includes Land Use, Housing, and Redevelopment Elements)
• ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER (includes Cost of Development, and Growth Areas Elements)
• SUSTAINABILITY & RESILIENCE CHAPTER (includes Conservation, Environmental Planning, and Water Elements)
• CIRCULATION (includes Circulation and Bicycle Elements)
• OPEN SPACE, RECREATION & CULTURAL AMENITIES (includes Open Space and Recreation Elements)
• PUBLIC FACILITIES & SERVICES (includes Public Buildings, Public Services, and Safety Elements)
• APPENDICES

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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

The City of Tempe values public input and believes that community members should be engaged early on in decisions that affect them. A Public Involvement Plan (PIP) was specifically created for and adopted by the City Council in March 2022 to create an open and transparent process to guide the design of Tempe Tomorrow - General Plan 2050.

Positioned on a foundation of extensive, inclusive and equitable public participation, this general plan reflects the community’s vision, goals and objectives. The PIP served as a road map to guide approximately two years of a diverse public participation process including outreach, research, hearings and analysis that culminated in the creation of Tempe Tomorrow - General Plan 2050. Outreach efforts were facilitated by a dedicated project webpage, email address; three rounds of bilingual postcard invitations to Tempe households; utility bill newsletter inserts; mentions on the city’s social media platforms, podcast, email, community satisfaction survey; neighborhood meetings, school flyers and focus groups. Comments were then compiled and used in the development of the draft General Plan 2050 that was released in May 2023.

Four community-wide meetings and outreach on the General Plan were held in multiple locations including the Legoland Discovery Center, Tempe History Museum, ASU Housing Fair, cafeterias in local high schools, community centers, Movies in the Park, GAIN Night in neighborhoods, Escalante Fall Festival, FanCon, Unity Walk, Arts in the Parks events, Hayden's Ferry Festival, Tour de Tempe, the Neighborhood Celebration, city public meetings and neighborhood and homeowners' association meetings. This allowed the project team to meet people where they were at and to hear from those who may not always participate in traditional feedback processes. Combined, thousands were given the opportunity to participate in sharing feedback. In addition to in-person outreach, four online public surveys were conducted. More than 1,050 survey responses provided

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valuable insight that was used in the development of this plan.

An essential piece of the public involvement process included the Council appointment of a 25-person Community Working Group to advise the general plan. The group, which stabilized at 17 members, met monthly over ten months from August 2022 through July 2023, including three additional meetings beyond the monthly meetings to cover all the material. Members held lively discussions and shared feedback

Tempe also created a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to help in crafting the concepts and details of the plan. The TAG was comprised of 70 subject matter experts including representatives from Tempe's partner organizations, interdepartmental staff and boards and commissions. Staff made numerous presentations at relevant boards of commissions, school boards, neighborhood associations and several other groups. The TAG met twice monthly from July 2022 for more than a year.

The public involvement process emphasized feedback regarding major issues the City faced, future land use and economic development goals and planning for an efficient transportation network. Other topics specifically addressed during the public input process included the environment, extreme heat, climate change, sustainability, conservation,

historic preservation, neighborhood stability, transportation, pedestrian, bike and micro mobility issues, public safety, public facilities, open space and recreation needs and development preferences. The process worked to ensure that public concerns were continuously noted, understood and considered in the plan. However, while traditional methods (meetings, presentations, and hearings etc.) played an important role in public engagement, digital communication tools were used extensively to share information, broaden outreach, and gather input. Community members were provided opportunities to comment on the draft plan through its adoption.

Additionally, the Tempe Development Review Commission (DRC) held one study session and two public hearings in 2023 to review the plan and gather community comments prior to sending their recommendation to the City Council. Staff presented the draft plan at the City Council Work Study Session on April 27, 2023, to seek guidance and direction from the Council.

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An early step in the Public Involvement Plan was to identify the internal and external community members that have an interest in the process.

Internal:

• Mayor and Council
• Council Committees
• City Departments
• General Plan 2050 Community Working Group (CWG)

Boards and Commissions:

• Arts and Culture Commission
• Aviation Commission
• Board of Adjustment
• Commission on Disability Concerns
• Desert Conservation Commission
• Development Review Commission
• Historic Preservation Commission
• Housing Trust Fund Advisory Board
• Human Relations Commission
• Joint Review Committee
• Mayor’s Youth Advisory Committee
• Neighborhood Advisory Commission
• Parks, Recreation, Golf and Double Butte Cemetery Advisory Board
• Sustainability and Resilience Commission
• Transportation Commission
• Veterans Commission

External:

• Residents
• Property owners
• Neighborhood and Homeowners’ Associations
• Civic, Nonprofit, Religious, Healthcare and Youth Groups
• Educational Groups (school districts, community colleges and ASU)
• Major employers and businesses
• Landowners and Developers

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Government agencies and service companies that are required to review and comment:

• Arizona Department of Commerce
• Arizona Department of Transportation
• Arizona Department of Water Resources
• Arizona Public Service
• Arizona State Land Department
• City of Chandler
• City of Mesa
• City of Phoenix
• City of Scottsdale
• Flood Control District of Maricopa County
• Maricopa Association of Governments
• Maricopa County
• Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community
• Salt River Project
• Southwest Natural Gas
• Town of Guadalupe
• Valley Metro

A NOTE OF THANKS

On behalf of Tempe’s elected leaders, and for the benefit of community members, Tempe Tomorrow - General Plan 2050 is committed to building and maintaining an attractive, livable, climate-friendly and sustainable community. Tempe Tomorrow

• General Plan 2050 is the result of the passionate and engaging work by Tempe community members, stakeholders, City leaders and staff all of whom gave a lot of time to the process. Special thanks are due to the members of the Tempe Tomorrow - General Plan 2050 Community Working Group (CWG), Technical Advisory Group (TAG), City Boards and Commissions, residents, business owners, nonprofit organizations and all who made valuable contributions by attending public meetings and providing important input on surveys and providing their expertise to ensure that the General Plan 2050 reflects the character and spirit of Tempe. Many individuals and groups have contributed to the development of General Plan 2050. Their names (not exhaustive) have been listed in Appendix E.

