PHOENIX — Downtown Phoenix neighborhoods could become a bit more crowded.
Phoenix City Council voted Nov. 19 to allow duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes in single-family areas near downtown.
It mirrored recent decisions by officials in Scottsdale, Tempe, Chandler, Flagstaff, and others. Under state law, every municipality with more than 75,000 residents must follow suit by the end of the year.
The debate over the rezoning in Arizona's capital city was contentious. A legion of residents from the Encanto and Willo neighborhoods, which fall under the oval-shaped, mile-diameter overlay around Phoenix's central business district, voiced concerns at the Nov. 19 meeting and at a previous one Nov. 5, when Council delayed its vote on the issue.
Historic neighborhoods deserve protection, they argued, and the potential new development puts their existence at risk.
