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Joyce Clark Unfiltered

For "the rest of the story"

Jan 20

6

What’s great about Glendale? Part 1

Posted by Joyce Clark on January 6, 2020
Posted in Camelback Ranch Spring Training Facility • City Council Actions • City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale Economic Development • Glendale elected officials • Glendale finances • State Farm Stadium • Westgate • Yucca district • Zanjero  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

Too often we read in the media about all the things that are wrong with Glendale (or any other city, for that matter) because community wrongs, weaknesses and failures – in other words, any form of sensationalism, sells. I can’t remember the last time the media reported good news about Glendale.

Most of us are not even aware of the improvements made in our city or may take them for granted. There is much to be proud of in Glendale. This city council has made many good policy decisions that have positively affected your quality of life. Over the next couple of blogs I want to share just some of the improvements that have become part of the fabric of life in Glendale.

The three years of my city council term, from January of 2017 to January of 2020,  have proven to be amazing for Glendale. Here are just some of the often unnoticed improvements affecting all residents. In this edition of my blog I have chosen transportation first because traveling through our community you will have likely encountered one or more of them.

HAWK at 65th Ave. and Bethany Home Rd.

A HAWK is an acronym for a High-Intensity Activated Crosswalk. It is a pedestrian activated traffic light that stops traffic at pedestrian critical crossing locations proven to be very dangerous for those attempting to cross a major street. Historically they are at locations that account for many pedestrian fatalities. To date four of them have been installed throughout the city at:
                    *  60th Avenue and Bethany Home Road
                    *  65th Avenue and Glendale Avenues
                    *  63rd Avenue and Beardsley Avenues
                    *  65th Avenue and Bethany Home Road

Flashing Yellow

Flashing Yellow Arrows have become more and more commonplace throughout our city. These blinking yellow traffic signal lights allow motorists to make a left turn during a green light period as long as there is no oncoming traffic. Their purpose is to relieve traffic congestion at major intersections. They have been installed at 16 different intersections throughout the city and more are to come:

  • 59th Avenue & Glendale Avenue
  • 59th Avenue & Olive Avenue (during nighttime and weekends)
  • 51st Avenue & Peoria Avenue
  • 59th Avenue & Union Hills Drive
  • 51st Avenue & Glendale Avenue
  • 67th Avenue & Deer Valley Road
  • Dysart Road & Glendale Avenue
  • 75th Avenue & Deer Valley Road
  • 99th Avenue & Cardinals Way
  • El Mirage Road & Glendale Avenue
  • 83rd Avenue & Bethany Home Road
  • 91st Avenue & Montebello Avenue
  • 95th Avenue & Camelback Road
  • 67thAvenue & Pinnacle Peak Road
  • 67th Avenue & Bell Road
  • 59th Avenue & Thunderbird Road

The city continues its pavement management program to rehab all 748 miles of city streets. Council directed that $5 million dollars a year for each of five years be used to rehab residential streets. Streets that have not been done yet can expect some treatment in the next two years. Unfortunately one of the contractors was found to have performed sub standard work and those streets will be remediated. In tandem with improving residential streets throughout our city there are major arterial streets over 20 and 30 years old that require reconstruction. These will be done as funding becomes available. In addition to these two strategies there are some instances where a new street needs to be constructed to spur further economic development. One such case is Ballpark Boulevard.

Ballpark Boulevard will connect the Camelback Ranch training facility with the Westgate area and is scheduled to open in February of 2020 to coincide with the start of the Spring Training season. This roadway extension closes a significant gap in the city’s transportation system and provides traffic options for getting between the two venues. The effect of constructing this road along the Maryland Avenue alignment is that it opens up a great deal of land for economic development. Knowing that this road is almost completed has caused the property owners along this new street to master plan their land concentrating on more job opportunities with commercial, retail and office space. There will be some residential but very little as the primary goal is to provide Glendale residents with more jobs.

The same objectives are being realized along 95th now that it is open and connects Glendale Avenue to Bethany Home Road. Many land parcels along this corridor are about to come forward for approval. The plans include a mix of apartments, office spaces, retail and entertainment venues.

