In the News Again

Last Friday I posted a quick summary of the Mesa Planning and Zoning board's approval of our industrial site. If you have no life and therefore pay attention to such things, you will have read that this was a marathon meeting (and I thought the Gilbert meetings were long!) extending until past midnight. Thankfully, The Mister was about 4th in line and was able to finish up by about 8:30. The approval of the residential portion was last month and met with enthusiastic approval.
I have noticed a couple of articles about the other cases presented to the board last Thursday night, but today the article focuses on Desert Place:

Mesa's tallest industrial buildings may be headed for a site north of Williams Gateway Airport.

At 75 feet, the five-story structures would exceed height limits for industrial districts but could provide the type of space required for small research companies, developer Scott Morrison said Wednesday.

The plan will go before the City Council next month with the city Planning and Zoning Board's recommendation for approval.

Board members during an Oct. 19 hearing praised the project's design and Morrison's goal to attract tenants such as high-tech firms and the badly needed high-paying jobs they represent.

"I'm still trying to wrap my arms around this . . . and the fact that Mr. Morrison is progressive enough to think that a high-tech type of facility would interest (tenants), particularly here in Mesa," board member Pat Esparza said at the session.

The city's planning staff also embraced the development, except for the building height, which would be an 85 percent increase to the limit.

"We weren't comfortable with that," Jennifer Gniffke, a staff planner, told board members. She said the staff would be more comfortable with a 50-foot height.

The buildings would be in an 800-acre industrial master-planned subdivision on the northwestern corner of Elliot and Sossaman roads, two miles north of the airport.

The site is near another Morrison project that won City Council approval this month - a 200-acre residential community with trees and an agricultural theme.

Airport officials have not had time to study the industrial building proposal, airport spokesman Brian Sexton said Wednesday.

Morrison said he would also file a report with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Planning and Zoning Board member Frank Mizner voted for the project's approval but said he was concerned that it could set a precedent for building heights in the area.

Morrison said Wednesday that the authority to build taller structures would pave the way for construction of facilities that such firms as biotech companies need to conduct research.

I've said before that I am always surprised to see The Mister's name in the newspaper - or any brothers or cousins in our generation, for that matter - because that place of notoriety has always been occupied by my father-in-law. And then there is the issue with the label or title describing him. Developer. It seems to have a negative connotation, bearing no relationship to my dear husband. After all, he doesn't go looking to buy property and then develop it. He just changes the face of the property that the family already owns. In my mind, he will always be a farmer whose last crop is a community instead of alfalfa.

The article itself pretty accurately describes the meeting; most of the discussion centered on building height. This doesn't mean that all the buildings in the site (at Elliot and Sossaman) will be five stories, but the option is there for that unique occupant that might be a research facility or the like, and need that space. We believe that the way to woo the companies that offer those high-paying jobs is to be at the ready with the required facilities. If someone wants a research facility and we have to say, "sure, just let us get planning and zoning approval," they very likely will move on to the next option that is ready and waiting. The Mister encouraged the board to come look at Morrison Ranch and see the care that we put into our residential and commercial areas, convincing them that we aren't going to stick a sore-thumb of a building into our office park. Well, he convinced all but one, anyway.

The board's overall approval is great, and now it's on to the city council for approval, which generally accepts the recommendations of planning and zoning. I'm betting that the planning and zoning board member who voted no will change their mind once they see Desert Place go up.