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Landmark day • Tuesday, March 13, 2012

March 13, 2012: Scottsdale Votes Down Its General Plan

On a low-turnout spring ballot, a slow-growth coalition beats the city's new General Plan by 1,064 votes.

Illustrated plaque for March 13, 2012 in Scottsdale history MARCH 13 2012 THE NEW WEST

What happened

At a special election on March 13, 2012, Scottsdale voters rejected Proposition 430, which would have ratified Scottsdale General Plan 2011, adopted by the council in Resolution 8837 on October 25, 2011. The vote was 12,924 for and 13,988 against, with 27,526 ballots cast from 148,832 registered voters, an 18.49 percent turnout. A no vote meant keeping the 2001 General Plan. On the same ballot voters approved a Southwest Gas franchise, 18,282 to 8,215, and all seven charter amendments, Propositions 431 to 437.

Why it matters

Voters had ratified the 2001 plan easily in 2002; this time they said no, and the 2001 plan stayed in force for another nine years, until voters approved General Plan 2035 in 2021. The opponents named in the pamphlet, the Littlefields, Guy Phillips and Howard Myers among them, were the same people who led the bond defeat of 2013 and the Preserve initiative of 2018.

The plan

Arizona law requires cities to send their general plans to voters about every ten years. Scottsdale’s 2001 plan had been ratified in 2002, and in October 2011 the council adopted “Scottsdale General Plan 2011” and put it on the March ballot as Proposition 430. The city’s pamphlet explained that if it failed, “the existing General Plan remains in effect,” and that the state deadline for a new one was July 1, 2015.

Both sides

Four arguments were filed for it. The Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce wrote that “70% of Scottsdale’s land is set aside as open space” and that the plan “reduces the size of land parcels that would require a General Plan amendment from fifteen acres to ten acres.” Michael Schmitt, who chaired the citizens’ working group, wrote: “Since 1967, Scottsdale’s growth has been guided by the wisdom of its General Plan.” Two planning commissioners argued that updating it “outweighs the concerns of those who want to return to the past.”

Eleven were filed against. Councilman Bob Littlefield said it “weakens the General Plan through language that encourages special interests to exploit Scottsdale’s unique character,” and the Coalition of Pinnacle Peak that “It could easily be mistaken as a plan for Phoenix.” Kathy Littlefield warned that Character Areas would no longer count toward the council’s supermajority rule. Council candidate Guy Phillips wrote that cutting “character areas from 22 to only 6 is an open invitation to tear down the fabric of our communities.” Howard Myers: “If you want Scottsdale to become Phoenix east, then vote for it.” Former Councilwoman Marg Nelssen, Preserve Commission vice chairman James Heitel, John Washington and candidate Chris Schaffner also argued against.

The vote

Fewer than one registered voter in five took part. Proposition 430 failed 12,924 to 13,988, by 1,064 votes, while the gas franchise and the charter amendments passed easily. The council did not send voters another plan until 2021, when General Plan 2035 passed with about 52 percent. The 2010s politics chapter follows the same coalition through the decade, and the General Plan guide explains how the plan works.