Attachment C - VPC Summary-Info - Z-43-20-4.pdf

City of Phoenix • Planning & Development Department 
200 West Washington Street, 3rd Floor • Phoenix, Arizona 85003-1611 • (602) 262-6882 
Village Planning Committee Meeting Summary 
Z-43-20-4 
INFORMATION ONLY 
Date of VPC Meeting 
April 5, 2021 
Request From 
C-2 CNSPD and P-1 CNSPD
Request To 
PUD CNSPD 
Proposed Use 
Hotel and other commercial uses 
Location 
Northwest corner of 12th Street and McDowell Road 
VPC DISCUSSION & RECOMMENDED STIPULATIONS: 
Two speaker cards were received on this item, with both in opposition and 
wishing to speak. 
APPLICANT PRESENTATION 
Larry Lazarus, of Lazarus and Silvan P.C., introduced himself as the applicant’s 
representative and provided an overview of their proposal. The proposal will 
redevelop a vacant and deteriorating office complex into a modern hotel through 
adaptive reuse and expansion for a total of 100 rooms. The owner has accepted 
a franchise agreement with Wyndham Hotels for a dual branded hotel concept 
and the project will add significant life and investment to the area.  
He identified that south of McDowell Road is Banner University Medical Center 
which is a complementary use wherein patient families will likely stay at the hotel, 
Fresh Start Women’s Foundation to the west, a commercial print shop to the 
east, and residential to the north and northeast. The use is consistent with the 
Phoenix General Plan Designation of Commercial.  
He stated that there has been a substantial amount of neighborhood outreach 
completed to date which has resulted in project refinements and on-going 
discussions. Topics of note include architecture/aesthetics, parking, traffic, and 
setbacks from Almeria.  
He highlighted the following elements of the proposal: 
•
Traffic:
Attachment C

Encanto Village Planning Committee Meeting Summary 
April 5, 2021 
Page 2 of 5 
 
 
City of Phoenix • Planning & Development Department 
200 West Washington Street, 3rd Floor • Phoenix, Arizona 85003-1611 • (602) 262-6882 
o The hotel use will generate far fewer vehicle trips than allowed 
under the present zoning and the previous medical office use. The 
development is near bus stops, major destinations such as Banner 
University Medical Center, and restaurants which are expected to 
further decrease traffic demand. Additionally, the development will 
include bicycle parking and complement the 12th Street Bikeway. 
• Aesthetics and Streetscape: 
o The development will utilize design elements and enhancements 
including streetscape treatments, complementary colors and 
building materials compatible with an urban environment. 
o Walkways will be shaded to 77 percent which exceeds the 75 
percent required by the Walkable Urban Code.  
o Perimeter landscaping will include minimum 3 inch caliper trees 
spaced at 20 foot intervals to provide additional shading which 
together exceed the Walkable Urban Code requirements for 2 inch 
caliper trees spaced 25 feet on center. 
• Scale and Design:  
o The existing building is 4 stories and 54 feet in height and that the 
hotel will not exceed this height. The redevelopment will preserve a 
35-foot sculpture located in the interior of the building. 
Unfortunately, the sculptor is not known at this time.  
• Compatibility:  
o All active amenity and recreation areas including an outdoor lounge 
are situated along McDowell to minimize any potential noise and 
disturbance to the Coronado neighborhood and further, there are 
no rooms with windows facing to the north. The building setbacks 
along McDowell Road and 12th Street will be maintained at 30 feet 
and 12 feet respectively.  
o The Coronado Neighborhood Special Planning District requires a 
minimum setback of 30 feet between commercial buildings over 
four stories and the nearest residential homes. Including the 
intervening street (Almeria) as clearly required, the 17 foot north 
setback is 67 feet from the nearest single family home which far 
exceeds the requirement. 
• Parking:  
o The development will provide 67 parking spaces which exceeds the 
0.5 parking spaces per room required by the Walkable Urban Code. 
The project will decrease the number of public driveways from three 
to two. Both public access points will be restricted to right-in, right-
out and there will be no vehicular access onto Almeria.  
 
QUESTIONS FROM COMMITTEE 
 
Mahrle asked for clarification regarding ingress/egress.

Encanto Village Planning Committee Meeting Summary 
April 5, 2021 
Page 3 of 5 
 
 
City of Phoenix • Planning & Development Department 
200 West Washington Street, 3rd Floor • Phoenix, Arizona 85003-1611 • (602) 262-6882 
• Lazarus clarified that there will be public access from one point on 12th 
Street and one from McDowell with both restricted to right-in / right-out. 
Another access along 12th Street will be for deliveries only.  
 
Rodriguez sought clarification on what tree species are proposed and whether a 
specialist had been sought when proposing alternative spacing. 
• Lazarus introduced Jesse Westad who introduced himself and indicated 
that the proposed species are Red Push Pistache, Sissou, and Texas 
Ebony.  
 
Rodriguez asked if the project will be pursing Low Impact Development and/or 
LEED Certification and, if so, to what standard.  
• Lazarus introduced Jeff Baron who introduced himself and indicated that 
the project is early in the process and no decisions have been made at 
this time. Rodriguez stated that it is usually best to start these processes 
early. 
• Lazarus indicated that the national brand is very interested in making the 
building efficient, has experience dealing with sustainable environments, 
and they will have some input. 
 
