Located at 1825 W. Montebello Avenue, the city is seeking to redevelop the 19th Avenue/Montebello Park-and-Ride to remove the parking amenity and allow for mixed-use commercial and residential on the 12-acre site (photo by Kathryn M. Miller).
The city of Phoenix cleared another hurdle in its quest to redevelop the city-owned park and ride properties along 19th Avenue. Currently under consideration: redeveloping the 19th Avenue/Montebello Park-and-Ride to allow for mixed-use commercial/residential on the 12-acre site.
Located at 1825 W. Montebello Avenue, the site’s current zoning permits a maximum of 182 residential units at a height limit of 35 feet. The property, adjacent to the Montebello Avenue light rail stop, consists of 794 parking spaces and a bus bay. The city is seeking zoning that would allow for buildings between 56 and 100 feet in height that is intended for mixed-use development. No future light rail parking is currently being considered.
The staff report for the case, Z-83-25, states that no development plans are attached to the project; once the rezoning is approved, the city will release an RFP (request for proposal), which will outline their requirements for the redevelopment of the site. Once a successful candidate is selected and the preliminary site plan and elevations have been created, the plans will be presented to the Alhambra Village Planning Committee for review and comment prior to preliminary site plan approval. Once permits are issued, the sale of the property will take place.
Stipulation No. 2 of the staff report states that “The maximum building height shall not exceed 56 feet, except that the maximum building height may be increased to 80 feet, if a minimum of 30% of the dwelling units are provided as Affordable Housing, as approved by the Planning and Development Department and Housing Department.”
The Alhambra Village Planning Committee (VPC) heard the rezoning case, presented by Jeff Stapleton, City of Phoenix Community and Economic Development Department, at its Oct. 28 meeting. During his presentation, Stapleton stated that the bus bay, located at the north end of the property, will be retained; however, parking spaces would not be set aside for park and ride utilization. This is a deviation from the rezoning case for the 19th Avenue/Dunlap Park-and-Ride, where a small percentage of spaces will be set aside for future use. Stapleton also noted that the city anticipates that the property will consist of market-rate housing.
Due to a lack of quorum at the October meeting, no recommendation was made by the VPC, and there were no residents or other stakeholders in attendance at the VPC meeting. When we reached out to neighbors, they told us that a major concern was affordability, as well as the addition of more multifamily housing to an already densely populated area.
One resident who lives in the adjacent neighborhood said, “It is well documented that this area has filled with multifamily rental units for decades, which has resulted in a high population density and high crime. We have a police officer shortage where residents often wait hours for a response. Increasing the population density with multifamily housing high-rises will not help the 19th Avenue corridor long-term.”
They added, “I would like to see single-family, owner-occupied housing on this property that allows homeowners to have an aging parent move in. The housing should be affordable for people such as school staff, police officers, city, county and state employees who are forced to commute from the suburbs to downtown. We need housing in these neighborhoods that promotes stability and strong social ties for everyone who lives here.”
While the details of any redevelopment will be hammered out in the future, the rezoning case continues to move forward. The Planning Commission voted unanimously and without comment to recommend approval at its Nov. 6 meeting. The case is scheduled for vote by the Phoenix City Council at its Dec. 3 meeting.
Read the staff report at www.phoenix.gov/administration/departments/pdd/planning-zoning.html – search for the case at the “Rezoning Case Staff Reports” link.
