Scottsdale leaders meeting to discuss city’s first heat mitigation plan

SCOTTSDALE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) -- Following 2020′s record heat, the City of Scottsdale teamed up with Arizona State University to study the impacts of urban heat.

“It was a bit of an alarm bell going off that this is going to be an issue that needs more response by the city,” Lisa McNeilly, Scottsdale’s Sustainability Director, said.

The city used the results of the “Cooler Scottsdale” study in the city’s first heat mitigation plan which will be discussed in a Scottsdale City Council work study session tonight.

“They went out and looked at land temperature, air temperature, radiant temperature, evaluated how these temperatures changed in different parts of the city and with different kinds of ground cover and shading,” McNeilly said.

The study found Old Town Scottsdale is one of the hottest areas of the city with an average summertime surface temperature of 131°F. Most of the landscape type around the area is made up of asphalt and buildings. Only 10% is tree coverage and just 3% is grass coverage.

South Scottsdale and the Scottsdale Airpark are other hot spots in the city where McNeilly says temperatures can be 6-7°F warmer than the rest of the city.

“We found that in South Scottsdale are 18 of the 20 hottest blocks in the city,” McNeilly said.

McNeilly also said tree density in that area is “50% lower than the most vegetated neighborhoods.”

After analyzing all the data from the study, the City of Scottsdale created these three goals to help with heat mitigation in the future.

• Increase tree canopy in the city
• Reduce the land area of dark asphalt & roofs
• Improve & increase pedestrian shade amenities

City leaders will discuss the framework of this plan and the next steps at tonight’s work-study session. Community meetings on sustainability and the impacts of heat will happen next month.

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