Chandler staff narrow new downtown high-density designation to redevelopment sites

At a Chandler City Council study session on Oct. 13, planning staff briefed council members on a last-minute change to a proposed downtown region area plan update that creates a new land-use designation for high-density residential with integrated uses but restricts it to redevelopment sites only.

The change, presented by city staff member Alisa Pedersen, narrows where the designation can apply and identifies key gateway intersections along Arizona Avenue and at Ray Road, Chandler Boulevard and Pecos Road as focus areas for mixed-use redevelopment. "This applies to, a land use designation that we've just created as part of this downtown region area plan update. This is the high density residential with integrated uses," Pedersen said. She added that "the important change that we made just moments before we came to, council tonight, was that we did identify and and qualify this, land use designation as applying only to redevelopment sites within the downtown region."

Under the draft language described to council, redevelopment parcels that front onto two arterials at those gateway intersections would be required to provide mixed-use developments with a minimum of two designated uses. Sites exceeding 10 acres would be required to provide at least 20% of commercial or office uses; Pedersen said properties under 10 acres could still pursue single-use or mixed-use development. "The 10 acre qualification is just for those properties that would be required to be mixed use," she said, noting the city has only a few large parcels that would meet that threshold and citing 1 Chandler as an example of a site under 3 acres.

Council member Orlando asked whether the 10-acre requirement applies only to corner properties and whether property assembly could qualify a site. Pedersen replied that the designation requires frontage on two major arterials (Arizona Avenue plus Ray Road, Chandler Boulevard or Pecos Road) and that assembly could be possible but any assembled site would still have to meet the stated criteria; she reiterated the policy applies only to sites that have previously been developed. "So the requirement is that any property that would be considerable of this designation at those key locations would have to front onto 2 major arterials," Pedersen said.

Mayor Kevin Hartke and council members took no formal vote on the item during the study session; the presentation functioned as a briefing and question-and-answer period. Pedersen told council that an addendum memo reflecting the change was at council members' places and that there will be another session on Thursday with the ability to vote on study session items. "On Thursday, we will also have, a session before as well as, the ability to vote on our study session items," a staff member said at the meeting.

The briefing focused on drafting language intended to encourage mixed-use redevelopment at identified downtown gateways while excluding previously undeveloped parcels from the new designation. The council discussion emphasized flexibility for developers on smaller parcels and a stronger mixed-use requirement for large redevelopment sites. No ordinance, zoning map amendment, or formal council action was taken during this study session briefing.