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Tempe is doing away with its traditional
Planning and Zoning Commission, Design
Review Board and Redevelopment Review
Commission, consolidating the three
independent panels into a single
Development Review Commission that will
have full authority to review proposed
developments from big issues like
density and building heights to smaller
stuff like paint schemes and business
signs.
Charles Huellmantel, the first chairman
of the new Development Review
Commission, hopes the unified review
process will appeal to developers and
make it easier for residents to keep
track of proposals that might affect
their neighborhoods.
The
commission officially takes over on June
14, although the Planning Commission,
Design Review Board and Redevelopment
Review Commission each will be allowed
to finish their respective analysis of
projects that already have started the
review process.
Until now, the Planning Commission might
review a developer’s proposal for
density and building heights, while the
Design Review Board would look at the
appearance issues such as the color of a
particular building. For the past
several years, the Redevelopment Review
Commission has had sole authority to
review projects in two downtown areas.
In the future, the new Development
Review Commission will be the only board
to review projects and make
recommendations to the City Council on
every aspect of a developer’s proposal.
“It’s one hearing,” Huellmantel said.
“The mayor and council have spoken a
great deal on that they didn’t want
citizens to have to come out many times
to see what happened to a project. The
council wanted citizens to have one
opportunity to participate in the
process … an opportunity for citizens to
come out and hear everything (about a
proposal) in one stop.”
It might be a new board, but it will
have many familiar faces.
Huellmantel, for example, is a veteran
of both the Tempe Planning Commission
and Redevelopment Review Commission.
And while the new commission will have
citywide authority, it will be well
represented with south Tempe residents.
Tom Oteri, for example, lives in south
Tempe and was an alternate member of the
Redevelopment Review Commission. Other
Kyrene Corridor-area members include
Stanley Nicpon, Vanessa MacDonald and
Mike DeDomenico.
One thing that is atypical about the new
commission is that it will have three
“alternates” in addition to its regular
seven members.
Huellmantel said the idea is to have a
full seven-member board review all
projects even when a regular member is
absent.
Another “safeguard” to ensure public
participation is a requirement by Tempe
that developers meet with affected
neighborhoods before presenting their
case to the Development Review Board,
Huellmantel said.
Huellmantel, an attorney who represents
developers, said he is not sure how many
other cities actually require developers
to hold neighborhood meetings on their
projects before the public hearings are
held.
“We didn’t look as much to what other
cities have done as to what makes sense
for us,” he said of the decision to
consolidate the public review process
into a single commission.
Giving the Redevelopment Review
Commission full responsibility to review
projects in the downtown area helped
Tempe work out the bugs before
consolidating public review citywide, he
noted.
In recommending the city consolidate its
review process, the Tempe planning staff
concluded “the new commission would
create a clear and concise path for the
development review process.”
“Customers and residents will be able to
clearly determine the direction for
development or redevelopment in Tempe,”
the staff report suggested.
“A consolidated commission assists in
citizen involvement by providing a
greater awareness for consistency and
dependability, and an opportunity for
public input on all items,” the staff
noted.
Citizens will have a greater voice than
ever in reviewing the design of new
projects, the planning staff noted.
Huellmantel added the word “consistency”
to the mix, saying that having a single
board responsible for reviewing projects
from top to bottom will allow Tempe to
be consistent in its public hearing
process. |
