Things have changed around Scottsdale for developers – and those who like to keep an eye on where bulldozers will be churning desert land into livable spaces.

An enormous, 100-acre project with dozens of homes would have started a long trudge at the Development Review Board in days gone by – as recently as last year.

Before landing before Scottsdale City Council for final approval, the people behind the Mack Innovation Park, the Parque, ASM, the Artisan and many others first had to make their pitches to the eagle-eyed volunteers of the DRB.

Often, that meant the chance for worried neighbors to hear more about the projects and/or voice their concerns about noise, traffic, over-crowding etc.

But that once-powerful board has been neutered as Scottsdale fell in line with state legislation.

Earlier this year, city spokeswoman Holly Peraltat said multiple cancellations of Development Review Board meetings were “related to a new state law that changed how certain development applications must be reviewed.”

House Bill 2447 became law at the end of 2025. Peralta noted it “requires municipalities to have administrative staff review and approve several types of development plans based on objective standards and without a public hearing.

“As a result, development review cases that were previously heard by the DRB are now being reviewed administratively by city staff to comply with the law.”

Case in point: A new Shea Homes project.

Don’t let the company’s name confuse you – the pitched development is nowhere near Shea Boulevard.

The project-in-the-works is at the southeast corner of Happy Valley and Pima roads deep into North Scottsdale.

Shea Homes is pitching a “gated 77 single-family residential luxury lot neighborhood” on 95 acres.

In other words, this is exactly the type of mega project neighbors might have lined up to oppose, citing traffic, water and safety concerns.

Not so, these days.

The people behind Shea Homes submitted an application in February.

Would it be considered at any of the 14 scheduled DRB meetings since?

A dozen of those meetings were canceled.

The DRB did meet in March and May, but only to consider the city’s far-from-controversial “Shade and Tree Plan.”

Meanwhile, Shea Homes has been moving along behind the scenes.

The project passed an “administrative intake review” on Feb. 12, paying required fees of $11,711.

Then came “substantive staff reviews” in March and June – both listed as “not passed.”

The city has much of Shea Homes information on its website, but clicking on the reviews tab reveals “information not available.”

A Progress request for the reason the city rejected the plan was not immediately answered.

A new “substantive staff review” was  scheduled to start Aug. 13.

Shea Homes is scheduled to go before the Planning Commission – which has canceled a half-dozen meetings this year – before landing at City Council for final review.

The developer is well known to Scottsdale.

“Founded in 1968,” the company notes, “Shea Homes is a fourth generation family-owned home builder, highly invested and dedicated to creating elevated lifestyles throughout Arizona.”

The company says the North Scottsdale “Shea Signature” community will be similar to high-end developments Signature at Storyrock, Signature at Black Mountain, Signature at the Phoenician and Azure at the Ritz-Carlton in Paradise Valley.

Here along busy Pima Road, currently lined with desert land, Shea Homes promises via its application to “Enhance the visual appearance of, and bring certainty to, a long-standing vacant infill site along the Pima Road corridor …”