The last piece of the immediate connectivity puzzle is the construction of Bethany Home Road (it will be called Cardinals Way) between 83rd Avenue and 91st Avenue. The construction of this road is the responsibility of the developers of the Stonehaven residential subdivision, Pulte Homes and the John F. Long Trust. Even though Stonehaven was approved in June of 2018 it is just now that the developers have finally begun any work on the road. At their current pace do not expect to see it completed until sometime in 2021.

Camelback Rd. looking west from 43rd Ave.

Major street reconstruction projects have begun with the reconstruction of Camelback Road starting on its east side from 43rd Avenue to 51st Avenue. I have lived in Glendale since 1968. That’s 51 years and in that time Camelback Road has never been reconstructed. Major arterial streets last usually have a lifespan of 20 to 30 years. This type of work carries a large price tag of anywhere from $2 million to $5 million dollars per mile dependent upon the condition of the street. In this case, the city is also replacing the waterline that runs under this street.

Northern Parkway

The city in conjunction with its partners, Maricopa County, Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG), El Mirage and Peoria, continue its relentless move of the Northern Parkway Project starting from its western side, the Loop 303, to its eastern termination at Grand Avenue (US 60). Currently work is being done in the El Mirage Road area. The next segment will extend to the western side of the Loop 101.

There are bus routes and street lighting that have changed for the better. The bus route on 83rd Avenue used to run from Camelback Road to Northern Avenue. In conjunction with Peoria, this route has been expanded and now goes beyond Northern to P83 and Bell Road. In this budget cycle I will be asking for funding to improve many of the bus stops that have a sign planted in the dirt identified as a bus stop.

All street lights in Glendale have now been converted to LED lighting. This initiative was my “ask” in the budget cycle of 2017. As a result of the completion of this initiative Glendale saves about half a million dollars a year in the cost of operating and maintenance. In addition it has received an annual rebate from APS of about another half million dollars resulting in one million dollars of reduced street light costs.

There is certainly more to call out and to brag about with regard to the progress Glendale has made in transportation. It would take far too much space to share it all. I have tried to highlight some of them. The point is that this city council  has made major investments in transportation to improve everyone’s quality of life, to catch up on long overdue roadway maintenance, to provide greater interconnectivity that will spur new economic development, and to adopt new cost saving initiatives that save taxpayer dollars.

My next blog will concentrate on economic development within the city. As a preview I continue to say that Glendale is hot! Glendale is the preferred location in the West Valley for some extraordinary development projects. Stay tuned…

© Joyce Clark, 2020         

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Jun 19

1

Just how many BFRs are in your future?

Posted by Joyce Clark on June 1, 2019
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale Economic Development • Glendale zoning issues • Heroes Park • West Branch Library • Westgate • Yucca district • Zanjero  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

What is a BFR?  It stands for “Built for Rent” and is the current ‘flavor of the year’ in the building community. It is a community of single family rentals between 100 and 250 units.  That number of units is required to make it a viable project. Usually three or four different floor plans are available. The amenities vary by community and builder.

 Here are some photos of one such community under construction by Hancock Builders on the west side of 99th Avenue, just north of Camelback Road in Phoenix. . Hancock has already built 1,300 of the single family rental homes with 4,000 more in the development pipeline spread across 10 communities.

 

The builders producing these communities have similar business models. They build the communities themselves and then turn maintenance over to a third-party property manager with experience in multifamily. After the community is fully leased and operational, the builders have the option to sell individual houses within the community or sell the entire community itself to a high-net-worth individual, a multifamily real estate investment trust (REIT), or a single-family rental (SFR) operator like Invitation Homes or American Homes 4 Rent.

Ideally they are designed to be located where there is mass transportation and nearby amenities available such as in a Westgate or Zanjero. A BFR within or very near the Westgate/Zanjero developments is appropriate. But it is not appropriate in an area farther away from commercial/retail/entertainment areas and instead is surrounded by a sea of residential, owner occupied properties. The location at 75th Avenue and Bethany Home Road is not appropriate with the kind of density a project such as this brings.

Yet that is the request of Gammage & Burnham, attorneys representing the proposed developer, Elux and the Brown Group, is desiring to put a BFR community at the northeast corner of 75th Avenue and Bethany Home Road. Since 1984 the property has had a zoning designation of R 1-6 (residential, one to six homes to the acre).

