Note: This story has been corrected to reflect the 5 to 2 vote for approval regarding Scottsdale City Council’s recent allocation to obtain legal counsel.
Staff Writer | Mayor of Scottsdale
Scottsdale City Council has approved the allocation of $100,000 to secure outside legal counsel to advise the city on a potential legal challenge against the Constitutionality of Senate Bill 1543.
Through a 5 to 2, Scottsdale City Council is moving forward with retaining the Greenberg Traurig law firm to represent the City of Scottsdale in this matter.
Scottsdale Councilmembers MaryAnn McAllen and Solange Whitehead voted against securing a legal opinion regarding the Constitutionality of SB 1543.
SB 1543, which was recently signed into law by Gov. Katie Hobbs, allows Axon Enterprise to circumvent a referendum vote by residents on the proposed development for an HQ facility and 1,900 multifamily units in north Scottsdale.
The original motion made by Councilman Barry Graham was to authorize spending $200,000 for the initial retention of counsel, but Mayor Lisa Borowsky proposed an alternate motion to have that number be cut in half to responsibly proceed with taxpayer funds; the result was a unanimous council vote authorizing the expenditure of $100,000 to proceed.
“Putting the Axon project aside, this legislation is bad for our community, which we cannot standby and ignore when there are viable legal challenges that exist.” Mayor Borowsky said.
Axon, facing a public vote by the people of Scottsdale in opposition to the number of apartments proposed, turned to the Arizona Legislature and lobbied successfully for the creation of a new law: SB 1543.