PLAN IMPLEMENTATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY

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Without a timely plan implementation and monitoring, the Tempe Tomorrow - General Plan 2050 may not achieve its full potential as set by the community and the City leaders. Plan accountability and implementation establishes the activities that need to be taken to carry out the strategies and actions expressed in General Plan 2050. The three implementation components of the plan include: role of stakeholders, priorities for action, and plan monitoring.

ROLE OF STAKEHOLDERS:

Stakeholders in the planning process include public sector (City Council, Boards and Commissions), development community, private/nonprofit organizations, and the community at large. The role of stakeholders is to work together to define the principles and vision, stay informed and involved and provide feedback as we achieve the vision for Tempe.

PRIORITIES FOR ACTION:

These new initiatives and ideas may be lost without common understanding of their importance to the vision of the community and the role that each city department plays in implementing the Tempe Tomorrow - General Plan 2050. City of Tempe will, upon plan adoption, undertake a multi-departmental process to identify each department's role to establish recommended actions and a timeframe for each. The prioritization will be presented to City Council for consideration during the annual budget process. A brief concept for monitoring the Plan implementation is provided in the Appendix A.

PLAN MONITORING:

Monitoring and evaluating the progress in achieving the goals of Tempe Tomorrow - General Plan 2050 ensures its success and provides opportunities for adjustments in response to economic, social, and other emerging changes. The City of Tempe will undertake a multi-departmental process to identify the indicators used to measure the annual progress of General Plan 2050. Monitoring activities will include development of community indicators to determine how effective the General Plan has been at achieving its vision. The performance measures related to the Council Priorities will also help in assessing the impact of the General Plan 2050. An annual report card should be prepared to review progress made in achieving indicator targets over the course of the year and whether a change in policy may be needed.

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LAND USE & DEVELOPMENT

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PREAMBLE

The Land Use and Development chapter contains five elements that includes Land Use, which identifies the existing land uses and the projected general distribution of land uses in the future. In addition, the chapter includes Community Design, Historic Preservation, Neighborhood Preservation and Revitalization, Redevelopment and Housing elements. These elements address how land uses are translated into community planning values and policies and are important in defining Tempe’s unique character and economic vibrancy, making it an attractive and comfortable place to live, work or visit.

Tempe is a dynamic community located at the crossroads of a rapidly growing desert valley. Its land-locked condition between other jurisdictions necessitates a focus for the evaluation of growth with potential higher densities and intensities, infill development, and taller building heights (as opposed to growing out horizontally). Tempe’s future land use patterns support balanced employment, housing and activity centers with high and moderate density mixed-use hubs serving neighborhoods. The balance of land use will promote healthy and active lifestyles, availability of accessible employment, retail services, open space and recreational opportunities, and mobility options to allow travel in Tempe without dependence on a single-occupancy automobile. Housing variety with a wide range of cost points should make it possible for residents to afford housing and remain in Tempe in all phases of their lives. Wise use of resources and energy, and practice of circular economy principles (minimization of waste and resource regeneration) should define the growth characteristics of the city to promote sustainable development and resilience.

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Tempe’s rich history was forged by visionary settlers. From the ancient Huhugam and Hispanic agricultural settlements to the influx of diverse cultures creating a vibrant community and growing Arizona State University campus, all enrich the City. Tempe now hosts people from across the continent and around the world. As the most densely populated and almost fully developed city in Arizona, Tempe achieves its livability, attractiveness and sense of place with thoughtful encouragement of diverse, compact and high-quality development.

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STRATEGIC PRIORITIES & PERFORMANCE MEASURES

The Land Use and Development elements are primarily aligned with the Council Strategic Priorities “Safe and Secure Communities”, “Quality of Life” and “Sustainable Growth and Development.”

The performance measures that operationalize the associated priorities are provided on the City of Tempe website.

LAND USE ELEMENT

The Land Use Element provides guidance for land use decisions to maintain an attractive, livable, healthy and economically sustainable city and to guide future development. State law requires that the Land Use Element designate the proposed general distribution, location and extent of land used for housing, business, industry, agriculture, aggregate resources, recreation, education, public buildings, open space and other categories of public and private uses as may be appropriate to the City. The element also includes a statement of the standards of population density and building intensity recommended for various land use categories covered by the plan. It identifies specific programs and policies that the City may use to promote infill or compact form development and locations where those development patterns should be encouraged. The Land Use element generally describes land uses, and does not identify or propose zoning changes for land parcels. The state law requirement to address air quality and access to solar energy is incorporated into the Environmental Element of the Sustainability & Resilience Chapter.

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The Land Use Element addresses several principles and goals, including:

1. Maintain and expand the downtown/Town Lake/ASU as a central urban core of Tempe and infuse new mixed-use development into hubs by establishing high-density land use to support revitalization with services and activities serving residents’ daily needs, and creating social magnets for residents.

2. Introduce new residential and commercial development at sufficient densities to support transit, walkability and neighborhood commercial activities.

3. Provide a distinct transition between the urban core of downtown/Town Lake/ASU and established single family neighborhoods by creating various residential density categories as appropriate for the location.

4. Create pedestrian and bike connections to schools, parks and multi-generational centers, and decentralized commercial and local employment establishments, with transit, bikes and walking.

5. Integrate parks, plazas and open spaces as rest stops into development to encourage a comfortable 20-minute walk or bike ride to all daily amenities.

6. Ensure that new urban development contributes to the

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creation of urban open spaces, plazas, and shaded places to relax.

7. Improve air quality and mitigate noise pollution by promoting transit, biking and walking, orgnaizing compatible land uses together, and promoting urban forestry.

8. Promote and actively advance sustainable and climate-friendly development, mitigate extreme heat and enhance resilience of urban functions by sustainable land use planning and development policies and programs.

9. Promote and incorporate appropriate smart city and “blue zone” (healthy areas) elements in Tempe’s planning and design endeavors.

PROJECTED LAND USE & DENSITY MAP

The projected land use map graphically depicts the potential future use of all land in the City. Projected land uses are those anticipated to gradually occur within the next 30 years. These land uses are defined by the primary use that occurs on the property. Both existing and projected land uses may not always reflect the property's zoning. As a result, some locations may have a zoning that allows for residential density and a Land Use that projects no density. Tempe Tomorrow - General Plan 2050 provides a single map that shows both the land use and residential density in the different areas of the City.

