Laveen residents push back on Gila Foothills development over auto mall, more
More than 100 Laveen area residents packed into a meeting to voice their concerns about plans to develop an auto mall, hospital, apartments and resort on nearly 300 acres of vacant land near South Mountain. They worry the intensity of the development could ruin the surrounding, largely rural area.
The Gila Foothills proposal to the city of Phoenix is planned for a large site near Estrella Drive and 51st Avenue, about two miles northwest of the Vee Quiva Hotel & Casino.
The site is within Phoenix’s boundaries but borders unincorporated Maricopa County land on portions of the site. The site sits west of South Mountain Park, east and north of Loop 202 and east and north of the Gila River Indian Community.
The land is owned by the Lines family, a longtime landowner in the area. The Lines family is also the developer of another large Laveen commercial development, called Laveen Spectrum, on 59th Avenue and Baseline Road. That development, which has portions under construction, includes restaurants, stores and has plans for residential development.
Residents concerned about height, traffic
At a meeting of the Laveen Village Planning Committee, a board that advises the Phoenix City Council on development issues in Laveen, a standing-room-only crowd voiced various concerns. They said Gila Foothills would be incompatible with the surrounding neighborhood, increase traffic and bring unsightly development, especially the auto mall and hospital.
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Phil Hertel, a Laveen resident and member of Laveen Citizens for Responsible Development, said his organization has been concerned with a lack of details provided about the proposal and would like to see more specific designs and examples of what the project would look like.
Hertel said the site and the potential project have “a lot of opportunity,” and said the site could bring a lot of things to the area that are needed. Development on the site is inevitable, he said but added he would like to see collaboration between the developer, the community and the city to make sure it is acceptable.
“It is our job to make it the best we can possibly make it,” Hertel said.
John Bzdel, who lives in an unincorporated area near the proposed development, submitted a counterproposal to the development that he said would be more palatable to the neighbors. Bzdel’s idea replaced some of the proposed apartment developments on the eastern side of the site with large-lot, single-family homes, which he said would be more palatable to nearby neighbors.
Bzdel also suggested shrinking the size of the commercial core of the development, which includes the proposed auto mall and hospital, while keeping it adjacent to the Loop 202 freeway.
Wendy Riddell, the zoning attorney for the development, said the project was designed to be compatible with the plans for a technology park in the area, which has long been a goal of Laveen. The heavier commercial uses, including the auto mall and hospital, are on the western portion of the site, near the freeway.
As part of the project, the developer plans to improve several of the roads and build a new road, called Gila Foothills Parkway. All road improvements would be done in the first phase of development, Riddell said.
The northern and eastern portions are planned for smaller scale commercial, like restaurants and stores, and rental housing, which includes apartments and single-family rentals. The resort is planned on the southeastern portion of the site, near South Mountain.
Auto mall planned for electric vehicle focus
The auto mall planned at the Gila Foothills development is designed to be electric vehicle-focused, Riddell said at the meeting. Dealers that are located in the development will need to have at least one line of electric or alternative-fuel vehicles, she said.
Reid Butler, owner of Butler Housing Co. and development representative for the Lines family, said late last year that the auto mall would likely be the first portion of the project to be developed, and said the development team already had a signed agreement with a leading dealer of electric vehicles.
Auto malls generate more sales tax per square foot than almost any other use, Chris Mackay, community and economic development director for Phoenix, said at the meeting. According to an economic analysis commissioned by the developer, the auto mall planned at the project would generate about $52 million annually.
Neighbors who spoke at the meeting said they did not see how the electric or alternative-fuel requirements could be enforced or monitored and said even if dealers have a line of alternative fuel vehicles, the vast majority of sales at the complex could still be gasoline powered.
Dan Penton, a Laveen resident, said he also was concerned about test drives from vehicles sold at the auto mall, and said he did not believe the proposed test drive route, which is primarily on the freeway, is enforceable.
Committee agrees on need for hospital, split on height requirement
Laveen, when compared with the state as a whole, is severely underserved in terms of hospital beds, Riddell said. The proposal includes a hospital with a minimum of 100 beds and a Level 1 trauma center, which means it could provide the highest level of patient care for a traumatic injury. For most Laveen residents, the nearest Level 1 trauma center is Banner-University Medical Center, north of downtown Phoenix, roughly 11 miles from Laveen.
The proposal originally planned for the hospital to reach 150 feet in height, but Riddell said at the meeting the developer could agree to a shorter, 120-foot building. A 120-foot-tall building would be the tallest building in Laveen and much of the surrounding area.
All members of the Village Planning Committee agreed that Laveen needs a hospital, citing a growing population and lack of services nearby.
However, some took issue with the claim that the hospital must be that tall. Committee member Patrick Nasser-Taylor said other Level 1 trauma centers in the Valley are not 120 feet tall. Most of the Abrazo West Campus in Goodyear, he said, is five stories tall.
Committee members agreed that if a hospital is to be developed on the site, it should be located as far away as possible from nearby homes, so it would be as unobtrusive as possible to neighbors.
50 acres designated for resort
The easternmost portion of the site includes 50 acres for the proposed resort, as well as space for multifamily rental housing and other commercial uses, such as office spaces. The proposal also includes a new trailhead into South Mountain Park on that side.
Mackay, the economic development director for Phoenix, said she has had conversations with three different resort operators interested in the site, and said residents could expect something comparable to the J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge or the Camelback Inn.
The committee will discuss the proposal again at its March meeting when it will likely make a recommendation for the City Council to either approve or deny the request. The project proposal will be heard by the city’s Planning Commission before it goes to the council for a final vote.
The item was scheduled to go before the Planning Commission in March, but that will be delayed to accommodate an additional hearing with the Village Planning Committee.
Reach the reporter at cvanek@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @CorinaVanek.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Laveen residents push back on 300-acre Gila Foothills development
