Local hotel a migrant shelter / P. 6
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
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Tonalea debate / P. 4
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Short-term rentals tops list of Council priorities BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Progress Managing Editor
NEIGHBORS.............20 Scottsdale PE teacher wins more honors.
BUSINESS....................25 This honey brought in big bucks.
FOOD..............................29 Coffee shop Echo's notes project a hit.
NEIGHBORS..........................................20 BUSINESS................................................25 OPINION................................................. 26 ARTS......................................................... 28 FOOD........................................................ 29 CLASSIFIEDS........................................30
Sunday, June 6, 2021
S
cottsdale City Council signaled its desire to tackle a number of long-standing community issues when it identified its top priorities for the next two years. The Council met June 1 to narrow down its list of top objectives and unsurprisingly, short-term rentals shot to the top of the list. Of the dozens of issues considered, ad-
Pool owners left high and dry
dressing the short-term rental problem was the only unanimous selection. Many residents have complained about short-term rentals like those listed on sites like Airbnb and VRBO for years, arguing they situate commercial hotel-style properties in the middle of residential neighbors and can contribute to problems with noise, partying, trash and drug use. While it is difficult to account for every short- term rental in the city, it is estimated there are approximately 4,000 properties
in Scottsdale. The issue has been a hot topic since 2016, when the state passed a law prohibiting cities from banning short-term rentals or regulating them. Multiple attempts to modify that law failed at the Legislature this year. In lieu of action by the state, the city has already taken some steps to address the problem without violating state law.
see COUNCIL page 16
BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Progress Managing Editor
A
s temperatures settle into the triple digits, many Scottsdale residents are preparing for a summer spent cooling off by the pool. But keeping those pools clean may prove costlier than in years past due to a fire at a Louisiana chlorine plant last August. That fire during Hurricane Laura heavily damaged a plant owned by Bio Lab, the nation’s largest manufacturer of chlorine tablets – the most convenient, most popular and, at one time anyway, the cheapest means of
Andrew Bloom REALTOR®, Senior Partner Andrew@BVOLuxury.com VOTED #1 SCOTTSDALE REAL ESTATE TEAM FOR 2018
The chlorine tab shortage is not affecting Scottsdale public pools because the city uses a different sanitizing system, enabling people like instructor Zane Barto to teach a water aerobics class at El Dorado Aquatics Center. (Pablo Robles/Progress Staff Photographer)
sanitizing pools. The fire has triggered a shortage-induced panic as well as high anxiety over soaring
prices for a bucket of tablets. In some cases,
see POOLS page 12
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