The following table details the categories and designations for projected Land Uses and their respective projected densities. Designations are specific projected uses and densities over the 30 year horizon of the plan. Categories are groups of designations which will be utilized when making determination of minor or major amendments, as detailed in the General Plan Amendment scetion and in Figure 8.

LAND USE CATEGORY: SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL

LAND USE CATEGORY: MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL

LAND USE CATEGORY: COMMERCIAL

Schools

Many schools have developed open space and play fields that provide recreation for students. While the primary function of these sites is education, the fields on the campuses are counted as public open space. This does not imply that the school fields are always accessible for use by the general public, as the schools may restrict access.

Aggregate Resources

In accordance with Arizona law, the Land Use Element includes currently identified sources of aggregates from maps provided by the state. Aggregate resources include lands primarily used for active mining of cinder, crushed rock or stone, decomposed granite, granite, pumice, and sand. The types of geologic formations used as aggregate resources were historically found along the Salt River in Tempe.

No aggregate resource activities by state law definition are present in Tempe today. Many parcels along the Salt River were previously mined for aggregates and the mine pits were later converted to landfill sites. Development of the Salt River levee in the 1980's protected these parcels from flooding. These river's edge parcels comprise the Rio Salado development area and the consequences of prior mining and landfill activities reflect the brownfield conditions on new development.

Active mines in Arizona are shown on the map Arizona 2021 Directory of Active Mines. Tempe has one mine site with aggregate-type activity and it is where construction debris is recycled on a former landfill site. The site is currently approved for urban density commercial and residential redevelopment and is not required to be designated as a source of aggregate for current or future development.

Arizona State University (ASU) Property

ASU properties are identified with a symbol to differentiate student housing, ASU's cultural/recreational land, community open space on campus, as well as private development on university land and operations/functions that serve the academic mission of the university.

Municipal Operations

Properties identified with a symbol to differentiate between public and private land, where municipal property may be used for industrial or operational uses (such as a water treatment plant), and therefore not shown as civic.

Appendix A contains an inventory of existing land use and explanation of the concepts used to promote infill and compact development and locations where those development patterns are encouraged. Refer to Figure 28 in the Appendices to existing land uses in Tempe, as of 2022.

Figure 3: Projected Land Use & Residential Density Map

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PROJECTED LAND USE & RESIDENTIAL DENSITY

EXISTING & PROJECTED LAND USE

Table 1: Existing and Projected Land Use

* Current Land Uses based on Property Use Codes from Maricopa County. Reflects active use of property, not zoning or General Plan 2040 designation. ** Open Space includes bodies of water *** Gross acreage of Tempe's Municipal Planning area

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RELATING LAND USE TO ZONING

Zoning divides the City into areas organized by compatible uses, defined by districts which specify permitted uses and development standards. It defines development rights for a property. Zoning is the means to implement the projected land use plan, to promote land use compatibility, enhance aesthetics, to help maintain property values, protect and improve public health, safety, and welfare, and ensure adequate municipal services. The general plan projected land use and residential density map assists in determining the desired zoning districts during the re-zoning hearing process. To achieve the projected land use for General Plan 2050, zoning districts that most closely match the related land use category are preferred, as shown in Table 2. See Appendix B for the breakdown of acreage by zoning districts.

Table 2: Implementing Zoning for General Plan Land Use

* Future zoning district

LAND USE

GOAL: Foster quality development through land use that provides sustainable growth, reduces commute, promotes compatible uses, avoids conflicting uses, and enhances quality of life.

OBJECTIVES & STRATEGIES

LU1 - Establish land use hubs with higher density cores serving the surrounding neighborhoods as its mixed-use activity center (see Figure 4). A land use hub is a center of activities and mobility in an area where commercial retail and amenities are located for use by nearby residents and employees to support the 20-minute city concept.

1. Promote higher density mixed-use redevelopment within hubs.

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2. Promote development within the hubs to provide housing, access to open space, goods, services and activities that support the neighboring areas served, and promote the 20-minute city goal.

3. Utilize street patterns to promote smooth traffic flow and transit facilities to provide multi-modal connections within the neighborhood that connect to other hubs within the City.

4. Utilize parks, plazas and other amenities within the hubs for urban open space.

5. Ensure streets and paths provide shade, lighting and seating to support pedestrian, bicycle, and micromobility circulation.

6. Recognize, celebrate and preserve important historic buildings and sites within hubs.

7. Create safe, comfortable pedestrian, bicycle and micromobility connection to neighborhood schools and parks from the land use hubs and amenities including local employment centers and commercial and mixed-use establishments.

8. Respect and recognize local heritage including existing small business, live music, arts and creative scenes.

9. Celebrate existing social, economic, and cultural resources through land use or design.

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LU2 - Promote land use patterns that encourage sustainability and resilience.

1. Develop sustainable land uses in development patterns that include open space, facilitate pedestrian travel and transit access.

2. Ensure mixed-use developments are well connected to each other and to other services and amenities.

3. As much as possible, locate future development on:

   a. Infill sites; b. Sites with current or anticipated infrastructure capacity for additional development; c. Sites with access or adjacent to existing street connectivity; d. Sites near a high level of transit service and mobility hubs; and e. Sites that are convenient for neighborhood commercial uses.

4. Promote the development of a range of housing types such as attached and detached single-family, condos, multi-family, and the “missing middle” housing types such as duplexes, quadruplexes, live-work spaces, accessory dwelling units, mini and micro units.

5. Support citywide location of sustainable local food systems including farmers markets, urban agriculture, community gardens, federal food assistance programs and healthy food retailers.

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6. Promote urban farming and fresh food production at residential sites, vacant lots, on building roofs, balconies and terraces to support urban food systems.

7. Identify, respect, and incorporate/embrace existing local social, economic, and cultural contexts.

LU3 - Seek balance and compatibility of new land use development with established residential neighborhoods.

1. Encourage mixed-use development that provides needed local services and housing on a neighborhood scale.

2. Support the visual transition of density from more intense uses to single-family neighborhoods.

3. Create mixed-use development patterns that support pedestrian travel, enhance walkable environments and provide connection to transit, and micromobility opportunities.

