Show Low council selects developer-donated Site 2 for sports and event center and approves seating plan

Show Low City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to select Site 2 for the planned Show Low Sports and Event Center and to approve the project's seating configuration, following staff presentations and more than an hour of public comment.

Staff and the project architect presented four candidate parcels and recommended Site 2, a developer-donated parcel just north of East Wolford Road, based on utility availability, future roadway access and zoning. Council then approved the seating layout identified as Alternate 1, a telescopic/fixed hybrid that preserves a roughly 4,300'00 baseline seating scheme and keeps the building height lower than earlier designs.

Staff said the council needed to pick a site before designers could proceed with detailed building work. The decision matters because site choice affects utility extension costs, grading and retaining-wall needs, parking layouts and whether the city will need to rezone or buy additional land.

City staff said they evaluated four parcels. In staff's summary: Site 2 measures about 13.7 acres with utilities at the north end and an expected separation of roughly 400 feet from the nearest residential lot; Site 1 was described inconsistently in the meeting materials and staff remarks (staff initially described it as "approximately 9 acres" and later slides labeled it roughly 13 acres); Site 3 was described as roughly 17.1 acres with utilities about 2,700 feet away and about a 1,500-foot separation to the nearest residential parcel; and Site 4 is a 47-acre, city-owned parcel that is not currently zoned for a sports facility, has steep topography (staff said the flattest portion still has roughly an 80-foot change in elevation across an equivalent 13-acre area) and utilities about 1,500 feet away. Staff recommended Site 2 based on what they described as more predictable site costs, available utilities and developer support.

Architect Chris Ford walked the council through pros and cons of each site. He said Site 2's consistent slope and developer support made it "an easier, more predictable build," but noted the team must remove on-site stockpiled soils and evaluate whether those materials can be reused on the building pad. For Site 3, Ford said the larger elevation change and lack of utilities would require extensive retaining walls and high site costs. For Site 4 he said there was "no clear path" to build a facility of this scale without major grading and utility extensions.

Public speakers at the council's call-to-the-public raised neighborhood concerns. Ramon Ballens of 560 South Creekside Road said residents preferred Site 3 (across Penrod) and alleged the developer and the development engineer were benefiting from the city picking Sites 1 or 2; he cited values he said were associated with donated parcels ("Site 2 at $71,000; Site 1 at $45,000; Site 3 at about $20,500") and said those figures were published in a local newspaper article he had submitted to the council. Beverly Hammer urged the council to place the center on Penrod (Site 3) so it would front a main road rather than sit behind commercial property; she also raised concerns about a proposed nearby private school and alcohol sales. Tim Flanagan and Doug Evenson said the project would change neighborhood character and increase traffic; Evenson asked the council to consider gating Wolford Road to block cut-through traffic. Council members and staff repeatedly responded that Wolford Road and the proposed bridge realignment have been in planning documents for years and that the road is intended to provide emergency ingress/egress.

Council discussion emphasized emergency-access benefits of the Wolford Road alignment. City staff and the mayor noted that a future Wolford crossing was planned to be engineered to withstand larger flood events than the existing Highway 60 crossing and that the route improves evacuation options for parts of town that now have effectively only one way in and out.

On motion, the council voted unanimously to select Site 2 (the developer-donated parcel just north of East Wolford Road) for the sports and events center. The council then reviewed five seating alternatives prepared by the design team. Options ranged from a high-capacity scheme with telescopic seating on three sides (Alternate 1, roughly 2,800 telescopic seats plus additional floor seating for a gross capacity near the 4,300'00 figure staff discussed) down to a floor-seating-only layout with lower capacity and the largest estimated cost savings (Alternate 5, which staff estimated could save roughly $3.1 million but would eliminate all telescopic seating). Staff noted parking and concession impacts for each scheme: the larger seating schemes were deficient in on-site parking by hundreds of spaces under the design baseline (staff used 780 spaces as the original design target), while the smaller schemes reduced food-and-beverage square footage and lowered overall cost.

The council approved the design team's preferred seating layout (Alternate 1), a hybrid scheme that staff said would preserve the council's earlier direction to pursue a larger-capacity facility while lowering the building by about 4 feet compared with prior designs. Council members said lowering building height and reducing telescoping seat counts where possible achieved the council's goal of limiting visual impact.

