City planner Alan Stephenson said the site plan calls for construction up to a point about 300‑400 feet below the highest point of the hill.

A number of longtime residents say they do not know anywhere else in the North Valley where apartment‑level density reaches so far up a hillside. They are concerned the city’s approval will set a precedent for development on other hillsides in the North Valley.

“I don’t see this kind of development anywhere else here that high up a hillside,” said Shareen Goodroad, president of the New River/Desert Hills Community Association. She emphasized the association is not happy about the development.

Asked if he knows of any other apartment complex that high up a hillside north of the Las Colinas project, anywhere across the North Valley, Stephenson said he could only think of some single‑family homes.    

Phoenix City Council members Peggy Neely and Dave Siebert did not return calls placed by The Desert Advocate seeking comments on what they plan to do, if anything, to prevent future development to the top of area hillsides.

Stephenson noted the city council changed zoning in the area that includes the knoll in 1999. The area roughly covers Carefree Highway south to where North Valley Parkway meets 27th Avenue. The zoning designation went from residential to a mix of commercial, single‑ family and multi‑family dwellings.

As a condition, the city promised the former property owner it would not allow developers to build above the 10‑percent slope line, Stephenson said. In exchange for the promise, the owner dedicated 27 acres–the land above 10‑percent slope–to the city’s Sonoran Preserve.

Robinson said what is ironic is the City Water Department spent about $10 million to tunnel a water line under Skunk Creek Wash to avoid destruction of the aesthetic beauty of the south face of the knoll. “With as much land as was dedicated for the Sonoran Preserve, with this development we’re basically taking a step backwards,” he added.

Chicago‑based Equity Residential is the owner of Las Colinas at Black Canyon Apartments, confirmed Marty McKenna, spokesman for the company. McKenna said Equity Residential has a big footprint in the Phoenix area, but declined to comment about the elevation of the hillside complex. No developer contact information is listed on the application, according to city staff.

The crux of the debate revolves around city planners’ interpretation of the zoning ordinance 10‑percent slope rule.

Section 202, “Hillside: an area where the natural slope of the ground exceeds 10‑percent grade.”

Stephenson said the “gradualness” of the knoll’s slope explains why the 10‑percent rule does not apply except at the top where the hill begins to “slope.” (See photo)

“All development (at the Las Colinas project) is below the 10‑percent slope line,” Stephenson stated.

Robinson says he never expected the city to interpret the 10‑percent slope line to take the upper reaches of the south face of the knoll.

The city’s Developmental Services Department is supposed to discourage development up high on hillsides, according to Robinson. Instead, “DSD is basically run by the developers,” he said.

Those familiar with the situation say giving a city planning department the power to approve site plans–or in this case an apartment project–without a vote of city council is not the norm across the country. 

“If there are no objections from the community, developers can pretty much get away with anything,” Goodroad remarked, adding the city’s questioning of developers is “very minimal.”

“I think there were no objections (from the community) to the apartment complex, none that I can think of, because nobody lived there,” Stephenson said.

Robinson stated he doesn’t know how this project got approved by city planning–either it slipped through the cracks or something must have happened to influence the department to approve it.

“This should not have been approved,” he said.

In response to comments about the independence of the city’s Development Services Department, Stephenson said planning has to abide by zoning regulations and it is a matter of “perception” as to whether a resident agrees with the city’s interpretation of the 10‑percent slope rule in this case.

The areas both east and west of the Las Colinas project are also zoned to allow additional apartments, according to Stephenson.

The city is requiring the Las Colinas apartments project to limit its parking and meet other open‑edge development requirements–such as no fencing between the property and preserve–due to its proximity to conserved land.

Reach the reporter at kathleen@thedesertadvocate.com