2015
30 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
Valley of the Sun's Premier Advocacy Group for Responsible Development
VALLEY PARTNERSHIP
Q&A The changing face of development
42 | May-June 2015
By Amanda Ventura
I
f Valley Partnership is the voice of responsible development in the Valley, new CEO and President Cheryl Lombard is expected to be the deep breath behind it. In mid-March, she transitioned from being director of government relations at The Nature Conservancy in Arizona to the leader of Valley Partnership. “We were looking for a transformative leader that could really build on the organization’s more than 25-year history,” says Chairman of the Board Scott Nelson of Macerich. “Someone who was well connected and respected in the community, especially in the role of advocacy, which is one of our organizational pillars. We truly believe there is an opportunity to take Valley Partnership to the next level as a voice in the community and a value-add proposition to our partner companies. We are extremely
confident that Cheryl can deliver on those promises.” Lombard has led companies and clients through challenging entitlement cases and large master-planned community developments in California. “Her understanding of the government agency, municipal and community touch points and how they relate to the development process is paramount in the underlying goals of Valley Partnership,” says Nelson. While at The Nature Conservancy in Arizona, Lombard helped develop, lead and execute the strategic initiatives for the organization. “Her Nature Conservancy involvement with local, state and federal legislation and policy making will be a tremendous asset to Valley Partnership,” says Nelson. “Her role required her to bring different stakeholders and viewpoints together to work on and advance issues impacting the organization.” Lombard holds a J.D. from Southwestern University School of Law, a Master’s in public administration from California State University and a Bachelor’s degree from American University.
What attracted you to working with Valley Partnership, given your previous role at The Nature Conservancy? I gained years of experience in the development industry as a public affairs executive and attorney in California, helping acquire entitlements through some of the most challenging bodies. My 10 years with The Nature Conservancy made Valley Partnership the perfect fit to utilize my experience representing all sides in the development process.
What Valley Partnership Political Action Committee (VPAC) efforts we can expect with you as president and CEO? VPAC is a great tool that allows us to participate in the political process at a different level, while also furthering Valley Partnership’s reach. We anticipate enhancing VPAC for the 2016 elections to actively support state and local candidates and potentially ballot measures that share our principles and priorities.
What specific issues is Valley Partnership advocating in 2015? The biggest is how we prepare for the future and our water so we continue to maintain economic vitality. Arizona has led the way in the West with its leadership in dealing with a continuing drought. We need to ensure funding is sufficient to our state agencies and water providers to ensure our water security. Next are economic development and the tools we need for infrastructure, a well-funded Arizona State Land Department, and consistent policies on taxes and fees. As we prepare for the 2016 legislative session, we want to work closely with the chambers and other commercial real estate development organizations to assemble a unified agenda.
How does Valley Partnership partner with — and distinguish itself from — the other commercial real estate and development organizations in Arizona and the Valley? Valley Partnership is an advocacy organization that is an umbrella group and honest broker for the development industry. We are the only group who can lobby at all levels of government and have members from the commercial, industrial and master planned real estate development industries. Other groups are slightly narrower in focus or membership. However, partnerships, collaboration and coordination with all of these groups is extremely important to all of our success.
What role do you see Arizona’s higher education institutions playing in the Valley’s development and growth? How do you think the recent budget cuts to education may affect such development?
