Too Much Traffic For This Little Street

When two cars encounter each other on Jenan Drive, one of them has to move to the shoulder so that they both can pass. The road is in okay but not excellent shape, with potholes being filled in but also great puddles when it rains. There are almost never more than two cars on the whole thing at one time.

Godzilla Jr shows how narrow little Jenan Drive is. (Scottsdale made garbage truck history)

It's a quaint part of living on a quiet street, and at the current levels of traffic it hasn't posed a problem yet.

This rezoning would effectively triple the number of households on this street, and the little road connecting them all will be quite insufficient to handle it. There could well be accidents pulling out of driveways, or a frustrating lockup if too many cars needed to go opposite directions at once.

Cholla and 74th Place would also see significantly more traffic, because Jenan residents regularly flow out to those larger streets for the ability to turn at a stoplight.

An Irregular Shape in the Middle of the Street

You wouldn't put a convenience store in a cul-de-sac, and you wouldn't put a landfill in the middle of town.

Why put high density housing in the middle of street? No - you'd put that on the end of the street, with enough major road access that the new lots would not disturb the current residents too much.

This project is slated to buy two extra large lots and one smaller, and it will be an L shape. Why not a rectangle? Because the profit margin is greater if they get that extra lot. With all three properties, they can split the available land into the maximum number of lots. Picture a cookie with a bite of of it, that's the shape of this proposed community.

This proposed rezoning would be a strange island in an already-established neighborhood. Imagine 3 older homes side-by-side in a downtown neighborhood being bulldozed to build 18 condos, right in the middle of the street. At minimum such a project should be on a corner.

Part of the problem with this zoning strategy is that you can't go back from it. You will now have 18 property owners where there once were 3. That land will never return to the same character as the homes surrounding it.

It would actually be more logical at that point to bulldoze more homes in the neighborhoor and divide their lots too.

You may think this idea is far-fetched but one of the properties that could be demolished is a lovely million dollar home, and if this pattern becomes established, this could happen in your own neighborhood as well . When the project makes financial sense, no street will be safe from the chopping block.

As Scottsdale residents we all deserve good city planning that will preseve the charm and lifestyle that drew us here in the first place.

Erodes Neighborhood Character

On a sleepy street peppered with equestrian properties , would an awkwardly-shaped gated community fit well if placed smack-dab in the middle? This street already has a chuch and a school, but they are located more logically right on Scottsdale Road, with easy accessibility. These established instutitions have made good neighbors and not overwhelmed this leg of Jenan Drive, save voting days and religious holidays (when it does get hectic). Their constitutents arrive and leave by Scottsdale Road. If this rezoning were to pass, it would fundamentally change the structure and character of this street and the traffic effect would ripple onto other streets.

Rainwater and Flooding a Real Concern

The more we pave, the worse the flooding becomes. Presently these lots are able to absorb quite a lot of rainwater, but that would all change if they were developed into higher density.

A big rain event in Scottsdale is 1" of rain, and already in 2018 we've had several of those. Historic rain events are the big problem for this street, which even the developer concedes "seem to be happening much more frequently than before".

In a single 1" rain event 118,000 gallons will fall on the proposed development, not including high elevation properties whose water will drain on that land as well.

October 2018 saw a 3" rain event in 24 hours on this street.

October 2018, streets completely flooded in Scottsdale Sixteen (same block as proposed development)

What does that mean for the proposed homes and current homes on the street? Consider the existing drainage problems (inadequately planned) of Sterling Place and Scottsdale Sixteen. They regularly experience standing water on their streets as the permeable land has been significantly reduced and stormwater must now be handled by man-made storm drains and a basin.

As observed this year alone, half of the homes on Jenan have large front yards that drain directly onto the proposed development site, where it all flows swiftly to the southeast corner and goes --- well it churns and gurgles and disappears into something, an old well perhaps. Remediation has been put in place to stop standing water problems, but the tender vegetation on the lot confirms the consistent presence of water.

High density housing on this lot would certainly be at increased risk for flooding, as it is the lowest point of the street. Neighboring homes could see flood water changes on their own property if they themselves do not have adequate permeable surface (grass, gravel, dirt) to catch their rainfall.

Light Pollution

When you step outside at night, is it dark and starry?

Dark skies are getting rarer as our streets and homes become more illuminated at night. Business, residential, and city street lights are all responsible.

Scottsdale's older streets have a unique character like nowhere else, and part of that is due to homes that generally do not light up brightly at night.

On Jenan Drive when it's dark, it's generally dark. That could and would likely be changed however, if a large number of new homes were added.

Security lighting, landscape lighting, architectural lighting - it all adds up.