Proposed Waterview project facing resistance
Interesting article on a proposed new project on Scottsdale Waterfront. It sounds like a project that will enhance the area if the developers can work things out with city government and area residents.
City letter takes issue with Waterview
Brian Powell, Tribune
The proposed Waterview at Scottsdale hotel and condominium project along the Arizona Canal is too massive, does not blend with the surrounding neighborhood and has not adequately addressed the relocation of an electric substation, a letter from the city states.
The nine-page letter sent Monday from the city to Waterview representatives outlines 83 concerns with the proposed downtown project northeast of Camelback and Scottsdale roads.
In addition to the project’s size and proximity to established single-family homes, the city also has concerns about whether adequate infrastructure can be built on the site, the development’s impact on neighborhood traffic and its lack of access for pedestrians.
The report also states the developers have not done enough to inform the public of their plans.
“This does not fit the context of the area, including north of the canal, south of the canal and the canal experience itself,” wrote Mac Cummins, a Scottsdale principal planner.
The developers, Scottsdale Canal Development, have proposed bulldozing aging single-story apartments along 73rd Street on the south side of the canal and replacing them with a six-building, high-end project that would include 72-foot hotel buildings and 65-foot condo buildings along with private homes. About 400 hotel rooms and condo units and 17 single-family homes are proposed for the 11.5-acre site.
Proposed site
If completed, it would be one of the largest of the urban downtown projects that have contributed to more than $3 billion in downtown private investment in recent years.
Susan Bitter Smith, a consultant working on the project, said a number of these issues — expressed during talks with the city prior to this initial written response — are already being addressed.
Bitter Smith said the new design will address immediate concerns by increasing setbacks and scaling back the size of buildings near residences. “These are all good points and all things we’ve been working on,” Bitter Smith said.
One of the more controversial aspects of the project is moving the Salt River Project substation from the northeast corner of Scottsdale and Camelback roads to the east of the project, across the street from single-family homes.
Cummins said the city does not know what the SRP substation will look like because only architectural renderings from one of the four sides were submitted. He said the city has recently received health and safety information, but has not had time to review it. In addition, the developers have not applied for the required use permit. Bitter Smith said the developers are working on a more detailed design for the substation.
As for infrastructure, the city says a larger waterline will be necessary to provide adequate fire service, a private sewer line through the project should be considered, and an extension of the sewer system “may be problematic.” All of the infrastructure, including the planned burying of power lines, may not fit within the right-of-way, Cummins wrote.
The city also was critical of the plan because it did not include a pedestrian bridge across the Arizona Canal or landscaping along the canal bank. Both of these will be included with the submittal, Bitter Smith said.
The project has been applauded by some area residents for proposing to clean up the area, but others have concerns about the SRP electrical substation relocation as well as the traffic the project could bring. City activists who do not live in the area have concerns about increased height and density in the downtown area and have threatened a referendum if the project is ultimately approved by the City Council.
Waterview submitted its rezoning request in July. The request does not seek height or density beyond what’s allowed in the downtown plan.
No public hearings have been scheduled.