PHOTO BY MIKE MERTES, AZ BIG MEDIA
The leadership and forethought of Arizona’s higher education institutions in the development of downtown Phoenix and Tempe have had a tremendous impact in kick-starting surrounding commercial development. It has made the universities a nationwide example of how public and private investment can be done. Recent budget cuts have made it even more important for our higher education institutions to focus on how to make the most of their assets and be true entrepreneurs. 43
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here are undeniable truths in commercial real estate. For instance — retail follows rooftops. However, when the right variables come together, the presence of retail can create a demand for mixed-use communities. This is a phenomenon Michelle Schwartz, associate at RSP Architects, has observed in her firm’s recent work. “Arizona has such a short history when compared with the rest of the United States and as such, we have developed around a more vehicular centralized society,” says Schwartz. “When we look at new communities — and the desire for connection in neighborhoods — creating mixed-use flexibility where residents can truly live-work-play is unique.” RSP Architects has designed The Row in downtown Chandler, a 60KSF two-story mixed-use development in the city’s newly designated entertainment district. The 46 | May-June 2015
project’s anchor is Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, an Austin, Texas-based dine-in theater expected to bring 700 people to downtown Chandler four times a day. “Today’s retail focuses on experience, which is exactly what The Row will bring,” Schwartz says, adding that many restaurateurs’ interest in the area has been piqued by the project. Another rooftop project that has sought out a vibrant area in which to incubate is Portland on the Park, a 14-story luxury condo development by Habitat Metro and Sunbelt Holdings, designed by DAVIS Architecture. This project, jokes Habitat’s Timothy Sprague, has a three-acre front yard and 32-acre backyard, referring to the Japanese Friendship Garden and Margaret T. Hance Park adjacent to the site. “The big different between suburban and urban environments is we’re able to do our own placemaking,” says Sunbelt Holdings President and CEO John Graham. “It’s critical to be near meaningful open spaces and more interesting amenities.” Sunbelt Holdings, largely known for its master planned
Concentrated Culture Symbiosis of ground-up developments and adaptive reuse By Amanda Ventura
ABOVE: PORTLAND ON THE PARK. COURTESY OF DAVIS ARCHITECTS
communities throughout Arizona, is stepping off the golf courses and bringing its suburban sensibility to the urban environment of downtown Phoenix. The company’s 149unit Portland on the Park is also being constructed near the evolving Roosevelt Arts District. The cultural developments of the parks and Roosevelt Row were “absolutely critical” to the identity of Portland on the Park, Graham says. He’s been following the development of the area for almost five years, since his eldest son moved into Portland Place. Through his son, Graham says, he watched and learned to understand the dynamics of the area, which has evolved over the course of the project with light rail and the growth of ASU’s downtown campus. Graham says he’s seeing similar trends in Chandler, Phoenix and Gilbert and he has his eyes on Mesa. “I think there’s a direct correlation between Marina Heights and Portland on the Park, Tempe Town Lake and Margaret T. Hance Park,” Graham says. The urban energy and urban vibes they share, he says, “is because of ASU students and the really fun, cool gathering places like The Yard.” THE YARD IN TEMPE. COURTESY OF HAVAS PR 47
VALLEY PARTNERSHIP
THE ROW IN CHANDLER. COURTESY OF RSP ARCHITECTS
The Yard on 7th Street and Camelback Road was the shot in the dark heard around the Valley. A former motorcycle garage was turned into a multitenant restaurant space that shares a patio and yard area. The Fox Restaurant Concepts design has since been emulated in what is Sam Fox’s largest project to date, The Yard at Farmers Arts District. “When The Yard opened, it opened everyone’ eyes,” says Dave Sellers, president of LGE Design Build. “The first Yard was very much an exploratory mission to see how successful it’d be,” says Brian Frakes, who worked on the first Yard with WDP Partners, and the second Yard with Common Bond. “The Tempe one was different because it was west of the rail,” explains Frakes. “It was a dense, urban area. State Farm hasn’t even opened up yet, but there were a lot of good things coming. One-thousand multifamily units around us, and we noticed a strong southeast Valley group at The Yard on 7th. We wanted to capture the southeast Valley (at the new Yard).” There were a lot of State Farm and multifamily conversations in the planning stages of The Yard in Tempe, says Frakes. “I think it’s the sum of all the parts that makes these places so dynamic and interesting. I think restaurant and retail is the big driver because employers are looking for that amenity base,” says Frakes. Sellers announced plans for The Colony, a similar concept nearby the original Yard development. He is also working in downtown Gilbert’s Heritage District on The Marketplace, which houses a Fox concept restaurant, among others, and office space. Since Gilbert doesn’t have the same kind of old buildings as downtown Phoenix, LGE Design Build built Marketplace to look like something that had been there much longer than it had.