 

Let’s look at what surrounds this parcel. To the east and south is R 1-6 zoning with established neighborhoods. To the west, just across 75th Avenue is Tessera, a gated community of R 1-7 (larger properties and homes). To the north it is zoned R 1-6 but the properties are at least one acre in size. Most are larger and are horse properties and include Griffin Avenue, a historic area.

The proposed developer has the property in escrow and it is assumed that a decision will not be made until after the neighborhood meeting occurring this week. That neighborhood meeting scheduled for:

this Wednesday, June 5th

at 6 pm

at Heroes Library (at northeast corner of Bethany and 83rd Avenue)

It will be your opportunity to learn the proposed details of this project but more importantly it will be your only opportunity to express your approval or disapproval of the proposed project.

I believe the location as well as the assumed density is not appropriate and I have expressed that to the applicant’s attorney already. But now they need to hear from you. I’d like to see 50 or more people at this Wednesday evening meeting. That would be a strong voice to convince the developer that their project is in the wrong location.

Please share this blog freely with your neighbors and friends. Information is critical. It is important that the people of Glendale come out to this meeting.

© Joyce Clark, 2019         

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Oct 18

17

Get it right the first time

Posted by Joyce Clark on October 17, 2018
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Downtown Glendale • Glendale Economic Development • Glendale elected officials • State Farm Stadium • Westgate • Yucca district • Zanjero  | Tagged With: , , , , , | 3 Comments

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

Recently the Arizona Republic aired a story about the city’s sale of the St. Vincent de Paul building implying that something nefarious occurred. Expect me to post a blog very soon laying out the facts behind that sale.

The latest story from the same news media implies that the city may be preparing to enact the same methodology of sale with the Brown lot. The Brown lot, located south of Kellis High School and east of 91st Avenue, is called that because it had been used by the city to provide color coded parking for the State Farm Stadium. With the development of the Black lot south of the stadium the Brown lot is no longer needed.

In a recent story a reporter says the following with regard to the Brown lot, “A City Council member said she expects a developer to build apartments on the high-profile corner near the city’s sports and entertainment district.” The reporter went on to say, “About a month later, Councilwoman Joyce Clark wrote a blog post about how she expected apartments to come to the site of the old parking lot, which is on that intersection’s southeast corner”.

 Here is what I really said in a September 18, 2018 blog entitled,  Apartments in Yucca district? “Another possible site for an apartment complex is the city-owned Brown lot north of the Provence subdivision. In this case an apartment complex is appropriate for the location.” I did not say that apartments would be built on the Brown lot. I speculated that it is possible…not a certainty.

Since there are apartments to be constructed on 95th Avenue across from the Super WalMart, I expressed thoughts in my blog about the possibility of any other locations within the district that might be suitable. The only one I could think of was the Brown lot. Does that mean it is happening? No. It means I thought it could be a possibility. Do I have any definitive knowledge that there will be apartments on this site? The answer is a simple ‘no’.

Then the reporter says, “Clark told The Republic that, at the time of her blog post, the council hadn’t discussed the site in executive session. But that contradicts a statement she made on her Facebook page as she responded to someone about her blog post. She wrote there that she couldn’t give details about the asking price of the land because ‘that is executive session information’.” 

This one is on me because I didn’t make myself clear in a response to a Facebook query. Someone asked what the sale price of the Brown lot was with this question, “Its 17 acres. What are we asking for it Joyce?” My answer was, “I am sorry that is Executive Session information and under state law I may not discuss.” My answer was not precise or clear. In my mind I was answering broadly and generally to indicate that prices of any city owned land are executive session discussions. It was not intended to be a confirmation (or a denial) that a Brown lot sale price had been discussed in executive session.

I contend that the reporter was also not precise in reporting on what I said, wrote or didn’t say, write.

I bring these items to your attention because the news media often slants a story. It’s understandable. They need a “hook” to entice the reader. If you have ever been interviewed by a reporter and then see the subsequent story, you might have remarked, but I didn’t say that.

 I didn’t say that apartments are coming to the Brown lot in my blog. It was mere speculation.  I didn’t affirm or deny in answering a Facebook question that the price of the Brown lot had been discussed in executive session. Those were inferences made by the reporter. Unfortunately they were not accurate inferences. What’s new? It happens all the time. I guess we might understand when the news media is called the “fake news.”

