The rallying cry of concerned citizens may be: \u201cSave the DRB!\u201d<\/p>\n
If so, that likely would be in vain, as a new state law requires Scottsdale and other cities to make development decisions behind closed doors.<\/p>\n
While this is not a big deal in places like Phoenix, which have followed the \u201cadministrative review\u201d process for years, it\u2019s somewhat of a jolting change in Scottsdale, where wary residents closely follow plans for landscape-changing developments.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Scottsdale appears to be dragging its feet on passing an ordinance demanded by the new state law.<\/p>\n
For years, Scottsdale\u2019s Development Review Board \u2013 commonly known as the DRB \u2013 has been a crucial step in the development process of mega projects.<\/p>\n
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 volunteers of the DRB.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Some of those meetings stretched hours, with developers pummeled by demands for information by the volunteer board as well as residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These days, the DRB may not be DOA \u2013 but it is an emasculated, even skeleton version of its former muscular entity.<\/p>\n
The Development Review Board\u2019s lone meeting this year was March 3, with no business other than to hear a presentation on the city\u2019s plan for shade trees and vote to approve the DRB 2025 report.<\/p>\n
The other five DRB meetings thus far in 2026, including one scheduled for March 19, were canceled.<\/p>\n
Asked about this, Holly Peralta, a city spokeswoman, said,\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Development Review Board itself is not being eliminated, but its role is being reevaluated.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the multiple cancellations of Development Review Board meetings \u201care related to a new state law that changed how certain development applications must be reviewed.\u201d<\/p>\n
House Bill 2447 became law at the end of 2025. Peralta noted it \u201crequires municipalities to have administrative staff review and approve several types of development plans based on objective standards and without a public hearing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
But how to find what\u2019s going on?<\/p>\n
According to Peralta, projects can be searched on the city\u2019s \u201cSPUR\u201d (Scottsdale Smart Planning Use and Regulations) website.<\/p>\n
This is \u201ca new online platform designed to simplify how residents, businesses and developers interact with the city for permits, planning and other approvals.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new law<\/strong><\/p>\n Sponsored by Rep. Michael Carbone, R-Buckeye, and Sen. Janae Shamp, R-Surprise, HB 2447 passed by the Arizona Senate (19-8) and House (38-22) before being signed by Gov. Katie Hobbs one year ago.<\/p>\n It went into effect Dec. 31.<\/p>\n The legislation made huge change for places like Scottsdale, replacing \u201cmay\u201d with \u201cshall\u201d for local planning:<\/p>\n \u201cNotwithstanding any other law, the legislative body of a city or town SHALL by ordinance do the following:<\/p>\n \u201c1. Authorize administrative personnel to review and approve site plans, development plans, land divisions, lot line adjustments, lot ties, preliminary plats, final plats and plat amendments without a public hearing.<\/p>\n \u201c2. Authorize administrative personnel to review and approve design review plans based on objective standards without a public hearing \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Phoenix, Chandler, Mesa and Gilbert passed ordinances to align with the state revisions.<\/p>\n Scottsdale has not passed an ordinance or made any public moves or announcements, other than to quietly cancel DRB meetings.<\/p>\n The board<\/strong><\/p>\n According to the 2025 report, the DRB voted on dozens of projects, including the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Sunset Villas and Bungalows, HonorHealth Shea Parking Garage, 5th and Goldwater apartments\/condos, the Parque Phase One, the massive City Center at Scottsdale Collection, a Scottsdale Water Campus laboratory addition and Aria at Silverstone.<\/p>\n A city ordinance states, \u201cThe purpose of the Development Review Board is to review all aspects of the proposed design of a development including, but not limited to, site planning and the relationship of the development to the surrounding environment and the community, guided by the Development Review Board criteria.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition, Development Review Board establishes design policies and guidelines that support the character and design goals and policies of the General Plan.\u201d<\/p>\n Board members are appointed by Scottsdale City Council.<\/p>\n The current board: Ali Fakih and Jeff Brand, both in their second terms; David Mason, Ed Peaser and Donna Robinson.<\/p>\n One member each of the Planning Commission and City Council (currently, Solange Whitehead) takes part in the DRB.<\/p>\n According to the 2025 report, Fakih was absent from eight of 18 meetings. Brand and Robinson each missed four meetings; Peaser and Mason each only missed one meeting.<\/p>\n The future of the DRB?<\/p>\n On Jan. 27, Council held an executive session meeting to receive legal advice and \u201cdiscuss and consider its position and give possible instruction regarding House Bill 2447 \u2026 as the bill relates to administrative approvals and the Scottsdale Development Review Board process.\u201d<\/p>\n The city is vague about the future of the DRB.<\/p>\n \u201cScottsdale is reviewing the board\u2019s scope and structure to align with the new legislation,\u201d Peralta said, \u201cwith the expectation that it will continue supporting design excellence in the city, potentially including review of applicant-requested deviations from objective design standards once those standards are established.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n More from the city<\/strong><\/p>\n Asked about how Scottsdale is responding to House Bill 2441, Peralta added more details: \u201cUnder the new law, city staff now review and approve site and development plans, land divisions, lot line adjustments, lot ties, preliminary and final plats, plat amendments and design review plans. These duties were previously handled in large part by Scottsdale\u2019s Development Review Board.\u201d<\/p>\n She said the city amended its Land Division Ordinance in December 2025 \u201cto ensure land division plats are processed administratively.<\/p>\n \u201cAs of Jan. 1, 2026,\u201d Peralta added, \u201call development review cases are being reviewed by city staff without a public hearing.<\/p>\n Staff are evaluating and updating the city\u2019s code and Zoning Ordinance to align with state law and expand administrative review processes.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the DRB?<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the law changes the Development Review Board\u2019s role,\u201d Peralta said, \u201cthe board will continue to play an important part in maintaining Scottsdale\u2019s design standards.\u201d<\/p>\n She said the board will have \u201ca revised structure\u201d and \u201cfocus on reviewing applicant-requested deviations from objective design standards, which are currently being developed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe board will also work with city staff to help transition existing design guidelines into clear, objective standards that comply with state requirements while supporting Scottsdale\u2019s long-standing commitment to design excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Brad Carr, a Planning and Development city manager, \u201cWhile the new state law alters the scope and practice that the DRB has employed in the past, the mission remains the same. City staff is committed to assisting the board in that mission.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The rallying cry of concerned citizens may be: \u201cSave the DRB!\u201d If so, that likely would be in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":677835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5131],"tags":[285492,5229,5643,1587,210670,285493,285494,158720,1589,198876,46683,285491,152497,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-677834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-phoenix","tag-ali-fakih","tag-america","tag-arizona","tag-az","tag-development-review-board","tag-honorhealth-shea-parking-garage","tag-jeff-brand","tag-michael-carbone","tag-phoenix","tag-planning-commission","tag-scottsdale-city-council","tag-scottsdales-development-review-board","tag-solange-whitehead","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116283023706210083","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=677834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}