Brian Frakes 48 | May-June 2015
Dan Henderson
John Graham
“It is risky,” Sellers says. “It’s not your cookie cutter retailer. It’s not a power center where you have a Walmart. It’s not that. You’re developing what the clientele and customer kind of like, hoping the retailers believe in it.” Retailers acclimate, he adds. “What’s neat is we have projects that are larger retail, national users trying to fit into a space that isn’t a typical space,” he says. To Graham’s point, Sellers says his company is looking to develop before big projects come through the pipeline. Rivulon, for example, is a $750M mixed-use business park that broke ground in 2014 on Gilbert Road and the Loop 202 in Gilbert. Gilbert’s Economic Development Director Dan Henderson sees a symbiotic relationship between developments such as Nationwide Realty Investors’ Rivulon project and the Heritage District. “Candidly, you need both (types of development),” says Henderson. “You can’t have one without the other. These things work with each other and are in some ways the defining element of opposites attract. People will be attracted to both areas for different reasons.” He refers to Heritage District as the “living room” of the community and Rivulon as the “family room” of Gilbert. “What we’ve found in (Nationwide Realty Investors President) Brian Ellis and his team is a partner that is not looking at today, but at 20 years from now,” says Henderson. “It’s a similar partnership in the Heritage District.” “The $64,000 question is: Is it a blip or shallow market?” Graham asks. “It’s not a blip. It’s a trend. The market is deeper than (people) think it is. A lot of people are thinking there’s a slowdown in master planned communities and that’s what’s driving apartment development, but it’s a modified business and trend that’s going to stay.”
Michelle Schwartz
Dave Sellers
VALLEY PARTNERSHIP
Anatomy of a Com JANUARY
“
FEBRUARY
REVIEW AND RENEW
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
Committee celebrates successes, wins, challenges and budget review for former project budget from previous year. The board engages and elects liaisons for the year.
Grant application requests gets written, distributed and published.
SITE VISITS
THE CANDIDATES
Top-ranked grant requests get visited by the committee. In 2015, the committee previewed four sites.
In 2015, Valley Partnership received 18 applications.
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History: Since Valley Partnership was founded 27 years ago, it has given back to the Valley through an annual community project that transforms the location of a local nonprofit. The annual charitable event brings together the commercial real estate community, through year-round fundraising events as well as appeals for donations and volunteering on the actual event day. It’s a time when brokers build wooden swings, developers paint benches and subcontractors dedicate their services for free to make a nonprofit’s facilities worthy of its cause.
MARCH
APRIL
Together, We Build a Stronger Valley
While more than 200 people show up for event day, a four-hour period when they can help “install” the project, there are months of work that go into the big reveal.
PLANNING BEGINS
MAY
JUNE
Planning, designing and fundraising for the project is a six-month process. FUNDRAISING: Every year, Valley Partnership raises between $100,000 and $250,000 with in-kind and cash donations for the community project through a 50/50 raffle, call to arms to the board, Rock for a Cause charity concert and annual Wreath Raffle at the December FMB.
BOARD APPROVAL Committee leaders present recommendation to the board or directors and the board votes on the project recipient. The charity recipient is announced to the organization. For the last two years, this has been done as a surprise party during Friday Morning Breakfast (FMB) programming.
OCTOBER
SETTING THE SITE EVENT DAY More than 200 volunteers install the project. In the following days, contractors finish project and put last minute touches on it. Committee leaders meet with charity recipient to make sure they are happy with everything and finalize all details, and a post-event celebration/ribbon cutting occurs.
50 | May-June 2015
Pre-construction begins one month prior to Community Project volunteer day. Event T-shirts are designed and 200 volunteers are recruited.
NOVEMBER
EVERYTHING BEGINS AGAIN
DECEMBER
Information provided by Dena Jones, Fidelity National Title
munit y Project
Kingston White, then-3, joins his parents and the Caretaker Landscape team at the 2014 Community Project. 51
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hoenix may be built on a grid system, but it’s not too hyperbolic to say all roads (and, one day, light rail routes) lead to Arizona State University. It’s the theory of diffusion of innovations, says Sundt Construction’s Business Development Manager Ryan Abbott. The theory, which has been around since Everett Rogers published a book about it in the ‘60s, suggests how cultures change and adapt to new ideas. What it takes for inertia to kick in on a cultural change is innovators (first 2.5 percent), early adopters (13.5 percent) and an early majority (34 percent). For an idea to carry, Abbott says, it has to reach a tipping point of 15 to 18 percent. “That is exactly what the university and city did in downtown Phoenix,” says Abbott. “They started by innovating ways of being multiple places at the same time, using integrated technology, synergistic relationships, taking full advantage of mass transportation. Next, they brought in early adopters — Millennials who wanted to understand and report on society. Where better to be than fully immersed in it at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism?”