4. Support a variety of uses such as food retail, community-serving retail, services and civic/community facilities within walking distance of residential areas.

5. Provide flexibility in siting and design of new development to protect neighborhood character.

6. Promote and encourage community gardens, edible landscape, produce growing space, greenhouses and related facilities within residential areas and also in

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appropriate public lands including sidewalks and medians.

LU4 - Encourage diversified land uses that balance residential and employment opportunities.

1. Provide citywide land use that supports a balanced job to housing ratio.

2. Preserve employment-based land use, including industrial uses, for current and future job development.

3. Identify vacant or underdeveloped commercial and industrial land for employment-related development.

4. Encourage commercial or industrial uses that support the City’s employment and tax-base.

5. Promote appropriate residential and mixed-use developments in the Smith Innovation Hub and Tempe Maker District.

LU5 - Provide land use and transportation integrated planning, design and development that reinforces and enhances the character of the community as desired by residents.

1. Develop transit-oriented design principles for arterial streets with transit that extends to adjacent communities.

2. Develop and adopt design guidelines that enhance land use and transportation connections.

3. Develop plans to preserve and direct future development and revitalization of neighborhoods.

4. Utilize plan documents, codes and programs to develop geographically unique plans and direct land use and design decisions within the City including the following actions as and when necessary:

a. Complete and update Character Areas plans

b. Create District or Neighborhood Plans

c. Create Specific Plans

d. Maintain Redevelopment Plans

e. Utilize Housing Reinvestment and Revitalization Programs

f. Update the Zoning and Development Code

g. Utilize Planned Area Developments (PAD) to meet the needs of the areas around development sites

LU6 - Promote compact and efficient infill development.

1. Allow compact infill, with flexibility in housing location, type and density within the land use densities permitted by the General Plan.

2. Allow flexibility in lot size, configuration and vehicle access to facilitate compact and efficient infill development, as appropriate.

3. Encourage an appropriate mix of

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land uses, building orientation, parking supply and location and multi-modal access to transit to promote pedestrian travel in and around neighborhoods.

4. Utilize compact infill development to contribute to healthy lifestyles for residents that will contribute towards making Tempe a 20-minute city.

5. Coordinate local land use and transportation decisions with regional plans and policies.

6. Encourage building affordable housing through infill development.

7. Inventory and evaluate potential sites in the City for infill development.

8. Attract a wide variety of healthy food resources such as full-service grocery stores, ethnic

food markets, farmers markets, community gardens and edible landscapes in all areas, and specifically in the food desert areas.

9. Identify food desert areas where access to fresh fruits and vegetables is lacking.

LU7 - Develop and implement different types of plans that address the needs of, and vision for, geographic areas near the city borders.

1. Participate in regional planning efforts for growth-related programs that are beneficial to Tempe and the Phoenix valley.

2. Plan infill development where infrastructure is available for serving growth.

3. Work with adjacent jurisdictions

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to coordinate future land uses to maintain a stable tax base for Tempe and to bring mutually beneficial developments along municipal borders.

4. Develop and implement design standards for communities adjacent to municipal borders.

5. Develop strategies to address development concerns related to the widening of the I-10 freeway and other freeway corridors.

6. Develop connectivity concepts for county islands within the municipal planning area to facilitate vehicular, bicycle, pedestrian and micromobility connectivity, and compatible aesthetics in design and streetscape with the adjacent developments.

LU8 - Promote neighborhood enhancement, quality of life and livability.

1. Ensure that reinvestment in the community’s cultural resource areas is reflective of the character of each area.

2. Identify the best examples of architectural use and style in sub- areas and promote compatible aesthetics.

3. Support placement of new commercial and mixed-uses that enhance vitality and livability at neighborhood and community hubs.

4. Promote adaptive reuse strategies.

LU9 - Ensure that public participation process includes ongoing communication and active involvement of pertinent stakeholders.

1. Implement the Tempe Involving the Public (TIP) Manual that describes the specific planning and public processes for all planning projects.

2. Widen the community notification boundaries to include properties and neighborhood or homeowner associations that could be directly impacted by the project.

LU10 - Identify, recognize, respect and nurture existing local social, economic and cultural resources.

1. Protect existing small businesses and cultural resources from incompatible land use or design.

2. Protect existing live music venues or event spaces from incompatible land use or design.

3. Protect commercial environments that support existing social, economic and cultural resources.

4. Respect the services that existing neighborhood retail centers provide to neighborhoods and the broader community.

Tempe Tomorrow - General Plan 2050 calls for the continued implementation of land use hubs within activity centers. Land use hubs are shown on Figure 4.

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Figure 4: Land Use Hubs Map

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L A N D U S E H U B S

Hub Type

*Note: Hub boundaries are conceptual bubbles

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COMMUNITY DESIGN ELEMENT

Building and urban design are important factors in shaping Tempe’s built form. Tempe is recognized for its contemporary design guidelines, stringent sign standards, dark sky protection, crime prevention environments, sustainable building and landscape requirements, public art provisions, transit-oriented design, and character area planning and design principles. Tempe enhances its sense of place and pride through the refinement, development and support of programs and policies that result in the highest possible standards of design in the built environment.

Limited in expansion by municipal boundaries, the future of Tempe’s built form will be determined not by sprawl, but by well-designed infill development, redevelopment, rehabilitation, and preservation of building and spaces. Tempe’s design foundation is its distinctive character and creation of a sense of place, supported by the following design principles.

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Visual Integration of Design Elements

Within Tempe, the street grid established by the original township serves as a visual connection between destinations for all modes of transportation. To facilitate accessibility and mobility, these connections should be protected and enhanced rather than impeded by large block developments. Providing visual access to pedestrian pathways, views of upcoming transit stops, clear views of building signage, proper illumination to prevent glare and shadows, visibility for natural surveillance, shade for human comfort and energy efficiency, visual access to open space, natural light and changes in weather should be considered in all aspects of design. Appropriate variations in scale and depth from the public realm, changes in building materials, vegetation and appropriate scale and character are needed to prevent the monotony created by uniform building blocks. Provisions for open space connecting neighborhoods with parks, preserves, paths, lakes, and canals and activating public spaces provides opportunities for active and healthy lifestyles for all residents including those with disabilities. Integration of site planning, landscape and building design supports public health, safety and good urban aesthetics.

