Tempe staff flags state bills that force rapid code changes, curb public design review

City planning staff told the Tempe City Council and Development Review Commission that recent state legislation will require quick local code changes affecting adaptive reuse of commercial buildings and the process for design and subdivision approvals.

Jeff Tamielewicz, Community Development Director, and Ryan Levesque introduced the briefing, saying the city must reconcile local code language with recent House bills and statutory language. Levesque summarized two items staff are prioritizing: a cleanup and implementation of the commercial adaptive-reuse statute and changes that expand mandatory administrative approvals for design and subdivision processes.

On adaptive reuse, staff said amendments to a previous measure clarified baseline eligibility and how eligibility is calculated. Among the clarifications: the statute now requires at least 10% of commercial lots citywide be eligible for adaptive-reuse conversion (staff said some jurisdictions had interpreted the prior language as a lower percentage), and the unit of calculation shifts from commercial buildings to commercial lots. Staff also described clarifications on airport noise contour treatment (shift from a 60 DNL contour to 65 DNL for exclusion areas) and a restatement that mixed-use districts must be included when assessing similar heights and densities for conversions. Ryan Levesque said the law also clarified the intended application of a 100-foot buffer near single-family neighborhoods so that the buffer limits the part of a site within 100 feet to lower heights rather than prohibit taller building elements on the remainder of a property.

On administrative review, staff flagged a separate change that replaces permissive language with mandatory language in the statute governing administrative approvals, striking “may” and replacing it with “shall.” Levesque said that change will require municipalities to provide administrative review processes for all forms of subdivision planning and many forms of design review (including development plans and site plan approvals) without public hearings; the statutory citation staff cited for the optional framework was ARS 9 dash 400.49 and staff said the amendment changes the provision to a requirement with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2026. The change preserves a path for appeals from staff decisions to the DRC and for DRC appeals to the City Council, but Levesque said the practical effect is to remove many public hearings from the primary approval path.

Staff said the City Attorney’s Office is reviewing the implications and that statutory immunities for plan approval likely still apply. Responding to a commissioner question about risk to city employees, the city attorney said, “there are certain…immunities that are generally associated with plan approval” that should continue to apply, but said each matter turns on its facts.

City staff said they will prepare a draft text amendment quickly and return to the Council and DRC in the coming months to align local code language with the new state requirements and to identify options for applicants who want public review in addition to the required administrative path. No change to local code or formal adoption took place at the meeting; staff said hearings are expected in the summer and fall code cycles to implement the state-driven changes.