Actions taken - Motion to select Site 2 for the Show Low Sports and Event Center: passed unanimously (tally: 5 yes, 0 no, 0 abstain, 1 absent). Second: Councilman Judd. (Mover not specified in the record.) - Motion to approve seating configuration Alternate 1 for the Show Low Sports and Event Center: passed unanimously (tally: 5 yes, 0 no, 0 abstain, 1 absent). Mover: Councilman Adams; second: unnamed council member.

Discussion vs. decision - Discussion: staff pros/cons for Sites 1—4; detailed seating alternatives, parking impacts, food-and-beverage footprint, grading and utility cost estimates; public concerns about developer donations, traffic, dark-sky impacts, proximity to homes and alcohol sales; repeated staff emphasis on emergency-access benefits for Wolford Road. - Direction: council selected Site 2 and instructed staff/design team to proceed with site-specific design work under the approved seating scheme. - Formal decision: two unanimous roll-call motions (site selection and seating configuration). No rezoning or budget appropriation was finalized at this meeting.

Proper names [{"name":"Show Low","type":"location"},{"name":"Show Low Sports and Event Center","type":"facility"},{"name":"East Wolford Road","type":"location"},{"name":"Penrod Road","type":"location"}]

Speakers [{"name":"Mayor","role_title":"Mayor","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"Show Low City Council","first_reference":{"timecode":"00:54.60","transcript_line_range":[2]}},{"name":"Chris Ford","role_title":"Project architect","affiliation_type":"business","affiliation_name":"(design team)","first_reference":{"timecode":"04:03.49","transcript_line_range":[7]}},{"name":"Shane","role_title":"City staff (planner/engineer)","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"City of Show Low","first_reference":{"timecode":"04:03.49","transcript_line_range":[7]}},{"name":"Vice Mayor","role_title":"Vice Mayor","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"Show Low City Council","first_reference":{"timecode":"02:42.23","transcript_line_range":[2]}},{"name":"Councilman Judd","role_title":"Councilman","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"Show Low City Council","first_reference":{"timecode":"24:66.95","transcript_line_range":[4]}},{"name":"Councilman Adams","role_title":"Councilman","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"Show Low City Council","first_reference":{"timecode":"31:45.88","transcript_line_range":[4]}},{"name":"Ramon Ballens","role_title":"Resident","affiliation_type":"citizen","affiliation_name":"Show Low Bluff","first_reference":{"timecode":"20:52.815","transcript_line_range":[11]}},{"name":"Beverly Hammer","role_title":"Resident","affiliation_type":"citizen","affiliation_name":"Show Low Bluff","first_reference":{"timecode":"26:68.34","transcript_line_range":[12]}},{"name":"Tim Flanagan","role_title":"Resident","affiliation_type":"citizen","affiliation_name":"Show Low Bluff","first_reference":{"timecode":"27:63.815","transcript_line_range":[13]}},{"name":"Doug Evenson","role_title":"Resident","affiliation_type":"citizen","affiliation_name":"Show Low Bluff","first_reference":{"timecode":"29:38.23","transcript_line_range":[14]}}]

Authorities []

Clarifying details [{"category":"project","detail":"Show Low Sports and Event Center","value":"not specified","units":"","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Chris Ford"},{"category":"site_size","detail":"Site 2 acreage","value":13.7,"units":"acres","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"Chris Ford"},{"category":"site_distance","detail":"Approximate separation from nearest residential lot to Site 2","value":400,"units":"feet","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"Chris Ford"},{"category":"utilities","detail":"Utilities for Site 3 distance to parcel","value":2700,"units":"feet","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"Chris Ford"},{"category":"site_topography","detail":"Estimated elevation change on Site 4 (flattest 13-acre equivalent)","value":80,"units":"feet","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"Chris Ford"},{"category":"seating","detail":"Alternate 1 telescopic seats","value":2800,"units":"seats","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"Project architect"},{"category":"seating","detail":"Design baseline parking used for analyses","value":780,"units":"spaces","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"Project architect"}]

Community relevance {"geographies":["Show Low","Show Low Bluff","East Wolford Road","Penrod Road"],"funding_sources":[],"impact_groups":["residents of Show Low Bluff","event attendees","youth sports programs","emergency services"]}

Meeting context {"engagement_level":{"speakers_count":12,"duration_minutes":180,"items_count":2},"implementation_risk":"medium","history":[{"date":"2025-09-16","note":"Council reviewed project and seating options at a prior meeting; site choices were previously discussed."}]}

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