Phoenix gets schooled Sundt Construction built the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, a bright orange and maroon building that sits along Central Avenue and very much serves as the front door of the ASU downtown campus. It was completed even before the first 54 | May-June 2015
dorms, Taylor Place, were done. The university sits right along the Central and Van Buren light rail stop, which shuttles thousands of students a day to and from classes. Years later, Sundt was asked to build the downtown’s campus’ Sun Devil Fitness building by the YMCA across the street. “When we were selected to build ASU’s Sun Devil Fitness, (the university was) approaching the fulcrum that pulls the early majority with it,” says Abbott. “They had a reason for adaptive, creative people to be downtown; now, they were creating the places that keep them there.” “Part of ASU’s mission is to deliver positive impact in the local community, where we are socially embedded,” university spokesman Mark Johnson says. Universities serve as the catalyst for business attraction, with its well-educated labor force, as well as a hub for the Millennial generation that is changing the way society looks at work and life. “At the nucleus of that new societal space is the university supplying its innovation, early adopters and early majority,” says Abbott. “The universities (in downtown Phoenix) are landlords to fantastic restaurants, creators of walkways that connect and amenities that inspire,” Abbott says. “And now that they’ve pulled in the early majority, the late majority and laggards are only to follow.” Sunbelt Holdings (Portland on the Park) and P.B. Bell are two examples of the Valley’s largest commercial companies
Valley of the Scholars
By Amanda Ventura
Aerial of Grand Canyon University; PHOTO by Shavon Rose, AZ Big Media breaking ground on their first urban projects in Phoenix. Both companies are known for their master-planned projects, though multifamily trends and the growth of Phoenix’s Millennial population, due to higher ed facility expansions, have caught their eye. “The expansion of ASU and GCU moving into the downtown area did have an influence on our decision to proceed with developing an apartment community in downtown Phoenix,” says P.B. Bell President Chapin Bell, “We believe that there will be a need for additional housing for both the staff and students that choose to live near the downtown campuses. Also, we expect that the addition of these campuses will generate a new excitement and energy attracting new businesses and downtown dwellers outside of the student population as well.” P.B. Bell was awarded the adaptive reuse project of the 100-year-old Barrister Place (colloquially referred to as the “Psycho” building, because it appeared in the 1960 film) for a multifamily development. Downtown Phoenix has been working for more than a decade toward making plans for adaptive reuse and infill projects easier and incentivized. Kimber Lanning, who founded Local First, was one of the first innovators of a “new societal space” in Phoenix. She actively worked to launch the pilot program nearly a decade ago to streamline the process for adaptive reuse projects in order to
retain young, vibrant minds. “When I started Local First, it was on intuition,” she says. “The kids coming to my store (record store, Stinkweeds) were leaving. I started to think about what do those cities have that connects them to those cities and not Phoenix. They were acting in a local manner. We were too spread out. I set out to create districts. We need to encourage small business development. The brightest people want to be where there are cool restaurants, for instance.” P.B. Bell Companies has also broken ground this year on Velaire at Aspera, a community near Midwestern University’s campus in Glendale. “The nearby university is expanding, which will create a need for new, quality housing,” Bell says.
