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Residents tell Tempe council it is losing housing supply as continuances stall projects
Summary
Two residents used public comment to urge faster housing approvals and criticized council continuances on large student-housing proposals, saying the city has lost more than 1,000 units and calling for less neighborhood-driven denial of density.
Several Tempe residents used the council's public-comment period to urge quicker housing approvals and to criticize a council decision to continue zoning decisions on large student-housing proposals.
David Sokoski, a Tempe resident, told the council the city needs 22,000 housing units by 2030 and warned that a pattern of project denials and delays is shrinking supply. "The city has lost more than 1,000 housing units while trying to reduce a 22,000 unit shortage," Sokoski said, listing projects he said had lost units including the Leo project, Food City, a student-housing project on Apache and the Marshall project.
Phil Amarosi, a 50-year resident, focused on the Marshall and Spence project and criticized the council for granting a continuance that he said thwarted an earlier inclination to deny a zoning amendment for what he described as a "humongous rent-by-the-room student housing project." He sharply criticized Council Member Randy Keading's motion for the continuance and the council's decision to extend the timeline.
Council members did not act on these public comments during the meeting; the remarks were presented during the public-appearances portion of the agenda. No formal staff response or vote on those projects occurred during this session.
What's next: Individual projects referenced remain subject to their own public hearings and council agenda items; the council will address individual zoning and entitlement decisions through the normal hearing process.
