An Arizona Court of Appeals panel has ruled the $1.8B South Pier at Tempe Town Lake project can go to the ballot for voter approval.
The proposed project on empty City-owned land on Vista Del Lago Drive has been embroiled in controversy since it was approved by Tempe City Council last March. A group known as Central Arizonans for a Sustainable Economy collected petitions to send the plan to voters after complaining the project does not include any affordable housing units and alleging there was insufficient public participation in the review process.
South Pier at Tempe Town Lake is a 2.25MSF master-planned mixed-use development that will include office, residential, retail, and public amenities on 12.4 acres.
CASE alleges that since a Government Property Lease Excise Tax agreement is in place for the development, it should include affordable housing-designated units as part of its value to the community.
The group collected enough signatures to force the issue to a referendum ballot, but Tempe rejected the petition, saying the agreement was an administrative issue and not a legislative one that would be eligible for ballot consideration. A Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled against the City on that argument but found CASE’s signature form was incorrectly formatted, which kept the referendum from moving forward.
Both sides appealed to the Court of Appeals, which ruled last week the signature form formatting problem was not a significant enough issue to stop the request from going to the ballot, since all the relevant information was present on the document.
Tempe and developer South Pier Tempe Holdings LLC both have the right to appeal the ruling to the Arizona Supreme Court. Developer representatives said an appeal is likely. A City spokesperson said Tempe is evaluating possible next steps. (Source)