The Town Council has voted to approve a site plan for the proposed Phase II and Phase III of the Park Place development in downtown Fountain Hills.

After the council rejected a proposed site plan in early March the developer returned before the council at its April 19 regular session. The vote to approve was 5-1 with Councilman Alan Magazine the dissenting vote. Councilman David Spelich was absent.

The council had little discussion prior to its vote on the proposal. Councilwoman Peggy McMahon sought clarification from staff regarding parking requirements, and there were a couple of questions for the developer.

“I want to thank you for bringing back something more in line with the development agreement,” Councilwoman Sharon Grzybowski said. “Also, improving accessibility for the commercial space.

“Thank you for the commitment to repaint Phase I, you will hear cheers from the public when that happens.”

“I want to emphasize that we got behind the Planning and Zoning Commission and backed their recommendations on this project,” Councilman Mike Scharnow said.

Phase II of the project consists of two buildings that extend east along Avenue of the Fountains from the existing Phase I (Building E) and around the corner onto Saguaro Boulevard (Building F). The plan has no commercial space in Building F, which is something the council had previously asked for to face Saguaro Boulevard.

The project is designed with an underground parking structure. At street level of Building E, the plan calls for 8,000 square feet of commercial space facing the Avenue with residential on the south side. There are 82 residential units total for Phase II.

Both structures are to have three floors of residential all accessed from an interior hallway. There is also a plan for community space connecting the two buildings above a breezeway.

Phase III is a single building located along the west side of Verde River Drive at Paul Nordin Parkway. The plan calls for three floors of apartments totaling 102 units. The upper floor is to have two-story dwelling units.

One requirement for the development is construction of an art walk plaza stretching between Paul Nordin Parkway and the Centennial Plaza at the Fountain Hills Community Center. This is on town-owned property and the concept plan shows a central seating area with a shaded walkway. A more detailed plan will be required with the permitting process, according to the staff report.

Phase III also has a public parking component adjacent to the art walk area.

Approval of the plan is subject to the developer providing a complete site plan package as required by the Zoning Ordinance and meeting all requirements of Town policies, codes and ordinances.

The development agreement for the project was approved in 2016 with construction of Phase I completed at the end of 2017. When complete, there will be more than 400 new residential units in the downtown area of Fountain Hills with the area south of Avenue of the Fountains completely developed.