The Ahwatukee Promise: My Plan for the Menlo Data Center

Neighbors deserved answers before the shovels went in

If you live in Ahwatukee, you already know this story better than I do.

A million-square-foot data center is going up at 48th Street and Thistle Landing. It sits across the street from homes, a preschool and medical offices. For more than a year, neighbors have lived with construction before dawn, stadium-style lights shining into their windows, and dust on everything.

Many of them did exactly what you're supposed to do. They called the City. They emailed. They showed up to meetings. And a lot of them ended up taking their complaints all the way to the Arizona Attorney General, because they couldn't get real answers from City Hall.

Now the Attorney General is investigating the project. Her office is also looking into whether secret agreements between cities and data center developers are even legal.

Let that sink in. When residents have to go to the state to be heard, City Hall has failed them.

Where I'm coming from

I've spent 16 years in real estate. I'm a business owner, not a politician. I'm pro-growth, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

But I know how these deals get made. I've read the contracts, sat across the table and seen what happens when nobody asks the hard questions early. That's exactly why I know this one was handled wrong.

I've lived in North Central Phoenix for 18 years. My wife and I got married in our own backyard. That house is our retirement and our son's future. So when I picture a million square feet of industrial machinery going up 150 feet from someone's front door, I don't see a zoning case. I see my own street.

Good growth makes neighborhoods better. Good developers don't need secret deals, and they don't need to keep neighbors in the dark.

My promise to Ahwatukee

Here's what I'll do on the City Council. No fluff. Six commitments you can hold me to.

1. No secret deals. I'll push for an ordinance banning the City of Phoenix from signing nondisclosure agreements that keep residents, and even their own council member, in the dark on major projects. In business, if someone won't show you the terms, you walk away from the deal. Phoenix should do the same.

2. Firefighters and neighbors know what's inside. Facilities like data centers should share their hazardous materials and backup generator details with Phoenix Fire, and post a plain-English summary for the neighbors who live next to them. Our firefighters shouldn't have to guess what they're running into, and neither should you.

3. Enforce the rules on Menlo, starting now. I'll call for a public dashboard showing every complaint, inspection and citation on the Menlo site, plus escalating fines for repeat violations of construction hours. Rules nobody enforces aren't rules.

4. Close the "office use" loophole. When decades-old zoning gets used for something massive and new, neighbors should get written notice and a public hearing before permits go out. Nobody should find out what's being built next door from the construction crew.

5. Show up in Ahwatukee. I'll hold monthly office hours in Ahwatukee. You shouldn't have to drive to Mesa to be heard.

6. Developer money goes back. If anyone with a project pending before the City Council donates to my campaign, I'll return it within 10 days and report it publicly. You won't have to dig through campaign finance reports to find it. I'll tell you. Working in real estate isn't a conflict. Having a vote pending in front of me is.

Can Phoenix Shut Down the Menlo Data Center?

I'm not going to promise to tear the data center down.

Under Arizona's Prop 207, if the City takes away rights a property owner already has, the City pays for it. That means a lawsuit, and you and I would be the ones writing the check. Anyone promising to shut Menlo down overnight is selling you something.

What I will promise is the truth. I'll fight for real enforcement every single day that site is under construction and every day it operates. And I'll make sure the next project like this never gets this far without you knowing about it first.

This is bigger than Ahwatukee

What happened here could happen on any street in District 6, whether that's Arcadia, Biltmore or North Central. The fix is the same everywhere: no secret deals, real enforcement, and a council member who sees the next one coming.

Your ballot is your say in how Phoenix handles projects like this. Mail it by Tuesday, October 27. After that, drop it at any ballot drop box or vote center by 7 p.m. on Election Day, November 3.

If you have a question, a story or a concern about Menlo, I want to hear it. Reach out anytime.

— Michael Del Prete

Candidate for Phoenix City Council, District 6