Innovative Design

Community design should provide a sense of discovery and identity that enhances the experience

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for individuals in public areas. Development should creatively combine new and traditional materials, forms, color and design to produce sometimes unexpected and pleasant visual surprises. Design can be contextually relevant to the character of an area without being mundane or repetitive of trends that limit the longevity of the design and style. Innovation in design should encompass the following principles:

• Accommodate access creatively while respecting the street connectivity and urban context to enhance human comfort, promote interaction, and facilitate wayfinding.
• Relate building entries and windows to the street to engage passers-by regardless of use in the building.

• Integrate signage, public art, and other design elements comprehensively into the design of a development.
• Establish landscape and hardscape that relates to the site context and theme and contributes to a special sense of place through amenities such as shade, seating, sidewalk dining, and other activities.
• Design to exceed minimum standards, use green building principles, smart technology, and sustainable materials.

Well-Defined Physical Forms and Spaces

New development and redevelopment should differentiate from, yet relate to existing development through design and materials by use of well-defined forms and spaces:

• Develop gateways for sense of transition between areas, where appropriate.
• Recognize and establish visual

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elements within design that contribute to create distinctive character.

• Utilize landscape and hardscape for continuity and create a visual rhythm along streets and within building sites.
• Signage, lighting, street furnishings, landscape and hardscape should contribute to overall user experience and assist in wayfinding and orientation to users who navigate the area.

Space Articulation

At the pedestrian level, it is important to create a human scale design. Undulation (change in direction, depth and height) (ability for a user to see through) create interest, while maintaining openness and accessibility. Vegetative landscape can give soft edges to otherwise hard surfaces and add the element of green and shade as respite from the desert heat. Undulation in building façade and landscape provides an interplay of light and shadow accentuating relief and providing visual and functional interest for the viewer.

These community design principles are intended to stimulate design and function of the public and private design elements.

CHARACTER AREA PLANNING

Character Areas were envisioned in the Tempe General Plan 2040. Tempe is divided into eight character areas (Figure 5). As of 2023, Tempe has prepared and adopted six character area plans, which were crafted based on extensive consultation with the concerned communities. Character areas recognize groups of neighborhoods and geographic areas that contain common design, land use and commercial characteristics distinct from nearby areas. Similarities in age of housing, styles of architecture, patterns of development, materials, land use or street patterns, lot size, landscaping, landmarks, and physical forms create some of the recognizable differences between areas. Consistent with the goals of the General Plan, the adopted character area plans provide design and planning principles related to several elements such as walkability, aesthetics, landscape, shade, design, construction materials and mobility that are tailored to the areas. Character Area Plans also emphasize sustainability issues such as water conservation, biodiversity, and green infrastructure and construction. They also promote planning and design to help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and reduce heat island effects.

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The City utilizes the Character Area Plans while reviewing development proposals and designs within the respective boundaries. Staff ensures that the design, landscaping, and public realm design principles in the adopted Character Area Plans are addressed in the new development proposals as appropriate. The City also utilizes the Character Area Plans while making decisions related to public investments in the areas. Character Area Plans will be updated when necessary, and as required by major changes in the community’s aspirations and design needs.

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Figure 5: Character Areas Map

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CHARACTER AREAS

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

Sustainable design is a holistic approach to planning and building that incorporates climate-friendly building design, low impact development and green construction techniques to minimize environmental impact, reduce energy consumption, limit pollution and waste, reduce life-cycle costs, and contribute to human health and comfort. Buildings, infrastructure, and public spaces must be designed to meet the needs of the current population without adversely impacting future generations. Developments should utilize planning and design techniques that combine passive design elements and active technologies to conserve the use of water, energy, and other resource inputs. Sustainability is supported by mixed-use developments, walkable streets and neighborhoods, compact developments, sufficient open spaces, and a variety of housing options and transportation choices. In addition, buildings designed and constructed according to sustainable principles must also be safe, economical, durable, functional, comfortable, inviting, aesthetically pleasing, and in concert with community and neighborhood goals. Sustainable design should also utilize the principles of circular economy that minimizes waste, regenerative design, and resource conservation.

Benefits of sustainable design include:

• Lower construction costs resulting from use of recycled materials and lower waste disposal costs.
• Reduced operating costs from lower utility costs through energy savings and reduced operation and maintenance costs.
• Better health and increased productivity for residents and occupants resulting from better air and light quality and fewer hours lost to health-related factors.
• Overall environmental improvement from reductions in pollution and the “urban heat island” effect on site.
• Reduction of water use for landscaping and other uses often through the adoption of on-site water harvesting and reuse.

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• Better public health achieved through opportunities to maintain personal (social) distances with wide hallways and walkways to accommodate wheelchairs and facades, floors and walls that can be easily cleaned.
• Attractive and efficient design that elevate the quality of the community design for decades.

UNIVERSAL DESIGN

Improving access to employment opportunities, government services, public accommodations and transportation for those with disabilities, mental constraints or limited physical or mental capabilities provides everyone the opportunity to realize their full potential and achieve their dreams. Improving how buildings and places function to serve all users by design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size and ability is the premise of universal design which benefits the quality of life for all users. Tempe supports implementation of standards for access to public and private buildings and services for people with physical and mental constraints regardless of age. Accessibility is an issue that impacts all members of the community at some point, with or without physical limitations.

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Through illness, accidents or natural aging, most individuals will experience difficulties in walking, seeing, hearing, driving, getting around and remembering things. The inconvenience or inability, of accessing facilities or services affects the disabled, injured and elderly populations. Further, as our population ages, these challenges will impact an even larger numbers of residents or visitors seeking access to facilities, services, or events. As a centrally located community with extensive public transportation and services, Tempe is attractive to individuals with special needs. Accommodating this growing population requires sensitive attention to land use planning details and facilities design. Buildings and structures, through their placement, arrangement of forms and expression of function and materials, convey ideas and attitudes, not only about their purpose, but also provide value for the community and their users.

