On 11/12, the Tempe City Council had its first hearing concerning the possible annexation of the Caroline Lane property. You can view it here. The agenda item: "Introduce and hold the first public hearing to adopt an ordinance extending and increasing the corporate limits of the City of Tempe, Maricopa County, State of Arizona, pursuant to the provisions of Title 9, Chapter 4, Article 7, Arizona Revised Statutes, as Amended, by annexing 3.75 +/- acres identified by APN 301-60-052B with an address of 1230 W. Caroline Lane.  The second and final public hearing is scheduled for December 3, 2020.  (Ordinance No. O2020.29)" So what happened? The Mayor asked if the Council wanted to see a presentation from the party applying for annexation of the property. None of the Council members said yes, despite an attorney for the party being available by phone. The Mayor then proceeded to public comment on the item. The Mayor then read a comment submitted by Anika Ryan (not sure on the spelling), who opposed the request for annexation on the grounds that the applicant wants to develop over the little farm property, which would harm the character of the neighborhood and the habitat of local owls. The public hearing portion ended. The Mayor opened the floor to discussion from Council members. There was none. The second and final hearing on the annexation will take place on December 2. Summary: First public hearing took place. We did not hear anything from the applicant for annexation or the Council members. We heard opposition from one member of the public.

All, I watched the 10/15 Tempe City Council meeting at which they ever so briefly touched on the potential annexation of the Caroline Lane property. You can see the discussion of the relevant item by clicking here. In sum, this was just the introduction of the annexation request. It only pertained to the annexation request made by the owner of the property. It does not concern any subsequent applications to develop the property. There was no substantive discussion on the annexation. Council Member Kuby made it sound like she is looking for explanation for why this annexation is necessary. The Council read Kris Michell's public comment against the annexation/development. This is seemingly what prompted the Mayor to clarify that the only thing being considered right now is the annexation. I will try to recap the subsequent meetings on this issue.