PHOENIX — Dozens of North Phoenix community members packed a village planning committee meeting Thursday night and spoke out against the massive mixed-use development near the Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. facility.
The development, named NorthPark, is spearheaded by Pulte Group and TSMC at the southwest corner of I-17 and Loop 303. The North Gateway Village Planning Committee unanimously voted to recommend approving the multiple rezoning cases for the “city within a city.”
Ahead of the meeting, Phoenix officials said they received 243 letters of opposition or concerns and 68 letters of support for the zoning changes.
Among the top concerns shared Thursday night are traffic congestion and safety along key roads in existing North Phoenix neighborhoods.
"We don't want to handle that traffic," said Anne Wilsey. "We like our community, it's quiet."
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Residents also discussed environmental concerns in developing the state trust land, reduction of recreational space, questioning the amount of water needed for the project and impacts to the water supply.
"In ten years from now, we're not going to sit back and say 'Gee, I wish we built more homes.'" said Jim Umlauf. "But we are going to look back and say 'Man, I wish we saved more open space.'"
Locals asked that the project be moved north of Loop 303, further away from current neighborhoods.
TSMC's Environment Health and Safety Manager, Rafael Velazquez, addressed environmental concerns saying that the ultimate goal of the company will be to recycle up to 90 percent of it’s water.
"We have to clean the water to ultra pure levels so we do clean it and we do recycle and reuse it," Velazquez said. "Because we go through that process of cleaning it, we don't just want to send it down the drain."
The company also sent a letter to the Stetson Valley HOA on Thursday promising that no harmful chemicals will be in discharged water or transported through residential communities.
"Modern semiconductor fabs employ rigorous environmental controls, including sophisticated waste treatment, monitoring, and containment systems, to prevent the types of leaks and spills that led to Superfund sites more than 40 years ago,” the letter states.
As for traffic, the company said in the letter that they will work with the city on "site design requirements which will route truck trips to the adjacent freeways and limit turning movements that would allow trucks into the area south of the Central Arizona Project canal.”
The City of Phoenix responded to ABC15 inquiries about the preserved land:
"The proposal calls for the developer to dedicate approximately 2,100 acres of the land to the City of Phoenix for inclusion in the Sonoran Preserve system at no charge to the city. The proposed Planned Unit Development which establishes the zoning framework for the land contains guidelines and regulations to ensure that development adjacent to the future preserve integrates and protects the new preserve areas.”
The rezoning applications are expected to go before the city’s planning commission on Dec. 4.
