Mesa planning board recommends approval of Park North 120‑unit apartments; neighbors raise traffic and safety concerns

The Mesa Planning and Zoning Board on Feb. 26 voted 4-0 to recommend City Council approval of the Park North project, a proposed 120-unit multi-family development on the north side of Guadalupe Road east of Power Road. The recommendation covers a planned area development (PAD) overlay, a council use permit to allow multi-family without the ordinance’s ground-floor commercial requirement, and site plan review; the board’s action is a recommendation to council.

City staff described the site as designated Neighborhood (suburban) in the Mesa 2040 general plan and currently zoned Limited Commercial (LC) with an existing PAD. Staff and the applicant said the property’s physical constraints — including an 80-foot Maricopa County Flood Control District canal that limits bridge access and deed restrictions that affect retail uses — have repeatedly made commercial redevelopment infeasible. Staff said the proposal complies with applicable site plan and PAD regulations, and recommended approval with conditions.

The applicant, represented by John Gillespie of Rose Law Group, presented a site plan with four three-story apartment buildings (two with 36 units and two with 24 units, for a total of 120 units), a clubhouse/leasing office and pool, 252 parking spaces (including 122 covered spaces), and 18 electric vehicle charging stations. Access is proposed from Guadalupe via a single bridge across the flood-control canal; an emergency egress is shown through an access easement to the west. The applicant submitted a traffic analysis and an economic market study; the traffic consultant concluded the proposed multifamily use would generate 48% to 71% less traffic than the commercial/office option previously approved for the site.

City and consulting traffic engineers acknowledged community safety concerns. Paul Basha, the project traffic consultant, said the Arizona Department of Transportation collision database shows 26 collisions at Power and Guadalupe in 2023; he placed that intersection “kind of the midpoint of collisions in the area” after reviewing nearby intersections. The city traffic engineer, Ryan Hudson, told the board the city is conducting a comprehensive safety action plan and analyzes crash characteristics and trends beyond raw counts; he said the city will pursue mitigation strategies if analysis indicates needed improvements.

Neighbors from the adjacent Superstition Springs community spoke in force against the proposal, citing traffic volumes, school drop-off and pick-up at Highland Junior High, and recent serious collisions in the corridor. Andrew Clayton said no one at community meetings spoke in favor and that the project’s “luxury” branding will not address the safety concerns; April Lesher, who identified herself as a Gilbert School District teacher, said she has witnessed serious collisions at the intersection and asked the board to visit the site during school pick-up times.

Staff and the applicant said they held two neighborhood meetings and that the applicant has offered landscape and buffer improvements — including new trees along the park edge, additional landscaping adjacent to Guadalupe subject to flood-control-district approval, and a development agreement under which the developer would maintain trees on the park side for an initial period before turning them over to the city. Staff also said the applicant will coordinate with Maricopa County Flood Control District on the Guadalupe frontage landscaping and with the Parks and Recreation Department for tree plantings on adjacent park property.

After discussion the board voted to recommend City Council approval with the conditions in staff’s report. Board members noted that multifamily is an allowed use in LC zoning when a council use permit is granted to modify the commercial ground-floor requirement and that, according to the applicant’s analysis, the multifamily proposal generates fewer peak traffic trips than the previously approved commercial option. The recommendation advances the item to City Council for a final decision.