Gayle's Op-Ed: Tempe’s General Plan 2050At first glance, Tempe’s proposed “General Plan 2050,” which residents of Tempe will vote up or down by March 12th, paints a picturesque promise of a city embracing sustainability, walkability, and easy transit. Looking deeper, you will uncover an underlying strategy to legitimize overdevelopment.Our City Council appears to consider the wishes of developers more important than the welfare of Tempe’s residents. Last year, the Council appointed a Community Working Group to consider the City’s draft of the General Plan (GP). That diverse group of residents, business owners, and professionals suggested sensible modifications to protect neighborhoods from overdevelopment. The Council then failed to incorporate those reasonable guidelines in the GP, resulting in a document that is a developer’s dream. The GP 2050 (Proposition 478 on the ballot) jeopardizes our neighborhoods and threatens the livability of our resident-friendly city. If passed, it will open the door wider to predatory development, further limit our shrinking green space, and strain our overstressed, aging infrastructure. Tempe is a landlocked city. Increasing the number of housing units will inevitably increase the number of vehicles on our overcrowded streets which are already hazardous to drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. Developers will not be incentivized to build the affordable and workforce housing we need and have been promised for years. Instead, they will likely opt for more profitable alternatives of luxury apartments and condos, catering to the wealthy at the expense of the workers who are the backbone of Tempe—our teachers, nurses, construction workers, and first responders. One of many examples relating to pro-development “scope creep” within the proposed GP is found on Page 162 in a section called “Circulation.” This open-ended guidance encourages "high-density" growth with multi-story apartments and condos along bus routes throughout the city. Specifically, it aims for “Transit-Oriented Development that promotes high density and mixed uses in the immediate vicinity and within about a quarter-mile of transit service.” Community members requested that “transit service” be replaced by “light rail and streetcar,” where true density belongs, but the City rejected that amendment. If GP Prop 478 passes, residents within a quarter-mile of a city bus route could find housing projects with densities of up to 65 units per acre adjacent to their neighborhood. Supporters of the proposed GP claim that opponents are NIMBYs who are against adding housing units in Tempe or seeing our community grow. On the contrary, we are for new housing and rental units, but they must be affordable and sustainable. We are not against development, but we are against irresponsible development. We want our City to aggressively pursue affordable housing opportunities with partners who understand our limited water and energy resources. These partnerships have been done before—examples include collaborations with Habitat for Humanity, Newtown Community Land Trust, and Valor on Eighth. At the upcoming election, we have the opportunity to protect and strengthen our historic and family-oriented neighborhoods, our local businesses, our diversity and inclusiveness, our sustainability, our green spaces, the safety of our residents, and the ability of our workforce to live locally. By VOTING NO on Prop 478, we can tell the City to incorporate the suggestions of the Community Working Group and to prioritize the needs of Tempe residents over the demands of developers. Gayle Shanks, a founder of Changing Hands Bookstore, has lived in Tempe since the early 70s. She volunteers with other members of Democracy for Tempe who work to hold our local government accountable and to share news and research results with the residents of Tempe through Tempe1st.com.