SCOTTSDALE, AZ — A controversial plan to build a parking garage in Old Town Scottsdale is pressing ahead, even as the city’s own mayor and thousands of people have called for it to be stopped.
Designs will be unveiled on Thursday for a parking garage in the heart of Old Town Scottsdale.
The site, now a parking lot at 1st Street and Brown Avenue, is home to a weekly farmer’s market and sits directly across from the Old Adobe Mission, Scottsdale’s oldest standing church.
Proposed plans at community meetings last year showed a four-level parking structure, though one of those levels was underground.
Opponents of the project say it will ruin the historic character of Old Town Scottsdale and cause the farmer’s market to move. Supporters say the area badly needs more parking.
Last year, thousands of people signed a petition to stop the project. But it wasn’t enough.
Scottsdale Mayor Lisa Borowsky has been one of the loudest voices against the project. She told ABC15 last year:
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“This is not an example of a quality location for a parking garage,” she said. “It’s in a historic district, which is designated in the city of Scottsdale, very small streets, very active pedestrian environment – especially with the farmer’s market – and to bring 200 or more additional cars to that location is a really bad idea.”
The mayor’s office told ABC15 in a statement this week that she has not changed her stance regarding the parking garage. She is advocating for a new parking study to better understand the parking needs of the area.
The city meeting to show the Brown Avenue Parking Structure Expansion starts at 9 a.m. Thursday, March 12 at the Civic Center Library Auditorium, 3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd.
Construction is expected to begin this summer.
Email ABC15 Investigative Reporter Anne Ryman at: anne.ryman@abc15.com, call her at 602-685-6345, or connect on X and Facebook.
