[Source: Katie Nelson, Arizona Republic] -- Tempe's oldest existing neighborhood likely won't be granted historical designation. And a new voter-approved state law is the reason. Maple-Ash is a high-visibility neighborhood, tucked into a corner between downtown Tempe and Arizona State University. The shaded, quirky university-influenced character of the neighborhood has long been touted as a point of pride for the city. But the city's Development Review Commission this week decided it won't back the designation for Maple-Ash. The basis for its decision was Proposition 207, which requires cities to reimburse homeowners whose property values are negatively affected by zoning changes. It's a sign, although not a sure one, that the designation won't go forward.
The resident-run commission will submit its recommendation to the City Council. The council tentatively is scheduled to make the final decision in July. The Maple-Ash neighborhood's historic designation fight has garnered attention in both Tempe and in the city-governance community. The case is unusual because of the neighborhood's multifamily zoning. Most single-family communities have zoning that allows only single-family homes. Maple-Ash's multifamily zoning heightens the stakes because it is more favorable to developers, ratcheting up the property values by leaps and bounds. A handful of Maple-Ash neighbors initiated the request for the historical designation, a measure that allows a neighborhood to establish suggested standards for building exteriors in order to preserve an area's character. But while no one seems to dispute that Maple-Ash is something special in a Valley full of cookie-cutter homes, the request was hotly contested. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]
