PHOENIX — A Phoenix advisory committee has voted to recommend denial of a plan to turn the Mesquite Golf Course near the Phoenix-Scottsdale border into nearly 500 homes, ABC15 reported.
The owner of the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa wants to rezone the 72-acre course near 66th Street and Greenway Parkway for homes, townhouses or condos. The project is called the Copper Residences Planned Unit Development. The resort’s Acacia and Ironwood courses would stay golf courses.
Neighbors packed the Paradise Valley Village Planning Committee meeting, and the room cheered after the vote, according to ABC15. The city received more than 1,400 letters opposing the plan.
Opponents worry about losing open space and about more traffic and flooding. “This proposal takes the open space our community was built around and adds traffic,” said Amy Satterfield, chairwoman of the Kierland Community Alliance.
Some residents support it. Grant MacKenzie, who grew up in the area, said the developer has added green space and lowered density and building heights.
Representatives for property owner Host Hotel and Resorts said the updated plan focuses on water conservation, keeps 18 holes of golf and adds a five-acre park. Attorney Jason Morris said the Mesquite course will stop operating as a golf course on Jan. 12, 2028.
The plan goes next to the Phoenix Planning Commission in December and then to the Phoenix City Council in January, which will make the final decision.
Sources: ABC15. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: NPS Photo / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