HEALTHY COMMUNITY DESIGN

Some of the critical issues confronting communities in Arizona are the impacts of extreme heat and communicable diseases on public health. Tempe is committed to promoting health and well-being by designing a community that facilitates an active and healthy lifestyle. It is important to be an active, inclusive and responsive city where healthy habits are encouraged by our developed environment. This requires acknowledging links between the built environment and health, particularly the connections land use, density and street design have on chronic diseases, an aging cohort and health disparities.

As experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic of 2019-22, public health-friendly design can help deter the spread of communicable diseases and promote better health. The following strategies can be used for planning and design to safeguard public health during pandemics.

a. Adequate space to facilitate physical distancing should be provided in buildings that include communal living spaces.

b. Design of public spaces should provide opportunities for physical distancing and accessibility.

c. When possible, the common exterior walls and floors, particularly in stairwells and elevators should be made with washable materials that can be easily disinfected and washed to reduce the spread of communicable diseases.

d. Provisions should be made for handwashing and sanitizing stations on large developments and in areas where people gather such as in parks, public bathrooms, transit stations, public and private plazas, courtyards, squares, sidewalks and terraces of public buildings.

e. Open spaces should be provided in large developments to offer

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opportunities for people to seek recreation, fresh air and to support their mental and physical health.

f. Open spaces could also be used as staging grounds for make-shift medical facilities such as testing, vaccination and distribution areas when necessary.

g. Common open spaces should be provided in developments so that people can get outside for fresh air.

h. Publicly accessible open spaces should include urban parks, plazas, community gardens and public squares as “Therapeutic Gardens” or “Healing Landscapes” having aesthetically pleasing combination of flowers, greeneries, water elements, open spaces and seating areas to provide a relaxing and stress-reducing ambiance for visitors.

i. Walking areas should be accessible to those with mobility limitations.

j. Increased self-sufficiency for the community in fruits, vegetables and grains through use of roof gardens, urban farming and community gardens should be promoted. On-site production of food helps supplement the food supply when transportation systems cannot meet demand.

k. Walking and biking should be promoted as critical components of an urban transportation system which helps to improve public health and quality of life.

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l. Wide sidewalks should be encouraged in urban environments that allow people to physically distance themselves from others, and to queue outside essential businesses and at transit stops. Wide sidewalks also allow people to walk together, two way pedestrian traffic and adequate personal space.

m. Utilize state and local community health information to create targeted health improvement programs for the communities.

COMMUNITY

DESIGN

GOAL 1: Promote design and development standards that improve the community’s visual quality, urban form and functions to enhance the quality of life for current and future generations.

OBJECTIVES & STRATEGIES

CD1 - Create a “sense of place” through design.

1. Utilize the design principles of connectivity and visual transparency to enhance the quality of development.

2. Recognize, preserve, and enhance the unique character of an area and location.

3. Identify opportunities for public and/or private enhancements that create a sense of place.

4. Use landscape, hardscape and sign designs to create unique, attractive and comfortable environments.

5. Continue the implementation of the Art in Private Development Program (AIPD).

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CD2 - Provide visual and functional focal points in different geographic areas and in developments.

1. Arrange spaces for optimum views and functions.
2. Provide points of interest within developments.
3. Provide building entrances that are well defined, accessible and conveniently located in relation to the site and building.
4. Recognize the identifying focal points that schools, churches and other social institutions provide in neighborhoods.

CD3 - Achieve diversity and contextual compatibility in design.

1. Promote architectural design that draws from and relates to its context by expressing function and aesthetics through creative combinations of forms, colors and materials.
2. Promote a compatible yet distinct relationship between new and existing development.
3. Promote designs that are specifically suited to a location and its physical context.
4. Avoid replication of building form, material or color trends that inhibit creative architectural expression.

CD4 - Respond to climate-related factors to achieve human comfort.

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1. Encourage shade, orientation, evaporative cooling and other means of providing human comfort.
2. Consider factors, such as ambient temperature, precipitation, wind direction and solar angles in building and site design.
3. Limit use of water features to minimize the use of potable water, but maximize cooling effects when using water features.
4. Maximize northern areas of building for light, and maximize southern and western exposures for shade coverage.

CD5 - Provide opportunities for interaction in public spaces.

1. Design public and semi-public spaces - streets, parks, squares and plazas- to encourage social interaction.
2. Encourage design features such as picture windows, bay windows, balconies, patios and shaded rest areas as opportunities for social interaction and observation.
3. Create spatial circumstances for natural surveillance where people’s activities can be seen by others to increase the perception of safety. However, consider safety concerns for vulnerable groups in the design of spaces.

CD6 - Encourage mixed-use designs, both vertical and horizontal.

1. Encourage housing near employment and service locations.
2. Provide flexibility in lot size, configuration and vehicular access to facilitate compact and efficient infill mixed use development.

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3. Provide opportunities for flexibility in design standards and guidelines where creative solutions can serve the community.
4. Provide flexibility in building design to accommodate changes in market demand.
5. Promote a range of retail and service options including neighborhood-serving and street-front retail, medical care and grocery stores in mixed-use settings.
6. Provide a visually pleasing, safe and comfortable pedestrian realm adjoining the ground floor of buildings.

CD7 - Encourage timeless architecture to withstand changes in style and economy, enabling adaptive reuses in the future

1. Develop and implement design guidelines that pay special attention to the attributes that make the built environment active and attractive.
2. Continue to follow technological advancements in building construction techniques and materials.

CD8 - Promote sustainable design concepts.

1. Consider the potential life-cycle cost in time and money savings against the initial investment required for achieving sustainable design.

2. Utilize landscape to provide shade, reduce glare and heat, enable water retention, control soil erosion, and promote evaporative cooling.

3. Maximize use of indigenous, adapted, and low water use plant materials wherever appropriate and feasible.

4. Utilize gray water and harvested rainwater for landscape irrigation where feasible, and use drip and other water saving irrigation systems where appropriate.

5. Implement green building practices and low impact design for all public buildings and encourage these in private developments.

6. Promote and study ways to incentivize environment-friendly design and green building standards in private buildings. Consider density bonus programs for potential incentives towards sustainable design beyond code requirements.

7. Evaluate and update ordinances and codes to reflect cutting edge construction methods and sustainability practices.

8. Consider modifications to code requirements to facilitate adaptive reuse of historic structures.

9. Promote and encourage mixed-use developments, walkable neighborhoods, compact designs, shaded streets and a variety of transportation options.

