By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
As most observers expected, the development opposition political action committee, Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions, has filed a complaint against the City of Scottsdale over a compromise agreement between the City and Axon Enterprise that will allow Axon’s planned Corporate Headquarters and Global Campus development to proceed with a reduced number of residential units included in the plan.
Axon’s original plan, which had been approved by the previous Mayor and Council, called for a 400KSF headquarters and a mixed-use campus with approximately 1,900 residential units, retail and a 435-room hotel on 57 acres at the NEC of Hayden Road and Mayo Blvd.
TAAAZE, formed and led by former City Councilmember Bob Littlefield, organized a petition drive to place the approval on a referendum ballot. The Arizona Legislature passed a law that enabled Axon-style developments on light industrial land planned for corporate headquarters. TAAAZE then filed litigation to overturn the state law.
Late last year, Scottsdale City Council approved a compromise memorandum of understanding that allows Axon to build 600 apartments and 600 condominiums and nullifies the previous zoning, which consequently nullifies the underlying issue in TAAAZE’s referendum petition and state lawsuit.
AZBEX has covered the Axon fight extensively. Those articles are available here.
TAAAZE’s new filing asks the Maricopa County Superior Court to nullify Scottsdale’s most recent action and alleges the City failed to follow proper procedure, thus improperly squelching residents’ rights to contest the decision.
Bob Littlefield is married to current Councilmember Kathy Littlefield, who has been part of a consistent set of representatives generally opposed to multifamily development and to the Axon plan in particular. She has claimed she has no conflict of interest between her role on Council and her marriage to a leading anti-development advocate and has declined to recuse herself from votes on Axon-related actions since TAAAZE was formed.
Kathy Littlefield faces term limits at the end of this year. Bob Littlefield recently announced he plans to run for Council in this year’s election. Bob Littlefield previously served three terms starting in 2002. After leaving Council, he ran unsuccessfully for the Arizona House of Representatives and twice for Mayor of Scottsdale.
Two current Councilmembers—Barry Graham and Solange Whitehead—are running for reelection. There are five other candidates, in addition to Bob Littlefield, who have expressed interest. A total of three seats are up for a vote.