Tempe residents are expected to make final calls about the Arizona Coyote playing field and proposed entertainment district. The three proposals that address land use and that the city agrees with developers will be on a special mail-in ballot that will be mailed to residents starting Wednesday.

The proposed entertainment district will include approximately 2,000 apartments and a new Coyote hockey stadium with 16,000 seats on more than 46 acres, as well as other businesses and retail outlets.

After the Tempe City Council sent the proposal to voters, two political action committees glared at each other and hosted opposing press conferences about the district’s potential economic impact and how the policy was formulated in the first place. . There is a lawsuit and a discussion between the two PACs awaits.

read more: May’s Tempe special election will decide the fate of three Coyote arena policies

Ballots will be mailed to residents on April 19th and must be returned by May 9th. If your mailed ballot is lost, damaged, damaged or not received, you may vote in person from May 8-16.

Tempe City Council puts proposal to vote

The project was approved by the council to be put to a referendum on November 10, 2022, and on November 29, the proposal for land use and development to become an entertainment district was unanimously approved.

Proposition 301 amends the City’s General Plan 2040 to facilitate the redevelopment of City-owned but commercially zoned properties into mixed-use projects that include all recreational districts.

Proposition 302 rezones the land at the northeast corner of Priest Drive and Rio Salado Parkway, and Proposition 303 authorizes the sale of the land to Bluebird Development LLC, operated by Coyote owner Alex Meruelo .

Most of the project’s funding will come from Bluebird Development LLC, but the project will receive a 30-year government property lease excise tax. This allows developers to build in Arizona by paying excise taxes instead of a certain number of property taxes. Of year. This type of tax is used on projects within the state. cityscape downtown phoenix and Tempe Marketplace.

At the Nov. 29 meeting, Tempe Mayor Corey Woods called the project “the best sports arena deal in Arizona history.”

“I think the benefit of this being privately built is that the owner is actually responsible for maintenance, upkeep and repairs, not the City of Tempe or the taxpayer,” Woods said.

Establishment of Political Action Committee

Two political action committees were formed shortly after the city council’s approval. Tempe 1st is a democracy-funded campaign for the Tempe PAC. Tempe Winds is for red light districts, Tempe First is against.

Tempe Winds formed on November 29th. Notable people involved in the campaign include former Tempe mayors Neil Giuliano, Hugh Holman and Mark Mitchell. Joining them are former coyote player Shane Doan and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who spoke at the recent event.

At the Tempe Winds press conference on April 13, Bettmann said, “I can’t imagine why you would think this was a bad idea. It’s a win-win for everyone.”

Some ASU students and union members, including the Carpenters Union, Arizona Local 1912, also support Tempe Winds.

Through a powerful social media campaign, Tempe Wins has targeted “misinformation” about district fundraising and launched attacks against Tempe’s primary leader and former Tempe City Councilman, Lauren Kuby.

Tempe 1st, a grassroots campaign against the proposal, is also led by community advocate Dawn Penich Sucker, ASU students, social justice activists, and local business owners.

read more: Students join Tempe residents to denounce Tempe entertainment district

“They must see me as a threat,” Kuby said Monday. “I think they know that Tempe residents view my service as very thoughtful and critical. We dig deep, research, and work.”

Tempe Wins has often referred to Kuby’s stadium voting record as a councilor from 2014 to 2022 as inconsistent with her leadership at Tempe 1. She voted to renovate her stadium in Tempe, where the Angels of Anaheim play Springball, and to approve South Pier, a similar tax-reduction project, in 2022.

Aviation litigation

The city of Phoenix, which operates the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, sued Tempe over the residential portion of the entertainment district. The lawsuit, which he filed March 28 in superior court in Maricopa County, Arizona, alleges that the city of Tempe broke its contract when the city council sent out a proposal to voters.

read more: Phoenix files complaint against Tempe over proposed recreational district

“We are asking the court to reverse recent zoning and land-use changes at Tempe and bar future housing development in areas the Federal Aviation Administration says are incompatible with housing development,” the airport said in a statement. Stated.

Phoenix cited a 1994 agreement between the cities that established zones around certain noise contours determined by the FAA where no residential units could be built. The agreement aims to protect communities from noise and airports from lawsuits. Tempe’s entertainment district would lie entirely within those contours of Priest Drive and Rio Salado Parkway on Tempe’s west side, the lawsuit said.

In response to Phoenix’s lawsuit, Bluebird Development countered with a $2.3 billion claim on April 5, demanding a price for the red light district development project and claiming that “Phoenix willfully sabotages its business.” .

In the filing, Coyote’s attorneys argued that Phoenix’s lawsuit was filed at the wrong time because the entertainment district had already been added to the ballot.

“In any event, to the extent that it seeks to undo a project currently subject to a referendum, the lawsuit should be dismissed,” said the lawsuit filed by Bluebird.

Litigation

In Response to Lawsuit, Tempe Winds Holds Press Conference at Four Peaks Brewing Company’s Wilson Tasting Room, Where Former Tempe Mayor Harry Mitchell, Giuliano, Holman and Mark Mitchell Endorse Proposal Did.

Attorney Holman, who served on the Tempe Aviation Commission, said the lawsuit was just another example of Sky Harbor’s attempt to hinder Tempe’s growth.

He said the claim that Tempe was not allowed to build housing within the FAA-set noise boundaries that Tempe, Phoenix, and the airport agreed to in the 1990s was “absolutely false.” He called the case “a complete hoax” and “a political document, not a legal one.”

“If Sky Harbor had its way, downtown Tempe would not exist as Mayor (Harry) Mitchell envisioned it. Town Lake would not exist … Blackmail and bullying should stop.” Holman said.

On April 13, the same day the Coyotes played their final home game of the season at ASU’s Mallet Arena, the Tempe Wins held their second press conference. The meeting was to be held in the Goodwill parking lot at Elliot Road and Priest Drive in Tempe, but was moved to the Tempe Chamber of Commerce after a “no vote” was painted in the parking lot with chalk and paint. was done.

Speaking at a press conference, Central and Northern Arizona CEO Tim O’Neill said the graffiti was “easily removed.”

NHL Commissioner Bettman made his second appearance at Tempe to help develop and solidify the league’s commitment to desert hockey.

“For the last 25 years, no one questioned the NHL’s commitment to Arizona,” Bettman said. “Why? Because we believe this is where hockey should be.”

From a league perspective, Bettmann said it was “easy to say I was leaving” Arizona through the team’s difficult history in Arizona. I’m in.

“Once this project is built, this team is going nowhere. It will be here forever.”

Edited by Jasmine Kabiri, Reagan Priest and Greta Forslund.

Contact reporters at pjhanse1@asu.edu, sbrenna5@asu.edu, awakefi3@asu.edu and follow @piperjhansen, @shanebrennan36 and @_alexwakefield on Twitter.

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Piper Hansendigital editor-in-chief

Piper Hansen is the Chief Digital Editor of The State Press and oversees all digital content. In Spring 2020 she joined SP where she has covered student union, housing and COVID-19. She has previously written about state politics for the Arizona Republic and Arizona Her Capitol Times and covers social justice for Cronkite News.

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Shane Brennanpolitical reporter

Shane Brennan is a political reporter for the State Press. He also works for Cronkite News and Blaze Radio.