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CD9 - Reduce the adverse impact of artificial lighting on night skies.

1. Implement dark sky (free from trespassing light) lighting provisions to limit light trespass and glare without affecting aesthetics, safety and function.

2. Utilize research for improved lighting technology that provides safe, energy efficient and dark sky friendly solutions.

3. Develop a program to track and reduce or eliminate light trespass though design changes.

4. Update zoning code lighting level requirements to reflect appropriate illumination levels for site design and use.

5. Work with regional and state agencies to limit light pollution in the skies over the valley.

CD10 - Recognize and celebrate geographic distinctions in the architectural character of buildings.

1. Utilize the development review process to ensure that design reflects contextual character and is of high quality.

2. Promote the implementation of design principles from character area plans and other design guidelines applicable to the site.

3. Provide standards of appropriateness for redevelopment and alteration of historic buildings and for other development that may affect historic buildings.

4. Rehabilitate historic buildings to accommodate new uses and design new buildings to complement the history and culture of the area.

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5. Assist established businesses by encouraging reinvestment in properties that enhance local character.

6. Complete character area plans for all areas and update them when necessary to address the changing needs of those communities.

CD11 - Utilize the built environment to promote a healthy community and to encourage active lifestyles.

1. Promote safe and walkable neighborhoods and inter-connected streets through the design of streetscapes and public gathering places in all types of development.

2. Design for active use of public and private spaces within neighborhoods and commercial areas to provide “eyes-on-the-street.”

3. Expand opportunities for urban agriculture including home gardens, community gardens, urban farms and farmers markets to promote local availability of fresh food.

4. Provide for a range of housing types and affordable housing within walking distance of schools, community centers, workplaces and community facilities (libraries, transit centers, multi-generation centers, health clinics and similar facilities).

GOAL 2: Support the community needs through universal designs that provide inclusive access and benefit to public and private facilities, services, and programs.

OBJECTIVES & STRATEGIES

CD12 - Create adaptive environments that meet the current and future needs of the community.

1. Implement codes and ordinances to bring the facilities that do not meet the industry standards or federal regulations for accessibility into compliance.
2. Monitor and assess accessibility features in city facilities.
3. Complete an internal audit and review of existing and proposed city facilities for accessibility.
4. Work with Tempe’s Commission on Disability Concerns to address accessibility issues.
5. Seek creative solutions that integrate accessibility criteria in building design.

CD13 - Utilize universal design principles.

1. Identify key City staff to provide timely and accurate response to public input and to ensure implementation of universal design goals and objectives.
2. Identify opportunities for implementing accessibility in city-

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owned properties and seek capital improvement funding for the task.

3. Monitor emerging technology and research that may help develop more efficient and effective means of meeting accessibility challenges.

4. Encourage universal design to facilitate aging-in-place for those who wish to remain in the same building or facility for life.

CD14 - Where possible, create multi-user access in all facilities.

1. Provide opportunities for people of all abilities to meet, live, work or play together in facilities.

2. Encourage design for accessibility for all private facilities and developments so that they can be used by individuals of varying physical abilities.

CD15 - Promote ergonomic design and human-scaled environments.

1. Provide educational material on design guidelines for accessibility and ergonomic design (safe, comfortable and productive workspaces).

2. Encourage residential remodeling, reinvestment and new development that is accessible or readily adaptable for future accessibility.

3. Encourage flexible, accessible and adaptable design that can be reconfigured to serve different user needs.

4. Promote design that exhibit human-scale (easily relatable to human body size and reach) and proportions for building heights, door size and other elements.

CD16 - Utilize Healthy Community Design principles.

1. Partner with emergency preparedness planning staff in building new and/or modifying City service buildings.

2. Work with public health planners for environmental analysis and emerging trends for optimal health solutions.

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HISTORIC PRESERVATION ELEMENT

The Historic Preservation Element provides a long-range blueprint to guide the process of historic preservation in Tempe through 2050, including the identification and treatment of historic, archaeological and cultural resources, to support programs and policies and to integrate historic preservation into the general plan and development process. This element provides goals, objectives and strategies intended to sustain and improve the quality of Tempe’s built and cultural environment and to promote awareness and enthusiasm for the unique identity and heritage of Tempe.

As of July 2023, Tempe has 45 properties and 5 districts listed in the National Register of Historic Places, 53 properties and 4 districts listed in the Tempe Historic Property Register, more than 30 properties classified as Historic Eligible for listing in the Tempe Historic Property Register, and 2 desert preserves. Locations of these historic resources are shown on Figure 4. Protection, preservation and enhancement

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of Tempe’s heritage is critical to preserving the identity, character and history of our community. Tempe’s built environment tells the story of its growth through a blend of the past with the present, enriching our city and providing a “sense of place” for those who live, work and visit Tempe.

In June 2022, the City of Tempe adopted an updated Historic Preservation Plan (HPP), which has significantly expanded the scope of historic preservation planning and policies for the City. The main elements of the HPP are as follows:

• Increase public outreach and support through education, public meetings and advocacy.
• Improve interdepartmental coordination through completion of inventory of historic properties, working with City attorneys, and collaborating with other departments to protect and showcase historic properties.
• Augment property designation and review processes by identifying all eligible historic properties and rehabilitating the City-owned properties per federal standards.
• Implement City planning and policy improvements by encouraging appropriate amendment to the City Code and Zoning and Development Code, and proposing review processes for demolition requests of older buildings.
• Enhance procedures related to archaeology and repositories by developing discovery and monitoring methodologies and by consulting with Tribal governments.
• Expand Tribal consultation and coordination by closely working with the Tribal governments and holding regular meetings.

To celebrate local character and heritage of all places within the City, a study of heritage areas may be helpful. Such study can help identify common and connected cultural and historic resources and their interconnectedness.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION

GOAL 1: Enhance community character and heritage through the identification and preservation of significant historic sites, properties, structures and districts.

OBJECTIVES & STRATEGIES

HP1 - Identify, preserve, and protect significant historic properties and archaeological sites.

