By Alexander Lomax

Photo Credit: ABC 15

Scottsdale’s great parking garage drama has finally ended. After weeks of petitions, protests, and enough civic outrage to fill several farmers markets, the Scottsdale City Council voted 5-2 last Tuesday night to approve the construction contract for the Brown Avenue parking structure in Old Town. Construction could begin as early as this summer, with the city eyeing completion before spring training 2027.

Let us pause to acknowledge the gravity of this moment. Parking. We spent weeks on parking.

What the Vote Actually Tells Us

The 5-2 outcome was less a squeaker than a statement. Vice Mayor Adam Kwasman framed it bluntly: more people are coming, more pressure on parking is coming, and building infrastructure now beats facing an impossible cliff later. Councilwoman Kathy Littlefield was equally direct, arguing Old Town needs more parking to survive as a destination. Five council members agreed and voted accordingly.

The two dissenting votes came from Mayor Lisa Borowsky and Councilwoman Solange Whitehead. That pairing is worth noting. Borowsky has positioned herself as a fiscal conservative and Old Town preservationist throughout this saga; her no vote was entirely consistent with her stated concerns about location, cost, and compatibility with Old Town’s character. But it also placed her alongside Whitehead and conspicuously apart from colleagues who share her broader ideological lane. On this one, the conservative council majority broke from its mayor and moved the project forward anyway.

The Controversy in Perspective

Opponents raised legitimate points. The last parking study is eleven years old. The total project cost of roughly $20.9 million works out to nearly $100,000 per stall. The farmers market will need to relocate. These are real concerns and deserve honest follow-through from the city.

But somewhere along the way, this became Scottsdale’s defining civic crisis of the moment; a parking garage elevated to scandal-level discourse while actual scandals involving city hall, a fired chief of staff, and a looming million-dollar lawsuit quietly percolated in the background.

The garage is happening. It will have a western-themed exterior and maybe some art. Scottsdale will survive.

There are considerably larger fights ahead: water policy, the Axon development fallout, a competitive city council election this fall. The parking spots will be there when we need them.