Scottsdale residents trying to kill approved Axon project on ballot

Article originally posted on AZ Central on December 4, 2024

Axon’s $1.3 billion proposed corporate campus in Scottsdale is now the target of a political group that wants to get the controversial project on a public ballot, throwing the development’s future back into uncertainty just days after the City Council approved it.

The Taser stun gun company wants to build the project on a 73-acre property it owns in northern Scottsdale, near Loop 101 and Hayden Road. It would include Axon’s new headquarters, as well as about 1,900 units of multifamily housing, a 425-room hotel and seven restaurant spaces.

The proposal has been steeped in controversy since it was first put forward in 2020, facing intense resident pushback over concerns about everything from increased traffic to high-density housing near their single-family homes.

That sentiment persisted even after Axon revamped its plan by cutting 700 apartments and reconfiguring roads to reduce traffic earlier this year. Unanimous approval of the project by Scottsdale’s Planning Commission and support from prominent figures like Scottsdale police Chief Jeff Walther also did little to stem the opposition.

Scottsdale’s City Council did not share residents’ objections, either. Satisfied with the plan and keen to preserve the company’s economic impact, the council approved a zoning change needed to make the project possible on Nov. 19.

But three days later, a group led by former City Councilmember Bob Littlefield launched an effort to collect signatures and force a public election on the project. If successful, the effort could spell trouble for Axon amid the anti-development fervor that’s gripped Scottsdale politics in recent elections.

“The last couple of elections have shown that Scottsdale voters don’t want (large apartment complexes),” said Littlefield, referring to last month when all three Scottsdale incumbents on the ticket lost. “This thing is out of character with Scottsdale. It’s out of character with what the citizens want. And that’s why we’re referring it (to the ballot).”

Littlefield’s group has to collect at least 15,353 resident signatures by Dec. 21 to get the project on a future ballot. He would not say how many signatures they have so far but told The Arizona Republic that he expects to have more than the minimum threshold by the deadline.

Axon spokesperson David Leibowitz vowed the company would fight the referendum campaign and “fund an effort to analyze every single signature on that petition.” He contended that referendum petitions frequently have signatures that don’t qualify for various reasons.

Axon has also begun circulating a pamphlet claiming that a California-based union called Unite Here Local 11 is behind the referendum effort. The group represents hospitality workers and played a role in defeating the Arizona Coyotes development proposal in Tempe in 2023.

“A California union with a radical agenda is targeting Axon,” the Axon pamphlet says. “They have poured thousands of dollars into a petition effort to force Axon out of Scottsdale by preventing them from building a new campus that will bring thousands of new jobs.”

The Republic cannot independently confirm whether the group is involved. Campaign finance reports for the Littlefield’s group are not yet available and he declined to share where his funds are coming from, saying he was “holding off” because he did not want donors to be harassed.

Littlefield denies the union has funded or played a role in his referendum effort.

Axon’s pamphlet also pointed out that the project site is zoned for industrial uses, so a large warehouse or other similar project could crop up there without needing city approval if Axon’s development fails.

Councilmember Tammy Caputi, one of the city officials voted out of office in November, made that same argument before voting to approve the project last month.

“If we lose this opportunity for a live-work Axon campus, alternative industrial projects built here will have negative impacts on this neighborhood, including lowering their property values and far greater traffic. That is not a resident-friendly outcome,” Caputi said.

A “no” vote during a potential referendum election could also cost Scottsdale $10.2 million in annual tax revenue that the new campus is expected to generate, according to an Axon-commissioned study done by Rounds Consulting Group.

The $1 billion in state revenue that the same study determined Axon generates each year could also go away, Leibowitz told The Republic.