Stack and Pack Housing: What Happens in Scottsdale Doesn't Stay in Scottsdale

SB1543’s striker: Arizona wants big corporate HQs, and it’s willing to rewrite the rules statewide to get them—housing, hotels, and all.

In world-renowned Scottsdale, a quiet but powerful legislative shift is taking shape—one that could upend this polished oasis and send shockwaves through cities across Arizona.

At the heart of it is a strike-everything amendment which would rewrite zoning rules in cities like Scottsdale, allowing hotel and multifamily housing developments in industrial zones without public input. What begins in the Valley of the Sun could soon echo through every corner of the state.

What’s the big deal? The residents of Scottsdale have made it clear - they wanted the final say on development

Specifically, the strike-everything amendment to Arizona’s SB1543 would force cities with populations between 200,000 and 500,000 to allow hotel and multifamily housing developments within light industrial zones—without public hearings or traditional zoning approvals—as long as the projects are tied to an international headquarters campus.

International headquarters?

In January, Axon Enterprise, Inc., the Scottsdale-…