Strength in numbers Universities aren’t just attracting new development. They’re actively participating. “SkySong and the Chandler Innovation Center are strong examples of the kinds of projects that go beyond what you would expect a university to be doing, but provide linkage both to the university and to facilities attractive to new businesses,” says ASU’s Johnson. “We have regular conversations with municipalities around the Valley and around the state about projects that help build the larger infrastructure for economic development. We take those very seriously, but we don’t discuss 55
VALLEY PARTNERSHIP them until they reach a greater level of fruition.” Grand Canyon University (GCU), a for-profit, private Christian university, has more than doubled its footprint in the last seven years and plans to move more than 2,000 employees into West Phoenix with an office complex that will break ground next year. The university has 3,500 employees, is expecting 25,000 on-campus students and have half a million annual visitors to its arena. The school also invested $10M into Maryvale Golf Course to bring additional economic activity to the west side of Phoenix and is renovating 700 homes in the neighboring community with Habitat for Humanity over the next few years. “We’re in the midst of a $1M partnership with the Phoenix Police Department to increase the police presence and combat crime in the areas surrounding our campus, which has had a huge impact on the community,” says GCU President and CEO Brian Mueller. On top of those and other investments, GCU’s economic impact is about $1B annually, according to Elliott D. Pollack & Co. “The biggest difference (between GCU and universities such as ASU) is that we are doing it as an enterprise, which means we are using investment dollars to build out a university that can make an impact in numerous ways in the community, all while also paying taxes back to the city, county, state and federal government,” Mueller says. “We’re having the same impact as other universities by producing more and more highquality graduates and raising the intellectual knowledge of the community, but we’re doing it as a tax-paying enterprise, which adds a second benefit to the area.” The university also claims to have more than 2,000 students enrolled in the fall semester from California. “Arizona used to lose thousands of college students, mostly to California, who were seeking a private Christian education,” Mueller says. “Now, those students are staying home. What’s more, the trend has completely reversed, as we’re attracting thousands of students from California and other states to our campus because of the low tuition costs and affordable room and board rates. Those tuition dollars are now coming into the
state and are being reinvested right here on our campus, which is a huge plus for Arizona. We hope that a percentage of those students will remain in Arizona after they graduate and build their careers here.”
Commencement Ryan Companies, which is working on the 2MSF State Farm build-to-suit at Marina Heights in Tempe and the ASU Research Park, specializes in office development. Nearly all of its office product is affected in some way by university expansions in Phoenix Metro, says Molly Ryan Carson, vice president of development for Ryan Companies. “The search for educated employees is universal,” she says. “Universities are certainly an important factor in many real estate decisions.” Universities are surrounded by amenities, such as restaurants and recreational spaces, that appeal to prospective office tenants. “Having a solid university like ASU in close proximity is viewed as a definite benefit by the tenants we are seeing in the market,” says Carson. “The opportunity to be near tens of thousands of potential employees is very appealing. Additionally, a university often is located in an area rich with amenities, again, a critical requirement for tenants.” GCU has its eyes on the same type of growth. “An estimated 1.2 million STEM jobs will be available in Arizona by 2018, yet our universities are producing just half the number of graduates needed to fill this demand,” says Mueller. “We’ve launched programs in computer science, information technology and engineering to help close that gap and are working with industry leaders in Arizona to ensure that we’re producing graduates with the types of skills they are seeking. When we grow out to 25,000 students in the next 4-5 years, it is our intention that 70 percent of those students will be studying in high-demand STEM areas that lead to good-paying jobs. That will have a major impact on the local economy and help attract businesses to Arizona that rely on having that workforce in place.”
ROOSEVELT POINT 56 | May-June 2015
Chapin Bell
Brian Mueller
Ryan Abbott
Molly Ryan Carson
Commercial Real Estate Advisors
NATIONAL REACH. LOCAL EXPERTISE.
THE SPERRY VAN NESS DIFFERENCE
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VALLEY PARTNERSHIP
Conquering the Hill
V
alley Partnership defines itself as an advocacy organization with responsible development at its core. Behind the organization’s educational Friday Morning Breakfasts, networking mixers, fundraisers and annual community project, Valley Partnership has three committees that work year-round on the organization’s advocacy efforts on a federal, state and cities/county issues. “Keeping with Valley Partnership’s focus on supporting water security for our economic vitality, economic development tools such as state land funding and consistent policies on taxes and fees, we had a successful year to build toward 2016 with the federal government, Arizona State Legislature and Valley cities,” says Cheryl Lombard, president and CEO of Valley Partnership.
Law of the Land
Arizona is the sixth-largest state, yet only 17 percent of its land is private. The role available land plays in economic activity is incomparable to East Coast states, says DMB Associates Executive Vice President Karrin Talyor. States on the East Coast are nearly 98 percent private
Legislative Wins Federal: VP’s role: • Provided a forum for a continuing and constructive dialogue between federal congressional representatives and the development community with our monthly meetings. • Provided formal comments on the EPA’s Waters of the U.S. Rule (“WOTUS”) and it potential damage to Arizona’s economic vitality. • As a long time supporter of the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act, also known as Resolution Copper, we were very happy to see it passed by Congress and signed by the President. The project will create 3,700 direct, high-wage jobs and a $61 billion fiscal impact to Arizona. • Participated in the Spring Congressional Western Caucus Policy Roundtable on Land, Energy & Water. Spoke on impacts to Valley development by the EPA WOTUS and the proposed Desert Tortoise Endangered Species listing. State: VP’s role: • Supported the extension of the Central Arizona Project (CAP) 4-cent ad-valorem tax from 2017 to 2045. This tax is levied by CAP in Maricopa, Pinal and Pima counties to pay for the canal infrastructure and to secure water operations for these counties. It is essential to ensure consistent water supplies for the Valley.
