City survey shows support for 150-foot buildings downtown
A Scottsdale survey released this week turned up support for new buildings downtown that would match the city's tallest structures at 150 feet.
But it also showed that nearly three out of 10 people polled believe that Scottsdale should never allow another building on the downtown skyline taller than 65 feet.
That skyline divide was reignited earlier this month when Gray Development Group proposed building a 148-foot luxury apartment building with 1,196 units northeast of Scottsdale and Camelback roads.
Gray commissioned a survey to gauge community attitudes toward downtown development and bolster its case for city approval of the $200 million Scottsdale Riverview project.
John Washington, a critic of taller buildings downtown, said the survey's leading questions were "contrived to yield a desired result," a direct endorsement of height and indirect endorsement of Gray's project.
"I could have constructed the questions in a more balanced fashion and got remarkably different results," said Washington, a member of the Coalition of Greater Scottsdale.
Gray Development spokesman Jason Rose defended the survey, saying it attempted to accurately describe the height issues.
The poll of 300 likely voters, conducted July 14-19, showed that 52 percent supported height equal to existing buildings near Scottsdale Fashion Square and Scottsdale Healthcare's Osborn hospital. Nearly 29 percent favored restricting height to 65 feet downtown.
Another 10 percent were not in favor of equally tall buildings or limiting them to less than 65 feet. And 9 percent were unsure or had no opinion.
Rose said he thinks there is growing support for additional height downtown, adding that surveys a decade ago were more evenly split.
"Does it mean this project should be approved carte blanche?" he said. "Of course not. We are working on a new plan that will soon be unveiled."
Gray's revised plan will reduce the height of its two buildings and the number of apartments.
"The tires have been kicked" on this project, Rose said. "Hopefully, the car will hum a little better."
Gray's survey also asked questions about Scottsdale leadership and key projects for its future.
Just over half of those polled said Scottsdale is moving in the right direction while 22 percent answered that the city is on the wrong track. Even more people, 27 percent, were unsure or had no opinion on the city's direction.
Two years ago, a Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce survey revealed that 55 percent of those polled believed that Scottsdale was going in the right direction. Twenty-one percent said the city was a little off track and 7 percent said it was seriously off track.
There was strong support for the Scottsdale Waterfront development, which includes shopping, offices and two condominium towers of 150 feet.
Sixty-five percent of those polled said the project has been good for Scottsdale and 18 percent said it was bad.
The top choices for taxpayer-funded improvements were McDowell Road revitalization, 34 percent; McDowell Sonoran Preserve, 31 percent; WestWorld improvements, 10 percent; and arts facilities, 7 percent.
The poll was conducted by the Summit Consulting Group, which surveyed Scottsdale citizens who voted in November 2006 and November 2008. It has a margin of error of 5.66 percent.
Fifty-one percent of the respondents are registered Republicans, 27 percent Democrats and 18 percent independents or no party affiliation.
One third live south of Indian Bend Road, 38 percent live between Indian Bend and Bell Road and 29 percent live north of Bell Road and Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard
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