© Joyce Clark, 2018         

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Sep 18

17

Apartments in Yucca district?

Posted by Joyce Clark on September 17, 2018
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Gila River Arena • Glendale Economic Development • Glendale zoning issues • State Farm Stadium • Westgate • Yucca district • Zanjero  | Tagged With: , , , , | 3 Comments

Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

Here’s a true story. Since 1992, for 18 years, I have been the Yucca district city councilmember with the exception of two periods: 1996 to 2000 and 2012 to 2016. During 1996 to 2000 while off council, the San Bellismo Apts at the southeast corner of 83rd Ave and Glendale Ave were approved and supported by then Councilmember Martin Samaniego. They are primarily  Section 8 apts. Between 2012 and 2016, the period during which then Councilmember Sam Chavira served, two apartment complexes in Zanjero were approved. All three of these apartment complexes were not approved during my terms on council.

My reputation has been to oppose apartment complexes in the district based upon: 1. if they are proposed for an inappropriate location and 2. if they are not quality, upscale projects with many major amenities.

However, there is one apartment complex at 95th Avenue, north of Camelback Avenue, directly east across from the Super WalMart that I do support. The developer and owner is P.B. Bell and I made it a point to visit their Aspera apartment complex in Arrowhead. It is an upscale complex and I am supporting it for that reason and for another.

Lowe’s bought the land in question 15 years ago with the intent of building a Lowe’s on the site. For whatever the reason, perhaps because there is a Home Depot just to the west, they changed their minds and a year later, put the property up for sale as a commercial parcel. It has remained a dusty, vacant lot ever since. There had been no interest in this site and no takers interested in developing it. This site is an appropriate one for an apartment complex and the fact that it will be upscale with lots of amenities makes it a supportable project.

Another possible site for an apartment complex is the city-owned Brown lot north of the Provence subdivision. In this case an apartment complex is appropriate for the location.

Let me share another true story with you.  In 2003 a subdivision of 37 acres with 215 homes at a density of 5.78 homes to the acre with an average lot size of 4,000 square feet was proposed for our district, the Yucca district. Approximately 60 neighbors attended the neighborhood meeting and vigorously opposed the project citing the density of the project, resulting lower adjacent property values, the traffic congestion and the increased crime it would bring. It was approved. That project was Provence. Today, Provence is a stable, well maintained, high density residential parcel within our district and the city.

A possible apartment complex on the Brown lot is supportable based upon its location within the Westgate/Zanjero area and only if it is upscale with major amenities. The Brown lot is 13.598 acres, about 1/3 the size of Provence. At medium density of 3.5 to 5 homes to the acre the home yield is approximately 47 to 67 homes. The property’s close proximity to Westgate/Zanjero makes the property very expensive to buy. There simply isn’t a residential, single family home builder that can afford to buy the property and develop it and make any kind of profit. If it were to stay zoned medium density residential it would probably remain vacant for another 20 years. Realistic development would be either commercial or high density residential.

Both of these sites, the 95th Avenue site and the Brown lot are within what could be called the Westgate/Zanjero area. The Westgate area now and into the future will be a dense area with considerable traffic congestion, much like Bell Road. That premise became viable in the early 2000s the minute the Gila River Arena and the State Farm Stadium were approved.

As an aside note, council recently approved funding for the design of Camelback Road between 83rd Avenue and the Loop 101. The design is mandated to create mitigation measures that will assist in accommodating the traffic on Camelback Road in that area. I would expect that in Fiscal Year 19-20 funds will be allocated to do the work. Will it be a magic bullet? I doubt it but it should mitigate some of the traffic jams we experience today.

I would never approach the support of an apartment complex lightly. Before I could support such a complex, I would need to see a plan and the amenity package and the price point for rental of various size units. I would need to be comfortable that it would be a quality project in the right location that would offer increased value to the area. As of this date no such plan has been offered. I would need to be comfortable that it is proposed in an appropriate location which, in my mind, is the Westgate/Zanjero area.

No, I am not suddenly going to abandon my principles and support apartments all over the district but I will support a select few that make sense within the Westgate/Zanjero area and if they are upscale and bring value to our district and to the city.

I would suspect that this blog will generate a lot of comments and I look forward to seeing them.

© Joyce Clark, 2018         

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

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