Featured Editorial: Mayor Ortega is Setting Scottsdale Up for a Major Loss

By Larry Kush Yet another battle is taking shape between property rights advocates and our cities mayor over the mayor’s goal of gutting the Old Town Scottsdale Character Area Plan (OTSCAP) which was adopted in 2018. In case you have not heard of it, OTSCAP serves as the regulatory long-range plan that guides growth and development in downtown Scottsdale, and … Read More

Stopsdale or Scottsdale?

The Valley’s business community has been paying close attention to the turn Scottsdale’s 2020 elections have meant for one of the state and country’s more outstanding cities.  Would major investments still be rewarded or reviled by the new, slower-growth governing majority? Last night, Scottsdale’s City Council, including Councilwoman Kathy Littlefield, showed a sagacious balance of the anti-everything inmates trying to run … Read More

Guest Editorial: Scottsdale Deserves the Best, Vote YES General Plan 2035, Prop 463

By Solange Whitehead Scottsdale’s allure was built on exceptional design standards, world-class amenities, and an expansive amount of protected open space.  However, Scottsdale’s current general plan is decades old and is no longer protecting us.  General Plan 2035 was written with input from hundreds of residents and tackles today’s issues.  On development, General Plan 2035 creates a “Scottsdale premium” that … Read More

Guest Editorial: I Cannot Support the General Plan

By Larry Kush During my many years of service on the Scottsdale Planning Commission, there were several meetings where city staff updated us on the progress of the revised general plan and asked us for our comments.  City Planning Staff put in untold hours of work on this plan, holding several meetings with stake holders (citizens) to explain the plan … Read More

Guest Editorial: The 2035 General Plan Looks Backward, not Forward

By Tim Stratton Ballots will soon arrive seeking approval of the 2035 General Plan. People are asking me, “Why should I support something I have heard so little about?” That’s a great question. Why haven’t voters heard more on the 2035 General Plan? What is hiding in this 296 page document that most people will never read? Maybe the answer … Read More

Guest Editorial: Why You Should Vote YES on Scottsdale General Plan 2035

By Councilmember Solange Whitehead Scottsdale, let’s get this job done!  On October 6th, ballots for Scottsdale’s General Plan (GP) will be mailed to voters.  I am enthusiastically endorsing a YES vote to ratify General Plan 2035 and protect all that we love about Scottsdale.   Scottsdale’s General Plan 2035 has been a collaboration between the City and the residents. Working side-by-side … Read More

Scottsdale General Plan 2035 is Coming to Your Ballot. Why Should You Vote Yes?

While Scottsdale governance has generally been befitting of our world class status, one way that it has fallen below expectations is their lack of ratification of a general plan in the recent past. These plans, which are supposed to be updated and ratified by the voters every 10 years, had not been updated in two decades. That will change with … Read More

Sobriety Not Silly

As others have observed, not all residential project proposals are made equal. Year after year, overly ambitious developers attempt to cajole planning commissions and city councils all over the country, including in Scottsdale, trying to convince them of the sometimes dubious merits of the projects they’re championing. On the flip side of that, many developers do the right thing. And … Read More

Guest Editorial: General Plan 2035 Primer: Part 1 “Origins”

By Scottsdale Vice Mayor Betty Janik The citizens of Scottsdale will be asked to vote on a new General Plan this November.  It is a mail-in only vote. Ballots will be sent out in early October to registered voters. The goal of the General Plan (GP) is to guide the development of Scottsdale over the next decade to realize the … Read More