North Phoenix shopping center gets green light from city despite opposition

Article originally posted on AZ Central on December 5, 2024

A plan that will bring a grocery store and retail center to a north Phoenix neighborhood got the nod of approval from the Phoenix City Council on Wednesday, despite some lingering opposition from neighbors.

Vestar, the developer of Desert Ridge Marketplace, Tempe Marketplace and other open-air shopping centers around the Valley, is planning to build Black Mountain Village at Black Mountain Parkway and Deer Valley Road, directly north of Pinnacle High School.

The plan was unanimously approved by the Phoenix City Council, despite several community members urging them to deny the proposal.

Vestar is proposing a grocery-anchored shopping center totaling about 160,000 square feet of buildings on a 20-acre site. The plan includes the grocery store, along with attached ancillary retail and five standalone buildings.

The project was first proposed more than a year ago and received extensive opposition and support from the community. The process was paused but resumed in October 2024, when it was presented to the Desert View Village Planning Committee with some changes meant to address some concerns raised about the project.

The major changes to the plan included limiting the square footage of the grocery store to a maximum of 65,000 square feet, and prohibiting a gas station on the site, Ryan Ash, vice president of development for Vestar said. The Village Planning Committee, which serves as an advisory body to the City Council, also added a prohibition against car washes on the site, but Ash said there was never a plan to include a car wash.

However, some neighbors still staunchly oppose the project, calling it inappropriate for the site, which was zoned for single-family homes.

James Tuffin, who lives in the single-family neighborhood near the site, said the changes to the plan solve a problem that didn’t exist because the original submission to the city did not include a gas station or a grocery store larger than 65,000 feet. Later submissions did include a larger store and a gas station that could be built only if it were related to the grocery store.

Tuffin said he and others who oppose the project are concerned about the drive-thrus that are proposed on the site, and the traffic and litter that could come with them.

In recent meetings, he said, many people showed up in support of the project, saying they need a grocery store in the area. However, he said, many people were unaware that another project, CityNorth, located at Loop 101 and 56^th Street, is also planning to include a grocery store. The site of CityNorth’s proposed grocery store is about three miles from the Black Mountain Village.

Tuffin took issue with the messaging behind the support of the development, and said the change was a “grave injustice,” saying that the Arizona State Land Department and the city have failed to plan where they will need grocery stores, which requires this one will be added in an area he feels is inappropriate for it.

Eight members of the public spoke at the meeting, most expressed opposition to the project, citing concerns about the proximity to the school, and worry about students crossing the street with increased traffic. Three people spoke in favor of the project, saying it would enhance walkability in the neighborhood, and said they were glad Vestar had made changes to accommodate the neighbors’ concerns.

Ash said Vestar would have preferred to find a site that was already zoned to allow the development, but there are only two sites in the area that fit the parameters and neither would be suitable for a retail center, and one is already planned for development into a storage building.

Both the Village Planning Committee and the Phoenix Planning Commission recommended that the council approve the project.

Vestar would still need to go through the public hearing process to receive permits for drive-thrus, Ash said, so residents will again have an opportunity to weigh in. It is too early in the process for Vestar to share the names of the businesses that could go into the center, Ash said, including which grocer is planned for the site.

The site is controlled by the Arizona State Land Department, and Vestar will have to bid on the land at a public auction in order to follow through with its plans. Ash said an auction for the land will be scheduled after the zoning change.