Rodriguez encouraged the developer to work in collaboration with the 
community to implement neighborhood suggestions. She asked if the community 
raised the idea of a mural along the north property line to improve the project in 
addition to landscaping. 
• Lazarus stated that they have talked with the community about bringing in 
local artists to do a mural along the north side of the building and that the 
owner is very open to that.  
 
Vice Chair Bryck requested the architecture be less corporate and be refined in 
collaboration with the community. He then asked if the 12th Street Bikeway could 
be further improved with green paint and how much of the building is being 
saved.  
• Lazarus stated that the applicant is committed to working with the 
community on aesthetics, but that Mr. Vigil seems to be looking for a very 
specific aesthetic more reminiscent of Charleston or Savannah than the 
desert southwest. He added that if the applicant and the community can 
come to terms with an aesthetic they can agree on, they are more than 
happy to do so. He concluded by stating that the entire building will be 
saved in the redevelopment. 
 
Rodriguez echoed the comments by Vice Chair Bryck regarding the aesthetics. 
 
PUBLIC COMMENTS 
 
Mr. Artie Vigil highlighted three areas of concern: 1) the desire for consistent 
setbacks from Almeria of no less than 30 feet, 2) the parking proposed being

Encanto Village Planning Committee Meeting Summary 
April 5, 2021 
Page 4 of 5 
 
 
City of Phoenix • Planning & Development Department 
200 West Washington Street, 3rd Floor • Phoenix, Arizona 85003-1611 • (602) 262-6882 
insufficient by the nature of the use and the location, and 3) the architecture 
being that of a suburban hotel rather than that of an urban context adjacent to a 
historic neighborhood.  
 
Dr. Donna Reiner introduced herself as having lived in the neighborhood since 
1982 and having served on the Historic Preservation Commission. She stated 
that landscaping never effectively softens a four-story building. She suggested 
that building stepbacks would more effectively soften the impact of the building. 
She stated that the architecture is atrocious and has no charm.  She added that 
while many of the buildings are mid-century there are buildings in the immediate 
area that date to the 20s, 30s, and 40s and asked that the applicant take 
concerns regarding architecture seriously. Regarding the colors being desert 
tones, the desert is alit with colors, blooms, and vibrancy and she stated that 
color can be used to make the building less boring. She asked to be engaged in 
discussions regarding architecture to help find a way for it to complement its 
location and the neighborhood.  
 
APPLICANT RESPONSE 
 
Lazarus responded by stating that staff had specifically requested the project 
utilize the Walkable Urban Code, indicated that the Governor PUD at 17th Street 
and McDowell Road had established precedent for WU PUDs along the 
McDowell Corridor, and stated that the City is looking to expand the WU Code 
city-wide. He added that even using C-2 parking calculations, the proposed hotel 
use will have more parking than currently required for the medical office. He then 
introduced the owner, Mr. Terrance Plas to describe the unique conditions of the 
project. 
 
Plas introduced himself as the owner and developer and indicated that the 
adaptive reuse of the existing structure makes this project unique and inherently 
sustainable. The structure has a 3,500 square foot subterranean area which is 
being repurposed into a fitness center with a racquetball court. Additionally, the 
dual brand of the hotel will be unique, and the lobby will preserve the 35 foot 
sculpture. He then indicated the cost would be lower to demolish and build new 
but their vision is to create a distinctive urban product by repurposing the existing 
building. He added that the PUD utilizes the WU Code at the request of staff and 
that the first submittal utilized C-2 standards. Regarding parking, neither of the 
national hotel brands would grant a franchise if they felt the site was under 
parked. While very confident that parking will be enough, arrangements have 
been made with surrounding property owners for overflow parking. He then 
indicated that they are happy to continue meeting with neighbors. 
 
FLOOR/PUBLIC DISCUSSION CLOSED: COMMITTEE DISCUSSION 
 
Vice Chair Bryck stated that a PUD is intended to create a built environment 
superior to what would be accomplished through a conventional zoning district.

Encanto Village Planning Committee Meeting Summary 
April 5, 2021 
Page 5 of 5 
 
 
City of Phoenix • Planning & Development Department 
200 West Washington Street, 3rd Floor • Phoenix, Arizona 85003-1611 • (602) 262-6882 
He concluded that he sees opportunity to go above and beyond with this project 
to create a great product and an opportunity to find middle ground regarding 
architecture and setbacks. He asked the applicant to not rule out architectural 
enhancements and opportunities. 
 
Jewett stated that he hopes there is middle ground, that he likes that the project 
is repurposing an existing building and indicated that he wants the architecture to 
be as good as possible. He expressed some concerns about parking and asked 
if the applicant has any data on parking demand when close to a hospital.  
 
George indicated that Dr. Reiner is a respected historian and suggested the 
applicant could collaborate with Dr. Reiner to research the history of the 
sculpture.  
 
Rodriguez indicated that there have been many studies on the impact of ride 
share, its potential to contribute to the horizon of transportation, and indicated 
that it appears more important than parking long term. 
 
Chair Kleinman indicated that while there have been a lot of meetings but that he 
hasn’t heard anyone state that they really like this project and are supporting it 
without qualifications. He suggested that if there are supporters, that they send 
letters of support and/or speak in favor of the idea. He then expressed support for 
the idea of a step-back on the north even if it is very small to break up the mass of 
the building. 
 
STAFF COMMENTS 
 
None.