PHOENIX – Efforts to establish more affordable housing in District 5 of Phoenix are being met with safety concerns.
Mayor Kate Gallego introduced item 44 of the Phoenix City Council formal meeting as a “great project.”
192 of the 992 new, affordable housing units will be built on the northeast corner of 39th Ave and Grand Ave. UMOM New Day Centers, an affordable housing developer based in Phoenix, is the applicant for this zoning ordinance.
Prior to the hearing by the Phoenix city council, this item was previously brought to the Alhambra planning committee. The zoning ordinance passed with a unanimous vote last month.
In the chambers of the Phoenix City Council, Armando Felix, owner of a shopping complex in this zoning area, voiced his opposition to the item.
Felix is the owner of a shopping complex that is in the area of the future affordable housing units. In his two minutes allotted for comment, he shared stories of dangerous occurrences that he has witnessed in his 30 years of owning the shopping complex.
“I’ve seen two buildings of mine destroyed by the traffic,” Felix said. “We have had a death, we have had a lot of injuries
Felix believes that these dangerous occurrences are happening due to the angle of the intersection and the lack of traffic lights in the area.
“The way that 39th Ave. meets Grand, it’s at a 135 degree angle instead of a 90 degree angle”, Felix explained.
Ben Graff, a representative for UMOM, was present in the city council chambers and spoke after Felix.
Graff shared that they are “fully committed to the safety of the site”.
He explained how the design of the site will not create more safety issues for the intersection.
“You have to turn on to 39th Ave. to come in, so there’s no one stopping along Grand slowing down traffic”, Graff said.
This will eliminate the slowing down of traffic on Grand Ave., alleviating concerns of the traffic issues that the intersection has had historically.
Graff also shared that UMOM will be meeting with Felix and the street transportation department the day after the city council meeting.
“He has very important both anecdotal and experience data with that intersection,” Graff stated in reference to Felix.
Councilwoman Betty Guardado represents District 5, where the intersection is located.
“Safety is a no. 1 concern, for us we’ve been talking about Grand Ave., Camelback for the last couple of years”, said Guardado.
Grand Ave. has been a point of focus along Camelback road in the past couple of years, as both areas have received funding to better safety efforts.
“It is unfortunately one of our most dangerous and so we got a major grant, I think our largest in county history,” shared Mayor Gallego.
Though the safety concerns should be addressed, Gallego confirms that plans regarding the affordable housing units will remain as so.
When put to a vote, all members of the council were in favor of the item.
Councilwoman Debra Stark of District 3 voted her approval for the item, but with the demand that safety concerns will not be neglected.
“Nothing will be on the ground till all the traffic resolutions are resolved,” Stark stated.
Edited by Shi Bradley
