http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/ind...dest=STY-74113
FAA to review proposed Tempe high-rise
By Garin Groff, Tribune
September 15, 2006
A second developer is about to find out if its proposed 30-story high-rise in downtown Tempe is a hazard to commercial airliners, a week after federal aviation officials said a taller condo project is safe.
Avenue Communities asked the Federal Aviation Administration earlier this week to review its proposal for the 343-foot Centerpoint Condominiums tower.
An answer could come within weeks.
The developer proposed the high-rise — and two other equally high buildings — last year, but it has just recently requested a building permit from Tempe. It has to seek FAA input as part of the permit process.
Phoenix aviation officials said they might not be happy with the project even if the FAA doesn’t object.
Some airliners would have to carry fewer passengers to follow their safety procedures — a possibility Phoenix doesn’t want.
“Our concern about inhibiting airport operations is it limits our ability to serve the community,” said Deborah Ostreicher, a spokeswoman for Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
Centerpoint Condominiums would be about 2 1 /2 miles from the end of Sky Harbor runways. It’s not planned under the flight path, but would be in a region where some pilots would steer an underperforming plane if an engine failed during takeoff. Some planes would carry fewer passengers or less cargo to ensure they’d have enough altitude in that rare circumstance.
The FAA ruled last month that the proposed 370-foot University Square development in downtown Tempe was safe despite objections from Alaska Airlines. That was the only airline to complain to the FAA because its pilots would turn above this part of Tempe if an engine failed.
After the FAA started that review, Tempe limited the building to 300 feet based on other factors. An Alaska Airlines representative told the Tribune anything taller than 189 feet on that site is a safety issue for their flights.
Alaska Airlines is studying a possible challenge to that project.
Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman questioned Phoenix’s objections given that federal aviation officials didn’t have a problem.
“It raises the specter that this is about something more than safety,” Hallman said.
Some Tempe business leaders and elected officials argue that Phoenix objects to Tempe’s rising skyline because it envies the smaller city’s economic development. Under this theory, Phoenix wants to discourage dense development in Tempe and steer it toward its downtown.
Phoenix officials say they’re fighting even the smallest issues that could reduce the airport’s capacity because passenger and cargo operations are so vital to the Valley’s economy.
The FAA review of Centerpoint Condominiums could take from a few weeks to several months, said Ian Gregor, an FAA spokesman based in Los Angeles. The FAA already said a 258-foot, 22-story building on the site is not a safety hazard. That tower is already under construction on the site, part of the larger Centerpoint shopping and office complex.
The FAA doesn’t have zoning authority and cannot stop the developer from constructing the 30-story building even if it declares it a hazard. Only Tempe can limit the height. Hallman indicated Tempe wouldn’t necessarily stop the project if the FAA found it a hazard.
“The city has no right to interfere in that process,” Hallman said. “Federal law dictates the process and the developer and the FAA have to work those issues out.”
About half the units in the 22-story tower are claimed in the presale stage, Avenue officials said. They’re selling from the mid-$300,000s to $2 million. The project will eventually have 800 units.
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