58 | May-June 2015
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VALLEY PARTNERSHIP land, meaning there is a higher percentage (or less land) that exists as productive tax-producing land. Such disparity can make it difficult to draft legislation that can fairly apply to all states, says Taylor. “When you overlay the federal land, conservation land, clean water and critical habitats, there’s nothing left,” says Taylor. “You overlay all these regulations and you wonder, ‘How do you pay for economic activity?’” Taylor says there is the possibility of more land that may be taken away from productive use in the name of conservation before the end of President Barack Obama’s second term. She notes that former President Bill Clinton created the Sonoran Desert Monument before the end of his term. It was a designation that she says removes land from being leased for grazing, mining or other economically vital purposes. Valley Partnership’s Federal Affairs Committee, which Taylor helped form about three years ago, is a gathering place for representatives from different delegations to discuss these topics. “Part of it is raising awareness,” says Taylor. “We routinely have four or five representatives from delegations every month to exchange information. I don’t know if some of these staffers get together in other situations.” The Arizona State Land Department (ASLD) is one such group that attends committee meetings. “Valley Partnership Committees (give) ASLD the opportunity to meet with local government representatives and discuss issues of mutual importance including land planning efforts that can enhance the value of ASLD land and increase economic opportunities,” says Bill Boyd, legislative policy administrator for ASLD. “Valley Partnership provides a forum helping ASLD to be active in the local business community by sharing information about land acquisition and development opportunities while contributing to an ongoing understanding of the condition of the local and regional economy.”
Cue the Water Works
In 2014, Intel Corporation, Sundt Construction, Carollo Engineers and the city of Chandler entered into a unique public-private partnership to tackle one of the biggest resource issues facing Arizona — water. When Intel expanded its Ocotillo Campus in Chandler, its facility was going to create more waste streams that would add pressure to the city’s reverse osmosis facility (CHRO), which treats water for reclamation. Salinity and total dissolved solids, referred to as TDS, are rising in reclaimed water throughout the Valley and most growing cities. Reclaimed water is what’s used to irrigate public spaces in the city of Chandler. As reclaimed water quality drops, water shortages sit on the horizon. This is particularly an issue that arises when an industrial facility like one expanded by Intel increases its own need for water. Therefore, Intel went to work on developing the Ocotillo Brine Reduction Facility, which would accommodate the increased waste streams and also contribute to upgrades at the CHRO facility. In the end, The OBRF project also eliminated discharges from the CHRO facility to the sewer – improving operations at the city’s water reclamation facility. This project is an example of what Valley Partnership’s members are about. Sundt Construction, one of the oldest Arizona-based construction companies at 125 years old, is ahead of its time in bringing together the private and public sectors to build a project that’s responsible and sensitive to the future of Arizona.
62 | May-June 2015
• Supported various changes to Arizona income taxes to allow a taxpayer, beginning in tax year 2015, to take an expense deduction to the amount allowed under federal law if the maximum deduction allowed were $500,000 and the limitation were reduced by the amount of the property placed in service in the tax year exceeds $2 million. It also repeals obsolete sections of the tax code. • As a long time supporter of self-funding of the Arizona State Land Department, we were happy to see as part of this year’s state budget, a measure placed on the 2016 ballot to allow up to 10 percent of the money from land sales to fund the department. Valley cities and county: VP’s role: • Actively engaged in development impact fee update discussions in cities, including Phoenix, Peoria and Tempe with a particular focus on a new element included as a result of a statutory change — charging non-residential development for infrastructure related open space and parks. Continued engagement with the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) on the Access Management Guidelines to regulate spacing of ingress and egress along ADOTcontrolled roadways. The goal is to have guidelines that provide flexibility and context-sensitivity. — Cheryl Lombard, CEO and president, Valley Partnership
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