Title
Consideration of Citizen Petition Submitted by Tamara Weaver - District 1
Description
This report provides the City Council with information regarding a document (Attachment A) submitted by Tamara Weaver at the December 17, 2025, Formal City Council meeting for consideration as a citizen petition.
The submitted document is an objection to the North Park rezoning items (Items 74, 75 and 76) that were heard by City Council during the same evening on December 17, 2025. These materials are also repetitive of part of Ms. Weaver’s prior citizen petition submission that were filed back on October 29, 2025. The City previously held the documents submitted in October did not qualify as a valid citizen petition because their prematurely filing circumvented an already established legal process to hear the merits of the rezoning case and the two general plan amendments. At the time, no hearing before the North Gateway Village Planning Committee, the Planning Commission or the City Council had taken place.
As with the October submission, these materials object to the North Park rezoning case to allow a proposed 19,000 home development in North Phoenix. The submission asserts that at a minimum the project should be significantly reduced in scale and exclude all industrial, or manufacturing uses until traffic, safety, and environmental concerns are fully addressed. The submission also advocates for hazardous materials to be moved north of the 303. As an alternative, in the event the Council is unable to deny the North Park rezoning, the submission requests the City Council to consider each of the following 10 items:
1. Demonstrate leadership and prioritize resident representation by delaying the vote and sale to allow meaningful community engagement, particularly in planning for the preservation of the Sonoran Preserve.
2. Limit 51st Avenue expansion to four lanes.
3. Prohibit semi-truck traffic through Stetson Valley.
4. Implement traffic mitigation strategies, such as splitting 51st Avenue north of the canal or installing roundabouts.
5. Install a traffic signal at North Inspiration Mountain Loop and 51st Avenue due to nearby school crossing.
6. Prohibit hazardous industrial chemicals south of Route 303.
7. Locate proposed schools away from sites storing hazardous industrial chemicals.
8. Require comprehensive environmental studies, routine air quality testing, robust air quality testing, and robust air quality management around new industrial facilities.
9. Ensure regular water testing for PFAS and other contaminants; consider statewide water needs and affordability of effective filtration downstream.
10. Consideration for renaming the project to reflect local geography, such as Pyramid Peak, Mt. Ochoa, or the Pyramids.
Report
Summary
The attached document (Attachment A) was submitted to the City Council for consideration as a citizen petition. Upon review by the Law Department and in consultation with the Planning and Development Department, it was determined that this document did not legally qualify as a valid citizen petition and therefore, could not be placed on a Council agenda. This determination is explained below and this response is considered an information request.
The document does not qualify as a valid citizen petition under Chapter IV, Section 22 of the Phoenix City Charter because it raises objections to a rezoning matter that has been previously adjudicated by the North Gateway Village Planning Committee on November 13, 2025, the Planning Commission on December 4, 2025, and, most recently, by the full City Council on December 17, 2025, the same day as the materials were submitted. At each identified hearing, the petitioner had an opportunity to raise each of the issues identified in the submitted materials. Moreover, some of the considerations identified in the recent submission referenced above were specifically included as stipulations at the December 17, 2025, Council meeting. For example, Consideration Number 3 (prohibition of commercial truck traffic), was addressed in Stipulation 37. Additionally, others were considered in the general discussion of the rezoning case but ultimately were not adopted as stipulations.
Additionally, the City Council adopted a requirement that the developer provide an annual presentation to the North Gateway Village Planning Committee to provide an update to the community on the status of the development in the area. As part of the update, all HOAs within a specified radius of the development will receive notice of the date and time of the annual presentation and can appear to provide testimony and input. Based upon the foregoing, and the fact that the City Council has heard and considered all public testimony in the North Park rezoning case and rendered its opinion on the matter, the petitioner's materials do not legally qualify as a valid citizen petition under Chapter IV, Section 22 of the Phoenix City Charter.
Staff have contacted Tamara Weaver to provide this information and this report was created for public awareness, which will be shared with Ms. Weaver as well.
Location
Southwest corner of the Loop 303 and Interstate 17 freeways.
Council District: 1
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Assistant City Manager Lori Bays and the Planning and Development Department.