Scottsdale Planning lauds Axon effort to find neighborhood compromises
By Terrance Thornton | Community Updates
Axon Enterprises founder and CEO Rick Smith has a vision.
And that vision is envisaged as a 70-acre corporate campus for all aspects of Axon Enterprise operations rivaling the exalted landmarks of Big Tech firms in places like Cupertino, California, and Redmond, Washington.
Axon Enterprises is a Scottsdale-based technology and weapons production company with a reported market capitalization of $15 billion. Axon is the leader in the manufacturing of electroshock weapons and camera technology used by law enforcement officials across the globe.
It is reported a total of 18,000 law enforcement agencies in 107 countries use Axon Enterprises technology including tasers and body-worn cameras.
Mr. Smith founded the company in 1993 in his garage whereas today it is the leader in specialized technology serving major law enforcement agencies across the nation with the Phoenix Police Department most notably the first department to activate a body-worn camera program for all sworn officers.
Mr. Smith holds a neuroscience degree from Harvard University, a master’s in international finance from the University of Leuven in Belgium, and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
“We are really excited to show you what we are working on,” Mr. Smith said during the Nov. 12 Scottsdale Planning Commission public hearing that saw a full City Council Chambers at 3939 N. Drinkwater Blvd. “We are excited and proud to have our headquarters here. The purpose of this campus is to prepare for the next chapter of our company.”
Despite a formal unanimous rejection from the Scottsdale Airport Commission — Axon officials are not required by city code to gain approval at the airport commission nor reapply to move along municipal planning channels — Scottsdale Planning Commission has offered its approval of the project.
Of Note: Planning Commission Chairwoman Renee Higgs nor Commissioner Diana Kaminski were present for the public hearing.
The Scottsdale Planning Commission is a recommending body to Scottsdale City Council. City Council will have the final decision in the matter.
Axon Enterprises is represented by Charles Huellmantel of Tempe-based Huellmantel & Affiliates.
Tenets of the Scottsdale zoning entitlement effort at Axon Enterprises:
The Scottsdale Planning Commission, among other things, is recommending to City Council to allow:
- A minor General Plan amendment allowing a 69.71-acre site at 8300 E. Axon Way near Hayden and Loop 101 to go from employment to mixed-use neighborhoods land designation and a minor General Plan amendment to the Greater Airpark Character Area Plan 2010 land use map to change to Airpark Mixed-Use – Residential on about 44.70 acres portion of the overall site. Of Note: This would typically trigger a major General Plan amendment process, however, according to Taylor Reynolds, a Scottsdale city planner, due to the contemplated regional use of the parcel and its location in proximity to the existing Scottsdale Airpark a minor amendment is only necessary.
- A zoning district map change is also recommended allowing the usage of parcel to shift from strictly industrial uses to a planned community district allowing for block zoning measures found part of the planned airpark core to allow for no more than 1,965 multi-family residential units, a hotel, and about 47,000 square feet of commercial floor area in six buildings, varying in height from three to five stories (up to 67 feet) on about 44 acres of the overall site.
At the Planning Commission hearing last night 14 people came to the podium to speak whereas the strong majority of those speakers — albeit employees of Axon Enterprises — where in support of the development. A few residents, and a representative of the neighboring Stonebrook II community HOA came to voice concerns about density and traffic.
But each speaker who spoke in contrast to the presented plan lauded the mission of Axon Enterprises and the efforts now spanning two years to find the right fit for both neighbors and blossoming Big Tech firm.
“A big part of this is, is we want it to be a mixed-use campus — if you get people early in their career you can grow with them,” Mr. Smith said of his vision of the next cadre of leadership at Axon Enterprises.
“It is very much real these tech jobs are the best and they are in demand. We want to keep those people in Arizona — we want to become the epicenter of public safety technology. And we want to build a wonderful campus.”
Found part of the 300-page Nov. 13 staff report penned by Greg Bloemberg, Scottsdale principal planner, is a general outline of the western portion of the 69-acre property where the majority of multi-use activities would occur.
“The proposal calls for a total of five buildings, four of which would be primarily multi-family residential, with commercial uses on the first floor. The fifth building, a hotel, is proposed to be located at the northeast corner of the site, furthest away from and at the behest of the single-family community to the south. This hotel is intended to be an amenity for the headquarters building though it will also be available to the general public,” Mr. Bloemberg said in his report to Planning Commission members.
“Phase one of the project will include completion of the East Axon Way improvements and the roundabout. Site design includes strong pedestrian connectivity between the headquarters building and the mixed-use component and a publicly accessible multi-use path that will run along the entire perimeter of the site.”
One point debated by the Planning Commission was the phasing timeline, which was ultimately not recommended, pointing to the overall project completion could occur sometime in 2029.
“Once we do this here, we are here for the next 50 years,” Mr. Smith said of the financial and legacy commitment to the site found just north of Loop 101 in north Scottsdale. “The vibe we are going for is Scottsdale Quarter as we want the neighbors to not know we are there if they don’t want to,” he said. “This is a big moment for us — we plan to bring thousands of high-paying jobs. We think this can be an anchor for the region.”
This proposal from Axon Enterprises marks the second Big Tech enterprise to seek a new HQ in Scottsdale as earlier this year, City Council inked a development agreement formalizing the plans for Advanced Semiconductor Materials to establish its North American headquarters along Loop 101 within municipal limits.
In short, ASM supplies wafer processing equipment to semiconductor behemoths like the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which has just formalized plans to bring a major chip manufacturing facility to the Deer Valley area of Phoenix,
A lauded development recognized by Planning Commission
Scottsdale Planning Commissioners voiced their thoughts on what it means for a development of this stature to emerge on what is zoned for industrial uses — the typical destination of manufacturing enterprises and Amazon fulfillment centers.
“If not this, then what?” Scottsdale Planning Commissioner Michal Ann Joyner rhetorically asked. “To respond to the gentleman who asked why have zoning if we are just going to change it — I have seen this plan mature over the last two years and each time it has been better. It is always a negotiation between what they are willing to give and what we can get.”
Scottsdale Planning Commissioner Barney Gonzales thank Axon Enterprise representatives for bringing this plan forward.
“We are lucky he is from here. We are lucky he lives here,” Commissioner Gonzales said of Mr. Smith, Axon Enterprises founder. “This is an economic driver. Scottsdale cannot live solely on tourism. We must have different development come in and here and supplement the costs of living for us. We need these economic drivers to afford the lives and lifestyle we have come to expect and, frankly, what we are paying for — in the long run we are going to achieve success with this development.”
Scottsdale City Council is expected to hear the Axon Enterprises development case at its regular meeting Tuesday, Nov. 19, at City Hall.
