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Mesa is now rated autistic friendly
Mesa schools super’s leave a mystery
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West Mesa Edition
INSIDE
This Week
SE Mesa area could generate 240K jobs
Sunday, November 24, 2019
Up, up and away!
BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
NEWS ......................12 Mesa lawmaker wants lid on title loans.
COMMUNITY ....... 14 New Mesa children’s choir slates debut.
SPORTS .................... 18 Toros’ swimming ace impresses at tourney
A
n east Mesa city councilman last week criticized a consultant’s report on the future of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, arguing it “would be a recipe for disaster’’ to allow housing in the �light path along Elliot Road. Councilman Kevin Thompson’s comments came after a consultant outlined the city’s Inner Loop Master Plan, which covers the 3,100 acres closest to the airport. Overall, the Inner Loop District Study divides sprawling southeast Mesa into four districts: airport/campus, Inner Loop District to the northwest, mixed-use to the northeast and logistics/commerce to the southeast. It stretches from Power Road east, along a utility corridor to the north of Elliot, to the
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Enough junky buildings, Mesa of�icials decide BY GARY NELSON Tribune Contributor
GET OUT ..................24 Tempe band plans light-show wonder.
FOOD ....................... 26 Try these side dishes for Turkey Day.
COMMUNITY ............... 14 BUSINESS ...................... 16 OPINION ........................17 SPORTS ......................... 19 GETOUT........................ 20 CLASSIFIED....................25
Falcon Field in Mesa was the scene of an unusual 100th birthday party for Martin Ramirez, who got to fly in a vintage WWII aircraft. For details, see page 3. (Pablo Robles/Tribune Staff Photographer)
B
ack in the day when Mesa �irst appointed a citizens advisory panel to evaluate the appearance of new buildings in the city, they named it the Design Review Advisory Board. The acronym – DRAB – may have been unfortunate, but city of�icials admit it could describe a lot of the architecture passing muster at City Hall over the years. DRAB is now just the Design Review Board, but body and the city’s professional planning staff still don’t believe they have the tools they need to begin giving the city a facelift. But it’s about to change. The City Council has informally signed off on a series of guidelines and ordinance changes will put the city among Valley leaders in requiring high-quality development. It’s not as if Mesa is entirely new to the concept. In 2007, for example, the city adopted design guidelines for the Fiesta District re-
sulting in modern, close-to-the-street commercial and apartment buildings. Other parts of the city, such as the light-rail corridor and the Eastmark/Cadence areas to the southeast, also are covered by more stringent design rules. But vast swaths of the city lie outside those special areas, and it’s what council members and city staffers were worried about. The new proposals emerged from a yearlong series of workshops and forums involving more than 500 developers, builders and private citizens. The process actually began long before today, said Councilman Kevin Thompson, whose southeast Mesa district includes some of the fastest-growing neighborhoods in the city. It’s about time, Thompson said, Mesa got pickier about its building design. “I’m tired of taking the things all the other cities are throwing away just because it’s easier to build it in Mesa,” Thompson said. “The other cities should take the stuff we throw
away.” Nana Appiah, Mesa’s planning director, said voters in 2014 approved a general plan calling for “a recognizable city with a strong sense of place.” But, he said, “The existing tools have been insuf�icient in producing the level of quality we want to see.” Other cities, meanwhile, have codi�ied numerous requirements aimed at improving the appearance of their neighborhoods and streetscapes. Queen Creek, for example, has 26 such speci�ications. Phoenix has 25, and Gilbert has 17. Mesa has seven. But by the time the changes are enacted, Mesa’s total of 21 codi�ied requirements will exceed even Scottsdale, which has 20. The new regulations will cover every type of building in the city. For residential properties, it no longer will be allowed to build a house with a “snout ga-
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