When a community fills up with more than 200,000 residents and the retail services they need, it may find there isn't much land left over to build a broader job base and the only direction to go is up.

Gilbert council seeking to trim boards

But as Gilbert contemplates changes to its zoning code which would allow four- to 11-story buildings along much of the town's freeway and airport frontage, some officials and residents worry about the impact on the town's image and quality of life.

Town Councilman Les Presmyk said the nation's fastest-growing community has no designs on mirroring the towers of central Phoenix, but the mid-rise development seen in the East Valley: "Look at the 101 in Chandler and Scottsdale. That's what we're trying for."

But homeowners north of the Loop 202 interchange at Higley Road, and near the "vertical development overlay" zoning district with the most stringent height restrictions, are not happy at the prospect of four-story buildings standing between them and their mountain views, and don't understand how 15-foot trees can be expected to shield them from view.

Gary Shreeve told the Town Council during a Tuesday meeting, "Back when we bought our homes, this was zoned, and quite frankly I think you're trying to change the rules on us in the middle of the game." He lives in Rancho Corona, a housing development just west of "Area 4," one of the five areas proposed for loosened restrictions on buildings higher than two stories.

In these areas, developers could build up to a certain height, depending on intended use. A higher ceiling is set for projects obtaining special-use permits, which require a council vote.

For instance, office buildings built along much of Loop 202 in the Cooley Station area or surrounding Banner Gateway Medical Center, could be up to six stories without an additional rezoning process, and up to 11 stories with a council permit, if they meet other stipulations.

Currently, the tallest building in Gilbert is the five-story Rome Towers office complex completed last fall on Pecos Road east of Val Vista Drive.

A council vote on the changes had been scheduled for that evening, but town staff had not posted the draft code since it was in an earlier draft, so the vote was pushed back. The Planning Commission will vote on vertical zoning in a special meeting devoted to the issue July 16, and the changes should get back to the council sometime in August.

It likely will have been tweaked further by then, judging from some of the concerns voiced by Town Council members, particularly about the possibility of having taller apartment buildings in town.

Mayor Steve Berman and Councilwoman Linda Abbott strongly objected to allowing multifamily developments up to four stories tall, or six stories in the Cooley Station area.

"The only justification we have for a high-rise in Gilbert, in my mind, is for business enhancement," Berman said.

Abbott said she was unsure why the council was taking the issue before the general plan update scheduled there. "I think something as significant as vertical planning deserves to be done in a completely holistic manner."

Senior town planner Michael Milillo said the process was triggered in part by indications from the Rome Towers developer that the four-month process of getting a special permit was a little burdensome.

As for developer interest in taller buildings, Milillo said "there's not a lot of pressure right now but prior to six months or eight months ago, there were several projects that had requested an eight-story or nine-story building and were wanting to know how we were going to handle them."