Tempe residents urge council to preserve 44-acre Shalimar site, warn rezoning would harm neighborhood

Residents pressed the Tempe City Council on March 5 to protect the 44-acre Shalimar Golf Course from proposed rezoning that would allow higher-density housing.

"By rezoning this land, you are stripping these opportunities from current and future residents," said Kelly Moran, who described five years of evening walks by the course and warned that removing green space would increase heat, flood risk and traffic. "Save Shalimar, stop the rezoning, look out for children like Crosby so he can grow up in a city that values his quality of life."

Maria Hertz told the council Shalimar is "more than a golf course" and an important neighborhood gathering place, urging leaders to balance growth with open-space preservation. David Barrios said the site’s closure had led to dying ponds and grounds and warned that replacing the 44-acre site and its "over 400 mature trees" with dense housing (he said one proposal would place about 277 homes on the site) would cause lasting ecological harm. "Don't trade 60 years of irreplaceable green space for development that brings permanent ecological harm," Barrios said.

Speakers framed their appeals around public-health and environmental impacts: residents said trees provide cooling in a desert climate, soak up stormwater, shelter wildlife and support quality of life. Several asked the council to prioritize long-term sustainability over short-term development gains.

Council members did not take action on rezoning during the public-comment period. The remarks were made under the open call to the public; the council’s formal agenda that evening proceeded with consent and other items. The comments will be part of the public record for any future hearings where the council considers land-use or rezoning proposals for the Shalimar property.