The plan to do an end run on Scottsdale voters, stripping them of their right to decide whether Axon can build the state’s largest apartment complex, is back at the Arizona Legislature. Memo from the Arizona Legislature to the citizens of Scottsdale: $%# off.
Yep, that’s right. Like Dracula rising from the dead, the drive to strip Scottsdale voters of their constitutional right to decide whether to rezone land for the state’s largest apartment complex is back. Gone is the outrageous attempt to cancel the constitutional rights of all Arizonans.
Now, the Legislature is sighting in specifically on Scottsdale or any other suburban city that may someday dare to try to say no to a certain type of politically connected developer. Like, say, Axon. The Taser and police body cam company — furious that a group of Scottsdale citizens has temporarily halted its plan to build 1,900 apartments and condos as part of its new corporate headquarters — has been pressuring the Legislature to strip voters of the right to have the final say on such projects.
Ganging up on Scottsdale is easy
That was a no-go, as most politicians aren’t anxious to strip their own constituents of a constitutional right to overrule our leaders when they approve high-density developments. But, apparently, the state’s leaders are happy to gang up on Scottsdale.
Simply put, Axon wants to consolidate its U.S. operations on a 73-acre corporate campus at Loop 101 and Hayden Road. In addition to its headquarters, the company plans a hotel, seven restaurants, and 1,900 apartments and condos. The rezoning was approved in mid-November by a lame-duck City Council — one voted out expressly because voters are fed up with the flood of apartments popping up in the city.
A Scottsdale citizens group promptly launched a referendum, easily gathering the 15,353 signatures needed to put the project to a public vote and sending Axon executives scurrying to the state Capitol for relief. Thus comes the latest attempted end-run on voters: a strike-everything amendment to Senate Bill 1543, which already has passed the Senate as something unrelated to Axon.
Who needs public input?
The amendment, proposed by Rep. Tony Rivero of Peoria, will be heard on March 26 by the House Committee on International Trade — a committee that, conveniently, includes no legislators from Scottsdale.
The bill would require that any city with a population between 200,000 and 500,000 be required to allow hotels and apartments on the campus of an international headquarters built on land zoned for light industrial use. No public input needed — or, apparently, welcomed. In other words, $%# off, Scottsdale. I understand why Axon is pulling out all the stops at the state Capitol.
Scottsdale’s new slow-growth City Council is performing its own end run on voters, thus far refusing to schedule a referendum vote for later this year.
Voters should decide Axon’s fate
The council knows there likely won’t be anything to vote on by November 2026. Axon executives have signaled they won’t wait around until then to find out if voters will approve their project. If the company leaves, wave goodbye to thousands of good-paying jobs and tens of millions in new state and local tax revenues.
But this is a decision that should be made by voters. Our leaders have no business negotiating away a constitutional right. Today, it’s Scottsdale and tomorrow … ?
Laurie Roberts, Arizona Republic
Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @LaurieRobertsaz, on Threads at @LaurieRobertsaz and on BlueSky at @laurieroberts.bsky.social.