SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Axon is canceling its planned January 10 groundbreaking for a new world headquarters in Scottsdale. In an announcement released Wednesday evening, two days before the scheduled groundbreaking, the company said the decision comes amid delays caused by a ballot referendum effort.
A petition gathered enough signatures demanding Axon’s City Council-approved plan be decided by voters.
“The uncertainty caused by this referendum forces us to confront a tough reality: we can’t allow political games to put our mission or our team at risk,” Rick Smith, Axon Founder and CEO said in the released statement. “This type of political interference risks not only this project but also Arizona’s ability to attract and retain major employers in the future."
See ABC15's previous coverage of the Axon campus in the video player above.
John Washington, one Scottsdale resident who signed the petition, tells ABC15 the headquarters would have changed the character of the city, which he says current zoning ordinances aim to protect.
“One of the things that really sets Scottsdale apart from our neighbors is our low physical scale of development and our low-intensity uses of the land,” Washington said. “Then we've lost what makes Scottsdale special and makes us so attractive to tourists. And there's something absolutely magical about those tourist dollars because we don't have to service those folks with municipal services all year.”
Axon says the approved project was designed to support up to 5,500 high-wage jobs, generate $11.5 million annually in city tax revenues, and contribute $3.6 billion annually to Arizona’s economy.
“I think it's what Axon is saying about the potential effect on big developments in Arizona, it's just not true,” Washington said. “There's a lot of land in Arizona that's not in Scottsdale, where big projects like this could be located.”
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