1. Utilize the input of the Historic Preservation Commission, neighborhoods and the public participation process to identify, establish, preserve and protect historic properties, including buildings, structures, objects, desert landscapes, archaeological sites and historic districts.
2. Consult with Tribes, including the Four Southern Tribes of Arizona, to assist in identifying and protecting Native American archaeological resources.
3. Review proposals that may impact designated and potentially eligible historic properties, including nearby development that may visually or structurally impact a historic property.
4. Create a grant program for eligible historic properties.
5. Promote Tempe’s history and encourage proactive thinking about historic preservation by fostering relationships with students, residents, visitors, realtors, neighborhood associations, homeowners’ associations, businesses and historic property owners.
6. Consult with other Certified Local Governments (CLG) in Arizona on historic preservation matters.
7. Provide early notification to property owners seeking redevelopment of historically significant properties and encourage creative solutions for the protection of identified historic elements.
8. Continue to implement the Historic Preservation Plan (2022).
9. Remain familiar with new findings regarding the location and scale of archaeological resources in Tempe.
10. Consult with representatives of the Four Southern Tribes to identify concerns regarding the treatment of archaeological resources and Traditional Cultural Properties.
11. Encourage preservation in cultural resource areas through maintenance of culturally significant features of the built environment, landscape and design.
12. Discourage incompatible design in cultural resource areas.
13. Encourage infill development

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HISTORIC PROPERTIES & DISTRICTS

Historic Properties

• ● Tempe Historic
• ◯ Tempe and National Historic
• ⬬ National Historic
• ⬬ National Historic and Historic Eligible
• ● Historic Eligible

Historic Districts

• ■ Tempe Historic
• ■ National Historic
• ■ Tempe and National Historic

that maintains the existing massing, character and street front lot width pattern of surrounding buildings in cultural resource areas.

HP2 - Identify properties and districts for historic designation and preservation.

1. Continue the process for historic property identification, interpretation, documentation, designation, registration, review of impacts and public participation.
2. Identify, inventory and assess historic buildings, structures, districts and archaeological sites to provide property use options. Use the information and insights gleaned from the Council-approved inventories of historical resources to set preservation priorities and promote the identification and classification of properties that are eligible for historic designation.
3. Recommend appropriate properties and districts to the Historic

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Preservation Commission, Development Review Commission and City Council for designation and listing in the Tempe Historic Property Register.

4. Compile historic information about properties and character of Tempe and utilize Council-adopted inventories of historical resources to assist in identifying sites worthy of preservation and to inform how to balance historic preservation and current and future development needs.

HP3 - Foster economic vitality through preservation and adaptive rehabilitation of historic properties that contribute to the character of the community.

1. Preserve and promote the historic character and cultural significance of the urban core of Tempe around downtown, and other parts of the City, including not only buildings, but also archaeological sites, and desert preserve areas.
2. Encourage historic property ownership and neighborhood preservation by assisting owners in rehabilitation, restoration or maintenance through incentives obtained or developed with City, state, or federal assistance.
3. Provide opportunities for visits to and use and interpretation of historic properties while retaining the historic integrity of the properties.
4. Promote historic preservation as a tool to drive tourism and economic development.
5. Promote the unique identity of cultural resource areas through gateway artwork and neighborhood signage that creates a sense of place and celebrates the character of the area.

HP4 - Integrate historic preservation planning with boards, commissions, neighborhood, and redevelopment planning efforts to protect and enhance community heritage and complement city redevelopment and revitalization efforts.

1. Advise City boards, commissions, and Council on all matters pertaining to historic properties.
2. Maintain City as a National Park Service-Certified Local Government (CLG) to administer historic preservation programs.
3. Consistently engage the Tempe Arts and Culture Commission on development projects that have a significant impact on landscape character and identity.
4. Refer to traditional subdivision plat lot configurations in redevelopment of properties to maintain the rhythm of street front building and massing.
5. Prioritize revitalization and adaptive reuse over redevelopment in cultural resource areas.

HP5 - Preserve the historically significant character of single-family homes that use repair or rehabilitation programs.

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1. Develop revitalization options that retain character-defining historic elements while updating the functionality or efficiency of single-family homes.
2. Disseminate guidelines to property owners who want to protect or restore historic assets.
3. Provide additional attention and deliberation of applications to alter or demolish historic properties.

HP6 - Recognize and promote the common themes in historic preservation and sustainability goals.

1. Incentivize adaptive reuse of historic properties that no longer serve their original function.
2. Promote historic preservation to support environmental, cultural, and neighborhood sustainability.
3. Demonstrate to the public the economic and cultural benefits of preserving historic properties.

GOAL 2: Support the creation of location-specific preservation plans, especially in the downtown area, to better preserve historic properties and cultural resources in those locations

OBJECTIVES & STRATEGIES

HP7 - Develop and promote a plan fora Downtown Historic Core (DHC), that includes design and planning guidelines, and the identification of boundaries.

1. Promote restoration of existing historic buildings consistent with the standard practices for historic preservation and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.
2. Develop formal municipal guidance and associated ordinances that support historic preservation and conservation goals.
3. Explore the use of Transfer of Density or Development Right (TDR) opportunities to help protect historic properties by transferring potential development rights on the site to a more appropriate external site in the City; and other means to acquire preservation easements.
4. Honor the historic connectivity between the Hayden Butte Preserve and the Downtown Historic Core, as our Desert Heritage is a critical aspect of our downtown’s history.
5. Seek continuing input from City commissions and boards on how to improve preservation practices, methods and goals within the Downtown Historic Core.
6. Work closely with the Tempe History Museum, SRP-MIC, SHPO along with local community organizations to help guide the proposed Downtown Historic Core.
7. Activate and promote the proposed Downtown Historic Core as an educational resource for students, residents, and tourists to connect with our cultural and environmental heritage using interpretative centers, signage, public art, and programming.
8. Collaborate with the City of Tempe Economic Development Department, Tempe Tourism Office, Tempe Downtown Authority, and other partners to promote the proposed Downtown Historic Core goals while encouraging innovative civic, commercial, and residential usages for historic properties.
9. Leverage the Downtown Historic Core as a signature cultural nexus for the greater metropolitan area to help facilitate a world-class creative economy.
10. Encourage public art installations that reflect and narrate local cultural and environmental heritage of the proposed Downtown Historic Core.

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