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March 30, 2023
Tempe, AZ – A duplicate August election regarding the Tempe Entertainment District has been cancelled, saving the City of Tempe an anticipated $315,000. The original May 16 election on the Tempe Entertainment District is still moving forward.
Residents who register to vote by April 17 will be able to vote on the Tempe Entertainment District during the May 16 Special Election. Voters will receive ballots beginning April 19, and they may be returned by mail, at Maricopa County drop boxes, or in person at vote centers.
The Tempe City Council approved in late 2022 the resolutions/ordinances for the development of the Tempe Entertainment District plan after two public hearings and months of negotiations, city due diligence and developer-hosted public meetings. Three aspects of the primarily privately funded proposal from Bluebird Development, the affiliate for the Meruelo Group and the Arizona Coyotes, were approved: a Zoning Map Amendment and a Planned Area Development (PAD) Overlay; a General Plan Amendment; and the Development and Disposition Agreement (DDA). These three aspects are what will go before voters in May.
Bluebird Development collected and submitted in December more than the needed petition signatures for each of three questions to refer the project to the ballot. If voters approve, the project would be built with a planned Arizona Coyotes hockey arena, hotels, multi-family residential, retail and more. The developer will use largely private funding to build the development and will pay Tempe $50.3 million for the land.
A separate, later, timely effort by a group to gather petition signatures on the exact same ballot questions was successful, leading to the scheduling of an Aug. 1 election. Tonight’s action by the City Council was taken to avoid voter confusion and save the anticipated $315,000 it would cost Tempe to hold an August election. Bluebird Development is contractually obligated to pay the city’s costs for the May election.
Full details about the project are at tempe.gov/TempeEntertainmentDistrict.
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