Scottsdale Q&A: City Council candidate Tom Durham

Scottsdale City Council candidate Tom Durham answers reader-submitted questions on short-term rentals and the Papago Park land deal for this week’s Q&A series.

Mr. Durham is one of six candidates seeking to be elected to three open seats for Scottsdale City Council in the Tuesday, Nov. 3, general election. Mail-in ballots will be sent to voters this week, the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office says.

This week’s questions come from Scottsdale Independent readers, who want to know candidates’ perspectives on issues near-and-dear to their heart.

Short-term rentals — also known as vacation homes — are criticized by homeowners as disrupting Arizona neighborhoods as online sites such as Airbnb and VRBO gains steam. Many residents question how to resolve the issue of unruly vacation properties in their neighborhoods.

A second hot topic is the Papago Park land-use agreement between Scottsdale, the city of Phoenix and the San Francisco Giants.

In November 2018, the Scottsdale City Council approved a lease of Papago Park with Phoenix, and a sublease with the Giants to provide the California baseball team with a permanent, dedicated year-round player development facility at the Papago Sports Complex.

Mr. Durham points out changes occurring at Papago Park, which is upsetting homeowners in the surrounding area.

Read below to see what he has to say.

Do you support short-term rentals in Scottsdale’s neighborhoods?

The short-term rental issue is a serious problem, especially in south Scottsdale. Scottsdale has more short-term rentals than anywhere else in the state. Betty Janik and I have heard several horror stories about people being driven to move from their homes due to noise and other nuisances. This is unacceptable.
The proliferation of short-term rentals also drives up property values, reducing our stock of entry-level homes.

While increasing property values are beneficial, we need more entry-level homes in Scottsdale. Short-term rentals help our tourism economy, especially for larger families, which is a benefit to all of us, but they must be curtailed unless they can clean up their act and be good neighbors.

I have been told that the problem “party houses” are a small minority of the short-term rentals in Scottsdale, but one is too many if you are living next door to it.

What change would you propose to fix the issue of short-term rentals if you had the authority?

Betty Janik and I met with a group of short-term rental owners last week who are seeking reform in the industry. They want to create an association of responsible owners who will promise to uphold high standards. These standards include renting only to those of a certain age (25 or older), including noise monitors and cameras to detect and control unruly behavior, working more closely with neighbors, and shutting down short-term rentals that don’t follow the rules, as has been done in some cases. We suggested that the association hire private security guards to monitor their rentals.

If this association cannot control its members, then government action may be needed. Right now, the state Legislature has severely limited Scottsdale’s ability to write its own rules for short-term rentals. Scottsdale can enforce noise and nuisance regulations, but not much else. If the short-term rental owners cannot clean up their act, the state prohibition may be revised to allow Scottsdale to impose minimum rental terms, which could help to avoid the weekend party houses.

Do you receive any financial benefit from STRs, STR owners, or Online lodging operators?

No.

People in Scottsdale and neighboring areas have concerns about the Giants project at Papago Park. They believe that this project: 1. Has caused serious harm to the scenery and desert landscape of that park; 2. That the financial conditions are inappropriate; and 3. It is unacceptable to build a private corporate compound in a public park. What are your feelings about this?

Papago Park. The neighbors around Papago Park are very upset with what is happening there. I drove by last week and I can see why they are upset. The numerous light standards and other buildings that are going up there interfere with views from the east side of the park. And the multiple light standards will cause serious light pollution for the surrounding area. As too often seems to be the case in Scottsdale, local citizens claim that they have not been involved in the process. The rent being charged to the Giants does seem to be very low. I know there are arguments about whether the practice facility has exceeded its agreed acreage, but I haven’t read the documents to check whether this is true or not. All in all, the project does seem to be a poor use of the land.