Bid to put Axon’s massive Scottsdale apartment plan on 2026 ballot is certified

PHOENIX — Taser maker Axon Enterprise Inc. will need voter approval in 2026 if it still wants to build a massive apartment complex as part of a proposed headquarters in Scottsdale, city officials announced Thursday.

Earlier this year, Axon canceled a scheduled groundbreaking event and said it was looking into moving its headquarters out of Arizona after Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions (TAAAZE) submitted petitions to get the issue on the ballot.

On Thursday, Scottsdale City Clerk Ben Lane informed TAAAZE that its petition campaign has been certified.

“I have determined that the total number of valid signatures on Referendum Petition Serial Number REF-01-2024 is equal to or in excess of the minimum required by the Arizona Constitution to place the measure on the November 2026 General Election ballot,” Lane wrote in a letter to TAAAZE leaders.

Axon, meanwhile, said it was still weighing its options, indicating that a delay of nearly two years was untenable.

“We continue to consider all our options regarding the referendum and relocation. Again, as Rick Smith has made very clear, waiting until November 2026 to get resolution on the world headquarters is simply not an option for Axon,” the company told KTAR News 92.3 FM in a statement on Friday. Smith is the founder and CEO of Axon, which develops technology and weapons for law enforcement, military and civilian use.

Bob Littlefield, who chairs TAAAZE, said he is confident voters will agree that the land near Hayden Road and the Loop 101 Pima Freeway shouldn’t be rezoned for the kind of residential development Axon proposed.

“Given the negative impacts this giant apartment complex could have on Scottsdale, a public vote is clearly needed,” he said in a press release.

Why does TAAAZE oppose Axon plan?

Littlefield, a former Scottsdale City Council member, said his group has no problem with Axon building a new headquarters on the property it purchased for $49.1 million during a State Trust Land auction in 2020. The problem, he said, is Axon’s intention to build nearly 1,900 housing units.

“We are opposed to the billion-dollar company’s attempts to change the rules so it can make millions in an apartment project that is too dense, too tall, and one that would create too much traffic and strain public safety resources,” he said.

In November 2024, the Scottsdale City Council approved Axon’s plans for a 70-acre campus.

The company had gone as far as scheduling a groundbreaking ceremony for Jan. 10 before calling it off on short notice after TAAAZE submitted its petitions.

“While Axon has been headquartered in Scottsdale since its founding in 1993 and remains deeply committed to the community, the recent emergence of local political opposition has prompted the company to resume actively considering alternative locations nationwide for a new headquarters campus,” Smith, the company’s CEO, said in a Jan. 8 press release.

At the time, the company said it expects to decide where it will build its new headquarters in the coming months.

“Scottsdale has been our home for over 30 years, and we’ve worked hard to build a strong future here,” Smith said.

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