The City of Scottsdale is updating its General Plan, and proposing major changes that could impact property owners in North Scottsdale. The General Plan is the City’s blueprint for land use policy and guides development and land use changes throughout the City. The City’s General Plan was last updated in 2001 and approved by the voters in 2002. The City is required by statute to update its General Plan every 10 years; however, several attempted updates to the General Plan since 2002 have failed.
Desert Rural Land Use Designation. One of the most significant changes proposed in the General Plan update is the creation of a new land use designation called “Desert Rural” that would impose reduced density limitations on several thousands of acres of privately owned, undeveloped land in North Scottsdale. The Desert Rural category would allow a maximum of one home per 3 acres, or one home per 4.5 acres, depending on the existing underlying zoning. Currently, most residential land in North Scottsdale is designated as Rural Residential, which allows one home per 1 acre. The Rural Residential land use category has been guiding development in North Scottsdale for more than 20 years. The proposed change would impact the majority of undeveloped residential parcels in North Scottsdale and, in effect, downgrade the development potential of those properties.
Other changes proposed in the General Plan update include refinements to the Downtown Core and changes to the requirements for future General Plan amendments. The City is currently engaged in an extensive community outreach process to solicit feedback on the proposed General Plan changes. The City Council will review and take action on the General Plan update in June 2021.
For more information, the City has created a series of self-guided virtual open house presentations that are available on the City’s website here.
General information regarding the General Plan update and process, including a full copy of the revised General Plan, is available here.
Gammage & Burnham’s Land Use team will continue to follow Scottsdale’s General Plan update. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have questions.
The Land Use & Zoning Practice Group at Gammage & Burnham includes: Manjula M. Vaz, Stephen W. Anderson, Susan E. Demmitt, Lindsay C. Schube, Grady Gammage Jr., Cameron C. Artigue, and Michael T. Maerowitz.
