Fountain Hills council reaffirms Sept. 2 action on Park Place permits, directs attorney to negotiate revised development agreement

At a special meeting the Fountain Hills Town Council voted 6-0 to reaffirm its Sept. 2 decision to allow the developer of Park Place to renew previously approved building permits under the town’s 2018 building code, subject to renegotiation of the development agreement. The council later directed the town attorney to send a draft revised development agreement to the relevant parties and to negotiate a final agreement for future council action.

The council’s actions followed a staff timeline and public comments showing a multi-year project history, expired permits and a change to the town’s adopted building code. Town staff member John Wesley summarized the chronology, saying the council originally approved the Park Place development agreement on June 16, 2016, that site-plan applications for phases 2 and 3 were submitted in late 2021 and that permits for phase 2 and phase 3 were approved but not issued because fees were not paid. Wesley told the council that the approved permits are valid for 180 days unless paid for or renewed, and that unresolved fees meant those approvals expired in March 2023.

Developer representatives told the council they considered recent staff changes,…